LAW-2251 Legal Philosophy
This seminar will survey literature and texts from ancient times down to the present, with an aim to explore and contrast the answers given by great philosophers, writers, poets, and religious traditions to the basic metaphysical question of, "What is Law?". Primary sources will will thus cover a broad historical and thematic range, and may include the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Neitzsche, Dostoevsky, Rumi, the Torah, the Gospels, the Qur'an, and other texts. While attention will be naturally be given to the content of the law (i.e. the legal versus the illegal), the primary focus will be to consider various understandings of the essence of the law (i.e. the legal versus the non-legal). Assessment will be based upon student participation and a final paper, which may satisfy the legal writing requirement.