Jurisprudence I Syllabus

Jurisprudence I

A Course of Study
Uganda Christian University
Faculty of Law

by

Brian Dennison, J.D., MBA, BA
dbriandennison@gmail.com

Class Blog: http://ucujurisprudence.blogspot.com/

Syllabus

Short Description:

Students will be introduced to jurisprudential schools of thought and key jurisprudential concepts.

The class will meet twice per week for twelve weeks.

There will be a weekly tutorial.

Course Evaluation system:

• 30% of your grade will be based on coursework. The Coursework grade will be based equally on class participation (10%), tutorial participation (10%) and a mid-term quiz (10%).

• The class participation grade will be based primarily on your performance when called upon to participate in Socratic dialogues, class attendance on Socratic dialogue days and over all class attendance. Students who participate in class at a high level and on a consistent may have their participation grade enhanced at the lecturer’s discretion.

• The method and means of establishing your tutorial participation grade is left to the discretion and judgment of the tutorial instructor.

• The final exam will be closed book and will account for 70% of your grade.

• Per University and Department Policy you should attend 75% of all classes to be eligible to take the final examination. Attendance will be taken in this class.

Primary Text:

M.D.A. FRIEDMAN: Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence, 6th Edition, Sweet and Maxwell, London, 1994; and alternatively the 7th Edition

Students are required to read the following texts:

PLATO: The Republic

H.L.A. HART: The Concept of Law




Movies:

You will be shown several movies during this course. The movies are intended to enhance the material and give you the opportunity to explore and process the subject matter of the course. The showing times for the movies will be announced to the class. You are responsible for viewing the movies over the course of the semester. The movies will be the subject matter of some of the final examination questions.

The following is a list of the movies that are likely to be shown:

Lord of the Flies
Cromwell

Socratic Method:

Bolded assignments are subject to “Socratic Method.” Students will be called upon on at random to respond to questions regarding the bolded reading assignments. You will be graded on your preparedness and performance in responding to questions. All students that regularly attend class will be provided at least one opportunity to respond to a Socratic questioning exercise. You may be called upon more than once over the course of the semester.

Class Schedule:

Part One – Introduction

Session 1 – Course Introduction
Reading Assignment: None
Session Description: In class readings from J.G. Riddall, Jurisprudence, pp. 1-16 “I hate jurisprudence”; Duncan Kennedy, “The Ideological Content of Legal Education” from Lloyds 1104-1108 (7th Ed. Only). Go over the course syllabus and the professor’s expectations. Discuss Attendance Policy. Conduct a preview of the material to be covered. Discuss the role that Christianity and Christian Doctrine will play in the course.

Part Two – Theories of Knowledge and Law

Session 2 –What is Truth? (and a tour of key terms, vocabulary and philosophers)
Reading Assignment: Excepts from the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy
Session Description: An introduction to theories of knowledge throughout the history of philosophy. Introduction to key philosophers. Discuss the influence and impact of these theories on law.

Session 3 – What is Justice, Plato’s Republic
Reading Assignment: Plato’s Republic Books 1 and 2
Session Description: A Lecture on Plato’s Republic with class discussion

Session 4 – Plato’s Republic Continued
Reading Assignment: Plato’s Republic Books 3 and 4
Session Description: A Lecture on Plato’s Republic with class discussion

Section 5 – What is Jurisprudence?
Reading Assignment: Chapter 1 of the text in Lloyds
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Session 6 – What is Law?
Reading Assignment: Chapter 2 of the text in Lloyds, plus Extract L.L. Fuller The Case of the Speluncean Explorers
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings plus Socratic Method
Socratic on The Case of the Speluncean Explorers




Part Three – Natural Law

Session 7 – Aristotle, Cicero and Aquinas
Reading Assignment: All of Chapter 3 in in Lloyds, plus Extracts: Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics; Cicero De Re Publica; and Aquinas Summa Theologica
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Session 8 – Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Maritain and Finnis
Reading Assignment: The following Extracts from Chapter 3 in Lloyds: Thomas Hobbes Leviathan; John Locke Two Treatises of Government; J.J. Rousseau The Social Contract; Jacques Maritain Man and the State; J. Finnis Natural Law and Natural Rights
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings plus Socratic Method
Socratic on John Finnis Natural Law and Natural Rights

Session 9 – Recent Treatments of Natural Law
Reading Assignment: The following Extracts from Chapter 3 of the 8th Ed. of Lloyds:
M.C. Murphy Natural Law Jurisprudence, M.C. Murphy Natural Law in Jurisprudence and Politics; and K. Greenwalt How Persuasive is Natural Law Theory? and
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Session 10– Natural Law Theory in Europe and Africa
Reading Assignment: Rwabinumi v. Bahimbisomwe, Court of Appeal of Uganda, Civil Appeal No. 20 of 2007; Dudgeon v. The United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, 22 October 1981
Session Description:
Socratic on Dudgeon Case and Rwabinumi v. Bahimbisomwe, (Opinion of J. Twinomujuni only).

Part Four – Positivism and the Pure Theory of Law

Session 11 – Bentham and Austin
Reading Assignment: Chapter 4 in Lloyds, plus all Extracts from Chapter 4
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Session 12 – Hans Kelsen and the Pure Theory of Law
Reading Assignment: Chapter 5 in Lloyds, plus Extract: Hans Kelsen The Pure Theory of Law and General Theory of Law and State
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Session 13 – The Pure Theory of Law in Africa
Reading Assignment: Ex Parte Mutovu
Session Description: Socratic Method followed by Class Discussion
Socratic on Ex Parte Mutovo

Session 14 – Hart’s Concept of Law Part I
Reading Assignment: The Concept of Law, by H.L.A. Hart
Session Description: Lecture on the ideas of Hart with a focus on The Concept of Law.

Session 15 – Hart’s Concept of Law Part II (Chapter X and Postscript is Optional)
Reading Assignment: The Concept of Law, by H.L.A. Hart
Session Description: Lecture on Hart’s The Concept of Law continued with Socratic dialogue
Socratic on Hart’s Concept of Law

Part Five – Modern Trends in Analytical and Normative Jurisprudence

Session 16 – Raz
Reading Assignment: Text in in Chapter 6 “Raz and Reasons for Actions” and the following Extracts from Lloyds: J. Raz; Practical Reason and Norms and Authority Law and Morality; Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings


Session 17 –Posner and Nozick
Reading Assignment: Text i Chapter 6 “Nozick and the Minimal State” and “The Economic Analysis of Law,” and the following Extracts from Lloyds Eighth Ed. (To be provided by lecturer): R. Posner The Ethical and Political Basis of Wealth Maximization.
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings and a Socratic Dialogue on the Posner Article
Socratic Class on Posner’s The Ethical and Political Basis of Wealth Maximization

Session 18 – Rawls
Reading Assignment: Text in Chapter 7 on “Rawls and Distributive Justice,” and the following Extracts from Lloyds: J. Rawls A Theory of Justice and The Law of Peoples
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Part Six – Sociological Jurisprudence, American Realism and the Scandinavian Realists

Session 19 – Sociological Jurisprudence and Sociology of the Law
Reading Assignment: All of Chapter 9 in Lloyds, plus Extracts: E. Ehrlich Principles of the Sociology of Law; R. Pound Philosophy of Law
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings

Session 20 – Sociological Jurisprudence and Sociology of the Law Applied
Reading Assignment: Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
Session Description: Socratic Dialogue on the Roper case
Socratic Class on Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)

Session 21 – American Realism
Reading Assignment: All of Chapter 10 in Lloyds, plus Extracts: J. Frank Law and the Modern Mind; and K. Llewellyn Some Realism About Realism
Session Description:
Socratic Class on Llewellyn’s Some Realism About Realism

Session 22 – Scandinavian Realists and Course Review
Reading Assignment: All of Chapter 11 in Lloyds, plus Extract: Haggerstrom Inquiries into the Nature of Law and Morals
Session Description: A Lecture on the Assigned Readings and a review of the films and the course materials geared toward preparing the class for the final examination.

Statement Regarding the Incorporation of Christian Faith into the Course of Study:

The Christian faith and its tenants will be incorporated throughout the course. The class will include discussions of Jesus’ interrogation by Pilate and the narratives in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Classes will open with prayer each week. Course lectures and discussions will refer to and incorporate Christian world view for comparative purposes with the various schools of thought and ideologies addressed throughout the course. The lectures will address the application of the different concepts and ideas to Christian purposes and ideals. The lectures on natural law will have a particular focus on Judeo-Christian doctrine and world view.