Syllabus

Note: This is the syllabus for 2007. It is here solely to give you a general idea of the material that will be covered in the course. Because I will be rewriting the chapters, the syllabus for 2008 will be different in substantial respects and will be filled out over the course of the semester.

I.
    Is there a duty to obey the law?
    Reading:
       Introduction
       Chapter One
      
II.
    Is authority ever legitimate?
    Reading:
       Chapter Two

III.
    Does every legal system have an unlimited and unitary sovereign?
    Reading:
       Chapter Three

IV.
    What is the rule of recognition in the American legal system?
    Reading:
         Chapter Four

V.
    The paradox of self-amendment: Can amendment clauses be used to amend themselves?
    Reading:
          Chapter Five

VI.
    Must laws be enforced (or have provisions for enforcement) to be laws?
    Reading:
          Chapter Six

VII.
    What is a legal right (including Hohfeld on fundamental legal conceptions)?
    Reading:
          Chapter Seven

VIII.
    Can laws contradict?
    Reading:
          Chapter Eight

IX.
    Is international law really law?
    Reading:
          Chapter Nine

X.
    Kelsen's doctrine of the unity of law: Do all valid laws belong to one comprehensive legal system?
    Reading:
          Chapter Ten

XI.
    Does a judge make or find law in a hard case?
    Reading:
          Chapter Eleven

XII.
    Must all legal systems with courts have judicial review?
    Reading:
          Chapter Twelve

XIII.
    Is the law what a court says it is?
    Reading:
          Chapter Thirteen

XIV.
    What difference do theories of the meaning of words make to the interpretation of the law?
    Reading:
          Chapter Fourteen

XV.
    Does the objectivity of morality matter to whether moral principles should be included in the law?
    Reading:
          Chapter Fifteen

XVI.
    Can positivist theories of law explain the normativity of law?
    Reading:
          Chapter Sixteen

XVII.
    Can the positivist accept that the law can sometimes incorporate morality?
    Reading:
          Chapter Seventeen

XVIII.
    Critiques of normative law and economics
    Reading:
          Chapter Eighteen