Lahore University of Management Sciences
LAW 310 – Jurisprudence
Fall 2019
Instructor Zubair Abbasi
Room No. 1-14 Law School
Office Hours TBA
Email
[email protected]Telephone
Secretary/TA
TA Office Hours TBA
Course URL (if any) TBA
COURSE BASICS
Credit Hours
Lecture(s) Nbr of Lec(s) Per 2 hours Duration 2 hours
Week
Recitation/Lab (per Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
week) Week
Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Duration
Week
COURSE DISTRIBUTION
Core BA/LLB
Elective
Open for Student Open to all
Category
Close for Student None
Category
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course, we shall examine fundamental questions about the nature of law. We shall also explore the
objectives and functions of law in society by analysing conflicting ideals of justice and conflicting moral
codes. We shall explore the core ideas of thinking about law, including natural, positive, pure, realist, critical
and feminist theories of law with the aim to comprehend a variety of methodological tools for critically
understanding the role of law in modern states and societies.
COURSE PREREQUISITE(S)
LAW 102: Introduction to Pakistan Legal System; and Law 101: Introduction to Legal Reasoning
Lahore University of Management Sciences
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To familiarize participants with the key concepts, theories and thinkers in the field of jurisprudence.
To understand a range of topics and debates in legal and political philosophy.
To develop legal reasoning skills of participants by enabling them to develop and evaluate their own
opinions and training them in constructing coherent and reflective arguments, with an ability to
constructively criticise the works they are studying.
To practice and hone skills of articulation and organization verbally and in writing analyses of
concepts of law.
Learning Outcomes:
Understanding of a range of debates in legal and political philosophy concerning law and legal
institutions.
Ability to assess legal and political theories and question their internal consistency and coherence as
well as their foundational assumptions.
Capacity to construct philosophical arguments and apply abstract philosophical arguments to real
problems and contexts.
Present a well-constructed and consistent argument orally and in written form.
GRADING BREAKUP AND POLICY
Quizzes/Assignment(s): 15%
Class Participation:10%
Your participation grade will depend on various factors, including attendance, attentiveness, quality of comment or other engagement,
and most importantly covering your readings for each session.
Mid Term: 25%
Final Term: 50%
Your final course requirement is an in-class exam, which will consist of several short-answer questions, and a longer essay that draws
on multiple themes from the course. These will be graded for understanding, analysis, articulation, and organization.
COURSE OVERVIEW
Session
Topics Readings Objective(s)
(s)
1&2 Introduction Introduction to
Freeman, Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence the course
(Sweet & Maxwell, 2014) 1-74 outline and
course
material.
Lahore University of Management Sciences
H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd ed,
Oxford 1994), Preface, ch 1, pp 1-17.
3&4 Nature of Jurisprudence
J. Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights
(Oxford 1980) ch 1, pp 1-22.
H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd ed,
Oxford 1994) chs 4 and 5, 50-99.
Legal positivism: laws and
5&6 Hans Kelsen, ‘The Function of a Constitution’ in
legal systems
MDA Freeman, Lloyd’s Introduction to
Jurisprudence (Sweet & Maxwell, 2001) 302-7.
H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd ed
Oxford 1994) ch 6, 99-123.
J. Raz, The Authority of Law (Oxford 1979), chs
Legal positivism: the
7&8 7 & 8. Raz explains the differences between
internal aspect of law
Hart and Kelsen’s approach to the internal
aspect of law, and attempts to explain how both
stop short of abandoning legal positivism.
A. Ross, ‘Review of “The Concept of Law”’,
71 Yale LJ (1961-2), 1185 – stressing the
similarities between his theory and Hart’s.
F. Cohen, ‘Transcendental Nonsense and the
Functional Approach’, 35 Columbia LR (1935)
Legal realism: the external 809 – legal rules and concepts are meaningless
9 & 10
aspect of law? unless they predict patterns of judicial behaviour.
K. Llewellyn, ‘A Realistic Jurisprudence – The
Next Step’, 30 Columbia LR (1930) 431 – actual
behaviour and attitudes can falsify the content of
a ‘paper rule’.
11 & 12 Legal anti-positivism: the Ronald M Dworkin, ‘The Model of Rules’
critique of positivism (1967) Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 3609.
Joseph Raz, Legal Principles and the Limits of
Law, 81 Yale L.J. (1972).
H.L.A. Hart, ‘Postscript’ to The Concept of Law
(2nd ed, Oxford 1994), pp.263–8.
Lahore University of Management Sciences
R.M. Dworkin, ‘Hard Cases’ (1985) Harvard
Law Review, 1057-1109 (in his ‘Reply to
Critics’).
Legal anti-positivism: hard
13 & 14
cases
Raz, ‘Dworkin: A New Link in the Chain’,
(1986) 74 California Law Review 1103.
J.M. Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights
(Oxford 1980), chs 1 and 10.
15 & 16 The natural law tradition
H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (2nd ed,
Oxford 1994) ch 9, pp 185-212.
E.B. Pashukanis, Law and Marxism: A General
Theory (London 1989) in MDA Freeman,
Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (Sweet &
Anarchism and the radical Maxwell, 2001) 1131-39.
17 & 18
critique of law
R.M. Unger, The Critical Legal Studies
Movement (Cambridge, Mass 1986), chs 1 & 2.
Brian Brix, Jurisprudence: Theory and Context
(Sweet & Maxwell, 2015) 207-36.
R Posner, The Ethical and Political Basis of
19 & 20 Economic Analysis of Law
Wealth Maximization in MDA Freeman, Lloyd’s
Introduction to Jurisprudence (Sweet &
Maxwell, 2001) 647-57.
MDA Freeman, Lloyd’s Introduction to
Jurisprudence (Sweet & Maxwell, 2001) 659-
21 & 22 Sociological Jurisprudence
703.
MDA Freeman, Lloyd’s Introduction to
Jurisprudence (Sweet & Maxwell, 2001) 1122-
36.
23 & 24 Feminist Legal Theory Catharine A. MacKinnon, “Feminism, Marxism,
Method, and the State: Toward Feminist
Jurisprudence,’ (1983) Journal of Women in
Culture and Society 635.
Presentations
24-26
Lahore University of Management Sciences
27 & 28 Guest Speakers
TEXTBOOK(S)/SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
Freeman, M. (ed.), Lloyd’s Introduction to Jurisprudence (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2014) ninth edition.
Dworkin, R, Law’s Empire (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 1998)
Hart, H.L.A, Essays in Jurisprudence and Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983)
Hart, H.L.A, The Concept of Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) third edition.
Penner, J. and E. Melissaris McCoubrey & White’s Textbook on Jurisprudence (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2012) fifth edition.
