School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Jurisprudence
  • Unit Code

    LAW2345
  • Year

    2017
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Mr Martin Alan ALLCOCK

Description

This unit examines the theoretical and philosophical perspectives of the law which have been advanced by scholars. These perspectives address such fundamental legal questions such as what is law, what is the source of law, should law reflect morality, what is justice, and does the law exists to achieve justice or to achieve other goals such as wealth maximisation. Also examined are questions concerning whether citizens have a duty to obey the law, whether citizens possess fundamental rights under law, and whether the law operates to reinforce social heirarchies in society based upon gender and race. Students completing this unit will develop a more critical and nuanced understanding of the law and the ideas which shape it.

Prerequisite Rule

Student must have passed (LAW1218 Torts II, LAW1212 Contract Law II, and LAW2102 Property Law)

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Explain the relationship between law and philosophy.
  2. Understand the key ideas in legal philosophy considered in this unit, including legal positivism, legal realism, natural law theory, economic theory, corrective justice and distributive justice theory, interpretive theory and social contract theory.
  3. Demonstrate reflective and critical thinking about the law from the perspective of the relevant theories.
  4. Produce appropriate scholarly writing.

Unit Content

  1. Legal positivism: Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, Hans Kelsen and HLA Hart.
  2. Social contract theory: John Rawls.
  3. Libertarianism: Robert Nozick.
  4. Feminist critiques of law.
  5. Legal realism: American realism, Australian realism.
  6. Natural law theories: John Finnis.
  7. Law and morality: Lon Fuller, Ernest Weinrib, Allan Beever.
  8. Economic analysis of law: Jeremy Bentham, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jnr, Calabresi, Posner.
  9. The obligation to obey the law.
  10. Rights and law: Hohfeldian rights analysis.
  11. Theories of justice: distributive justice, corrective justice, justice as fairness, entitlement theory of justice.
  12. Interpretive legal theory: Ronald Dworkin.

Additional Learning Experience Information

This unit is offered on campus and off campus.

On-campus students attend a two hour lecture and a one hour of tutorial per week.
Off-campus students access the unit via Blackboard.
Regular online access is required.

All written work is required to demonstrate the application of professionally appropriate language skills.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ParticipationTutorial Participation10%
Essay2500 Word Essay40%
Essay4000 Word Essay50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ParticipationOnline Participation10%
Essay2500 Word Essay40%
Essay4000 Word Essay50%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

LAW2345|1|1

School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Jurisprudence
  • Unit Code

    LAW2345
  • Year

    2017
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Mr Martin Alan ALLCOCK

Description

This unit examines the theoretical and philosophical perspectives of the law which have been advanced by scholars. These perspectives address such fundamental legal questions such as what is law, what is the source of law, should law reflect morality, what is justice, and does the law exists to achieve justice or to achieve other goals such as wealth maximisation. Also examined are questions concerning whether citizens have a duty to obey the law, whether citizens possess fundamental rights under law, and whether the law operates to reinforce social heirarchies in society based upon gender and race. Students completing this unit will develop a more critical and nuanced understanding of the law and the ideas which shape it.

Prerequisite Rule

Student must have passed (LAW1218 Torts II, LAW1212 Contract Law II, and LAW2102 Property Law)

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Explain the relationship between law and philosophy.
  2. Understand the key ideas in legal philosophy considered in this unit, including legal positivism, legal realism, natural law theory, economic theory, corrective justice and distributive justice theory, interpretive theory and social contract theory.
  3. Demonstrate reflective and critical thinking about the law from the perspective of the relevant theories.
  4. Produce appropriate scholarly writing.

Unit Content

  1. Legal positivism: Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, Hans Kelsen and HLA Hart.
  2. Social contract theory: John Rawls.
  3. Libertarianism: Robert Nozick.
  4. Feminist critiques of law.
  5. Legal realism: American realism, Australian realism.
  6. Natural law theories: John Finnis.
  7. Law and morality: Lon Fuller, Ernest Weinrib, Allan Beever.
  8. Economic analysis of law: Jeremy Bentham, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jnr, Calabresi, Posner.
  9. The obligation to obey the law.
  10. Rights and law: Hohfeldian rights analysis.
  11. Theories of justice: distributive justice, corrective justice, justice as fairness, entitlement theory of justice.
  12. Interpretive legal theory: Ronald Dworkin.

Additional Learning Experience Information

This unit is offered on campus and off campus.

On-campus students attend a two hour lecture and a one hour of tutorial per week.
Off-campus students access the unit via Blackboard.
Regular online access is required.

All written work is required to demonstrate the application of professionally appropriate language skills.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ParticipationTutorial Participation10%
Essay2500 Word Essay40%
Essay4000 Word Essay50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ParticipationOnline Participation10%
Essay2500 Word Essay40%
Essay4000 Word Essay50%

Core Reading(s)

  • Ratnapala, S. (2013). Jurisprudence. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press: Cambridge University Press.
  • Bix, B. (2015). Jurisprudence: Theory and context . (7th ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

LAW2345|1|2