Tags
IJ
Admissions requirements
At least one 100-level course of the IJ Major.
Description
Philosophy of law. What is that? It is thinking about law in a fundamental way. The question is not: what are the laws? The question is: what is law? Can one think about the law in this fundamental way, without thinking about the morality behind the law? Clearly not. Thus, philosophy of law cannot do without moral philosophy (ethics). Can one think about it without including politics or society? Of course not. Philosophy of law thus also entails political and social philosophy.
The usual introduction to an academic field consists of an overview, a tiny bit of everything in the field thought to be important. I have often given such courses in the past. It does not work very well. Broadness comes with a price: superficiality. Hence, this introduction will be different, it will be out of the ordinary, unorthodox, heretic.
In this course, we will study the work of only one author, expressing only one view. We will study it in depth. Such an approach admittedly is biased and one-sided. It would be inexcusable, were it not that this author is a very special author, and his book a very special book.
The author is the divine Plato, who is generally agreed to be the father of Western philosophy and the most important philosopher ever. Not more than footnotes to Plato, is what all the other philosophers, Aristotle included, have given us.
The book is Plato’s magnum opus, his greatest work, the Politeia, also known as the Republic. If all of Western philosophy is but footnotes to Plato, all of Plato’s philosophy is but footnotes to the Politeia.
The subtitle of the Politeia is Peri dikaiou, which means: ‘on the just’, or ‘on the just man’. The subject-matter of Plato’s greatest work appears to be justice. Justice is the core value of the law. Hence, the Politeia is a work in the philosophy of law. As such, it is also a work of political, social, and moral philosophy. It is the fountainhead of all these fields.
Course objectives
The student will gain insight into the philosophical premises of law and justice, morality and the modern state.
The student will learn to read and understand a major philosophical work of art.
The student will learn to write about its subjects lucidly and coherently.
The student will learn to discuss, argue and think severely about quite a few of the most important questions that arise in law, morality, society and the state.
Timetable
Once available, timetables will be published here.
Mode of instruction
The seminar will be conducted in the form of a Socratic conversation under guidance of the instructor, in which the text will be discussed and explained.
Assessment
In-class participation and contribution to reflection and discussion: 20%, ongoing weeks 1-7.
Seven weekly questionnaires of max. 500 words: 40% to be handed in at the beginning of the first class of each week
Oral examination: 40%, taken at the end of week 8.
Blackboard
There will be a Blackboard site available for this course. Students will be enrolled at least one week before the start of classes.
Reading List
Required:
- Plato, The Republic. We will use the classic Jowett translation, which is available very cheaply in a Dover Thrift Edition. See: https://www.amazon.de/Republic-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486411214/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1531901293&sr=8-3&keywords=plato+republic+dover
Recommended:
- Nicolas Pappas, Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Republic, 1995 and later
Registration
This course is open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Registration is coordinated by the Curriculum Coordinator. Interested non-LUC students should contact course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Remarks
See Blackboard for additional information, such as the reading schedule etc.