Syllabus
Philosophy of Law
Spring 2012

Two books should be purchased for the course:

1) H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (Oxford: Clarendon, 2d ed. 1994)
2) Scott Shapiro, Legality (Harvard, 2011)

The following is partial and provisional only:

I.
Is there a moral duty to obey the law?
    Reading: Joseph Raz, The Obligation to Obey: Revision and Tradition, 1 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy 139-55 (1984) [available at Hein-Online]
    M.B.E. Smith, Is There a Prima Facie Obligation to Obey the Law?, 82 Yale L, J. 950-76 (1973) [available on JSTOR]

II. Theories of Law: An Introduction
    Reading: Hart Ch. 1; Shapiro Chs. 1-2

III. Austin's legal positivism
    Reading
   
Shapiro Ch. 3
    Hart, The Concept of Law ch. IV
   
V. Hart's legal positivism
    Reading: Hart, The Concept of Law chs. V-VI; Shapiro Ch. 4

VI. What is the rule of recognition for the American legal system?
    Reading: Kent Greenawalt, The Rule of Recognition and the Constitution, 85 Mich. L. Rev. 621 (1987) [available on WESTLAW]
- do not read Part II, pp. 624-30, or Part VIII.C, pp. 662-70
   
VII. The paradox of self-amendment
    Reading: Alf Ross, On Self-Reference and a Puzzle in Constitutional Law, 78 Mind 1-24 (1969) [available on JSTOR]
- read ONLY pp. 1-7 and pp. 20-24.

VIII. The planning theory
   
Reading: Shapiro Chs. 5-7

IX. Legal Realism and Rule-Skepticism

Reading: Hart Ch. 7
Felix Cohen, Transcendental Nonsense and the Functional Approach, 35 Colum. L. Rev. 809 (1935) - pp. 809-12, 820-21, 834-49 only

X. The planning theory continued
   
Reading: Shapiro Ch. 8 (pp. 240-43 only), Chs. 9-14

XI. The Relevance of Semantics to Legal Interpretation
    Reading: David Brink, Legal Theory, Legal Interpretation, and Judicial Review, 17 Phil. & Public Affairs 105-07, 111-24 (1988) [I will email you the article.]

XII.
 International Law
    Reading:
Hart Ch. X

XIII. Is the Objectivity of Morality Relevant to Whether the Law Should Refer to Moral Considerations?
    Reading: Jeremy Waldron, The Irrelevance of Moral Objectivity, in Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays 158 (Robert P. George ed., 1992) [I will email this to you]