Prerequisite: 3 credits in philosophy

Description: 

The course invites students to scrutinize controversial philosophical issues that arise on law. It is divided into two parts, analytical and normative. In the first part, we will examine competing theories about the nature and purpose of law and legal interpretation -- legal positivism, natural law, critical legal theory, critical race theory, and feminist legal theory -- and consider the question of legal obligation to obey the law.

In the second part, we will focus on normative issues arising from the legal reasoning of constitutional and criminal laws, with particular attention to the relation between law and morality. More specifically, we will explore the following questions: With regard to the first amendment, what are the scope and limits of freedom of expression? With regard to equal protection under the law, what kind of equality does or should the Constitution guarantee? With regard to criminal law, what kinds of acts should be crimes and on what grounds, and how can punishment be morally justified? These questions will be examined through the analysis of landmark Supreme Court decisions and pending Supreme Court cases on obscenity and pornography, sexual harassment, privacy rights, affirmative action, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, etc.

Texts: 

• Adams, David M, ed., Philosophical Problems in the Law, 4th edition, Wadsworth

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