PHI234/POL312 - Spring 2016
Philosophy of Law/Jurisprudence
Philosophy of Law/Jurisprudence
syllabus
What makes a written text a piece of law? Are laws human conventions? How should judges decide difficult cases? Why should we obey the law? Should we obey immoral laws? How many errors does the criminal justice system make? What is a tolerable margin of error? How should errors be managed?
- Assignments
- Graded Assignments
- Pass/Fail Assignments
Time and Venue
MW 12:30-1:45 in C-349
Office Hours
MW 2:00-3:00 in C-365
Part 1 - Law and Interpretation
W 1
W 2
-
Mon February 8 & Wed February 10
We will ask what makes written texts laws - Hammurabi's Code
- NY Penal Code
- Hammurabi's Code versus NY Penal Code (slides)
- The corroboration requirement in NY Penal Code ( slides , court opinion)
W 3
W 4
-
Mon February 22 & Wed February 24
Same topic as last week
W 5
-
Mon February 29 & Wed March 2
Writing workshop. Come prepared with ideas for graded assignment 2 (PDF)
Part 2 - Law and Morality
W 6
W 7
W 8
W 9
-
Mon March 28 & Wed March 30
Same topic as last week
W 10
W 11
-
Mon April 11 & Wed April 13
Writing workshop. Come prepared with ideas for graded assignment 3 (PDF)
Part 3 - Wrongful Convictions
W 12
W 13
- It's Spring break!
W 14
W 15
-
Mon May 9 & Wed May 11
We know that some innocent are convicted, but how many are they? - Risinger, Innocents Convicted (article)
W 16
-
Mon May 16 & Wed May 18
How can we control and manage decisional errors at trial? - Hamer, Probabilistic Standards of Proof (article)
Pass/Fail Assignments
due
Mar 4
- Reading Risinger (PDF)
due
Mar 28
- Reading Hart (PDF)
due
Mar 14
- Reading Plato's Crito (PDF)
due
Feb 17
- Reading a court opinion (PDF, sample answer)