AP/PHIL 2050 6.00

Philosophy Of Law

Crosslisted: GL/PHIL 2925, AP/PHIL 2050

This introductory course in the philosophy of law provides students with the opportunity to explore several general theories about the nature of law, including natural law theory, legal positivism, interpretivism, legal realism, critical race theory, and legal pluralism. Such theories investigate, in different ways and with different emphases, law's relation to morality, coercion, religion, cultural and economic norms, and gender divisions. The objective is to identify and explain the distinguishing features of law, as well as the balance of benefits and risks which law introduces in society. Throughout the course important legal cases are considered, in Canadian law and elsewhere, which illustrate acute philosophical problems as they arise in practice.