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Dr Lewis Ross LAK 401

This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad) and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This half-unit course tackles philosophical issues raised by the law and criminal justice. No prior legal knowledge is required. The first half of the course discusses big picture questions about the purpose and defensibility of law—for example, scrutinising the obligation to obey the law, the justification of punishment, and the circumstances in which we can engage in civil disobedience. The second half of the course will examine a variety of philosophically interesting legal questions. An indicative list includes: When should a court consider something proven? How should the law use algorithms? Should we defer to juries or professional judges? Does it make sense to treat a corporation as morally responsible? Throughout the course, we explore the connection between legal philosophy and other areas of philosophy—especially moral philosophy, political philosophy, and epistemology.  

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the AT.

Formative feedback will be given on a student-led presentation to equip those taking the course with the ability to present their philosophical ideas in a clear, interesting, and rigorous way. 

Delmas, Candice (2018). A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil. New York, USA: Oxford University Press.

Kropotkin, Petr (2015). The Conquest of Bread. Penguin.

Huemer, Michael (2012). The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Nagel, Thomas (1976) Moral Luck. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes. Vol. 50

Jorgensen, Renée (2020). The rational impermissibility of accepting (some) racial generalizations. Synthese 197 (6):2415-2431.

Hoskins, Zachary (2017). Punishment. Analysis 77 (3): 619–632.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the spring exam period.

The course will be assessed by examination in Spring.