UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE SCHOOL OF LAW FALL 2019
Course: Philosophy of Law 814-511
Instructor: Mortimer Sellers CONTACT INFORMATION: 410.837.4650 / AL 527 / [email protected]
FACULTY ASSISTANT: Laurie Schnitzer / AL 1008 / [email protected]
OFFICE HOURS: Monday and Wednesday: 4:15 to 5:15 (or by appointment)
Days/Time: Wednesday / 1:30pm - 4:15 pm
Location: Room assignments are available through MyUB. (subject to change)
Course Description: This course will examine the philosophical, historical, scientific and emotional foundations of law and justice. Students will consider the value and purpose of law and discuss some of the leading theories and theorists of law and justice through the ages, from Aristotle and Aquinas to Dworkin and Habermas. The course will consider the sources, content, interpretation and binding nature of the law, and how law differs from morality or justice. Students will be encouraged to examine their own theories of the law and to develop their own views of how lawyers and the law can best advance justice in the societies they serve.
Each session of the class will have two parts. The first half of the class will be devoted to a particular author, discussed in chronological order, to give a sense of the development of legal thought over time. The second half of each class will be devoted to a particular question about law or justice, with particular attention to its contemporary application. Readings for the first half of the class will be set in advance, but assignments for the second half of the class will be developed in conversation with students, to encourage their reflection and engagement in the issues discussed.
The class will be run as much as possible like a graduate seminar, to initiate students into the habit of thinking for themselves about fundamental questions and to excite their interest in life-long reflection about the value and purpose of law and lawyers in a constitutional democracy.
Course Materials: Course materials will be distributed in class by the instructor.
Student Learning Outcomes: Students will consider the basis of law and justice. They will develop their own conceptions of the fundamental values that will govern their lives as lawyers and learn to perceive and engage with the inequities of the American legal system, as well as its strengths and fundamental principles. Students will commit themselves to their own conceptions of liberty and justice and learn the skills
Jurisprudence F18 Page 1 to regulate and evaluate all the other knowledge, skills, and ideas that they encounter in law school and afterwards.
Grades: Grades will be based 50% of a final written paper and 50% on class participation.
Course Expectations: American Bar Association Accreditation Standards establish guidelines for the amount of work students should expect to complete for each credit earned. Students should expect approximately one hour of classroom instruction and two hours of out-of-class work for each credit earned in a class, or an equivalent amount of work for other academic activities, such as simulations, externships, clinical supervision, co-curricular activities, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
Students are expected to attend every class, to complete all reading assignments and to participate consistently in class discussion in order to engage fully with the ideas, authors and fundamental values of law and justice.
Attendance: Class attendance is a primary obligation of each student, whose right to continued enrollment in the course depends on showing up for every class.
Computers: Students may use laptop computers for class related purposes.
Class Cancellation: If the instructor must cancel a class, notices will be sent to students via email and posted on the classroom door. If there is inclement weather, students should visit the University of Baltimore web site or call the University's Snow Closing Line at (410) 837-4201. If the University is open, students should presume that classes are running on the normal schedule.
Academic Integrity: Students are obligated to refrain from acts that they know or, under the circumstances, have reason to know will impair the academic integrity of the University and/or the School of Law. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to: cheating; plagiarism; misuse of library materials; use of another’s book or study materials without consent; unapproved multiple submissions; material misrepresentation of one’s academic history or standing; misrepresentation of any academic matter; intentionally giving another student false or inaccurate information about class requirements; inappropriate discussion of exams; and misrepresenting or falsifying class attendance reports. [Reference to School of Law Honor Code, https://law.ubalt.edu/academics/policiesandprocedures/honor_code/index.cfm]
Course Evaluations It is a requirement of this course that students complete a course evaluation. The evaluation will be available later in the semester and is entirely anonymous. Faculty members will not have access to the feedback provided on course evaluations until after all grades are submitted.
Jurisprudence F18 Page 2
Title IX Sexual Misconduct and Nondiscrimination Policy: The University of Baltimore’s Sexual Misconduct and Nondiscrimination policy is compliant with Federal laws prohibiting discrimination. Title IX requires that faculty, student employees and staff members report to the university any known, learned or rumored incidents of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking on the basis of sex, dating/intimate partner violence or sexual exploitation and/or related experiences or incidents. Policies and procedures related to Title IX and UB’s nondiscrimination policies can be found at: http://www.ubalt.edu/titleix.
Disability Policy: If you are a student with a documented disability who requires an accommodation for academic programs, exams, or access to the University’s facilities, please contact the Office of Academic Affairs, at [email protected] or (410) 837-4468.
Jurisprudence F18 Page 3
JURISPRUDENCE SEMINAR / SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Week 1 Wednesday, August 21 A. Introductions B. Purpose. What are We Trying to Accomplish in Life and Law School?
Week 2 Wednesday, August 28 A. Aristotle B. Justice. What is Justice?
Week 3 Wednesday, September 4 A. Cicero B. Law. What is Law?
Week 4 Wednesday, September 11 A. Thomas Aquinas B. Natural Law. Is there a Natural Law?
Week 5 Wednesday, September 18 A. Hugo Grotius B. Obedience. Is there an Obligation to Obey the Law?
Week 6 Wednesday, September 25 A. Thomas Hobbes B. Authority. Who has the Authority to Make the Law?
Week 7 Wednesday, October 2 A. Immanuel Kant B. Morality. What has Law got to do with Morality?
Week 8 Wednesday, October 9 A. John Austin B. The Rule of Law. What Use is the Rule of Law?
Week 9 Wednesday, October 16 A. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. B. The Common Law. What are the Philosophical Foundations of the Common Law?
Week 10 Wednesday, October 23 A. Duncan Kennedy, Roberto Unger B. Critical Theories. Can the Law Make Sense?
Week 11 Wednesday, October 30 A. Derrick Bell, Katherine MacKinnon B. Law and Oppression. Can Our Chains be Cast Off?
Week 12 Wednesday, November 6 A. Jürgen Habermas B. Law and Deliberation. Can We Be
Jurisprudence F18 Page 4
More Reasonable?
Week 13 Wednesday, November 13 A. Truth. What does it all Mean?
Week 14 Wednesday, November 20 Last Class Meeting Congratulations!!
Jurisprudence F18 Page 5