PHILOSOPHY 420

PHILOSOPHY OF LAW

DR. JEFF JOHNSON

DIVISION OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

What follows is so self-evident to me that I have never stated explicitly in words. 

But there seems to be a persistent misunderstanding, so here goes.  There are video-lectures that go with this course.  Viewing them is essential to doing well in the course.  They are a formal requirement.  Just as though you could hardly expect to do well in a course you never attended, trying to take this course without watching the video-lectures is just as foolhardy.

The video-lectures are only available by rental through the Eastern Oregon University Bookstore.  This means that even if you use other resources to find the assigned texts for the course, you will still need to contact the Bookstore to get the video-lectures.  Here is a link to the Bookstore:

http://www.eoubookstore.com/

Philosophy 420 is a course in normative jurisprudence. The purpose of the course is an interpretive understanding of some central aspects of American law. This course presupposes no detailed background in philosophy, political science, nor the law. It does assume that everyone is prepared to do serious upper-division work, including a good deal of very difficult reading and regular writing.

The course will be divided into three major sections. The first will focus on the classic jurisprudential question of the abstract nature of law. In this section we will examine four influential theories of law -- natural law, legal positivism, legal realism, and law as integrity. The second part of course will briefly deal with three issues in the philosophy of law that are of particular interest to me -- legal interpretation, personal privacy, and capital punishment. The final component will be an extended examination of the nature and normative function of tort law.

UWR Outcomes for Upper Division Writing Intensive Courses:

• Students will produce at least 5,000 words (including drafts, in-class writing, informal papers, and polished papers); 2,000 words of this total should be in polished papers which students have revised after receiving feedback and criticism.
• Students will practice the forms of writing and reflect upon the nature of the writing used by graduates and professionals in the discipline the course represents.
• Students will write at least one paper integrating information from more than one source, employing the appropriate documentation style for the discipline represented by the course.
• Students will draft, revise, and edit their formal written work.
• Students will seek assistance from a Writing Tutor in the Writing Lab when needed and when referred by the instructor.

Additional Outcomes:

• Understand the philosophical and legal controversies concerning the nature of law.

• Read philosophical texts critically and with understanding.

• Write effectively about philosophical and legal controversies.

Means of Assessment and Grading:

• Three 2000 to 3000 word formal take-home essay exams (outcomes 1, 2, and 3) (one-third grade each)

• Please note: a grade of at least C- is required in order for this course to count toward the University Writing Requirement 

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ACADEMIC HONESTY

I am including below Eastern's Academic Honesty Code.  It is vitally important that you carefully read it, and that you understand that it is my intention to follow this code to the letter.  I really can't think of a better way to ruin your experience with this course, than to disregard this code.  Obviously, if you have any questions, I can't urge you too strongly to ask me.

ACADEMIC HONESTY CODE

All members of the Eastern Oregon University academic community are responsible for compliance with its Academic Honesty Code. Students are required to report violations to the respective faculty member of a course. Provisions of the Academic Honesty Code are:

1. Collaboration while taking any quizzes, in-class examinations, or take home examinations without the instructor's written approval is forbidden. The faculty member is responsible for defining limits for other collaborative learning activities for each course.

2. Plagiarism or representation of the work of others as one's own is forbidden. The faculty member will make clear the format for properly citing sources of information not original by the student.

3. Explicit approval by all instructors is required if the same work is to be submitted to more than one course, even if is not within the same term.

Violations of the Academic Honesty Code may result in both academic and behavioral penalties including possible suspension or expulsion from the University.

An automatic grade of zero for any work which is a violation of the Academic Honesty Code will be assigned by the instructor. The instructor may also assign a grade of F for the course after discussion with the respective School Dean. Students may appeal the course grade to the respective School Dean, who is the final level of appeal on the matter of course grade penalties for academic dishonesty.

The faculty member is also required to file a disciplinary complaint to the Vice President for Student Affairs about any student believed to have violated the Academic Honesty Code. If deemed appropriate, hearing procedures will be implemented by a University Hearing Officer as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct. Possible sanctions considered by the Student Conduct Committee include probation, suspension, and expulsion.

Link to take-home exams

In the Winter Quarter of 1996, when the videotapes were made, I was blessed with a particularly good class. I hope you find the discussions helpful in working through this very difficult, but fascinating, material. The calendar below will give you some idea of how the course is structured. All of the reading for the first two sections of the course, with the exception of my two articles, comes from The Philosophy of Law, edited by Schauer and Sinnott-Armstrong. All of the reading for the third section, with the exception of the article by Epstein, comes from Foundations of Tort Law, edited by Levmore. My advice would be to give the material a quick, first-read before the discussion, and then a second, more careful, reading after you have watched the lecture/discussion.

CALENDAR

WEEK	TOPIC	READING Shaurer in blue Levmore in green Johnson Web-page
One	NATURAL LAW SECULAR NATURAL LAW	AQUINAS, FINNIS FULLER, Johnson Reading 1
Two	LEGAL POSITIVISM	AUSTIN, HART, DWORKIN (74-86)
Three	LEGAL REALISM CRITICAL LEGAL STUDIES FEMINIST JURISPRUDENCE LAW AND ECONOMICS	LLEWELLYN KENNEDY, FRANK MINOW & SPELMAN POSNER, Johnson Reading 2
Four	LAW AS INTEGRITY	DWORKIN (86-90, 295-8, 90-100, 142-49), SCHAUER
	FIRST TAKE-HOME MID-TERM DUE 7/26
Five	INTERPRETATION GRISWOLD v. CONNECTICUT PRIVACY	149-60 403-22 Johnson Reading 3
Six	ABORTION SEXUAL PREFERENCE	422-43 347-52
Seven	CAPITAL PUNISHMENT	750-81, Johnson Reading 4
	SECOND TAKE-HOME MID-TERM DUE 8/16
Eight	COASE THEOREM PROPERTY & TORT RULES HISTORY OF TORTS KILLING & PROPERTY	COASE p. 3 CALABRESI p. 251 LEVMORE p. 67; SCHWARTZ p. 81 POSNER p. 35
Nine	RECIPROCITY & RISK CAUSATION & TORTS	FLETCHER p. 48 EPSTEIN p. 826
Ten	CORRECTIVE JUSTICE CAUSATION WRONGFUL LOSS	POSNER p. 59 THOMSON p. 103 COLEMAN p. 117
	FINAL TAKE-HOME DUE 9/3