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Philosophy of a Specific Discipline: Philosophy of Law

Master

Philosophy of Law is a specialisation of the MA programme in Philosophy of a Specific Discipline. The two-year Master’s programme in Philosophy of a Specific Discipline is intended for students in a particular academic discipline who are interested in the philosophical foundations and methodological aspects of that discipline.

For information about the objectives and general structure of the programme, the MA thesis and the requirements for graduation, please see the website of the MA in Philosophy of Specific Discipline. For a brief description of this specialisation click on ‘Informatie’ above.

Structure of the programme

First Year

  • 10 EC / MA course in Philosophy

  • 10 EC / MA course in Philosophy

  • 10 EC / Specialist MA course in Philosophy of Law

  • 30 EC / MA courses in Law

Second Year

  • 10 EC / Specialist MA course in Philosophy of Law

  • 10 EC / MA courses in Law

  • 10 EC / Literature Study in the area of the MA thesis

  • 30 EC / MA thesis

Eerste jaar / Tweede jaar

The following MA courses in Philosophy and specialist MA courses in Philosophy of Law are on offer in 2009-2010:

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2

Specialist courses in Philosophy of Law
Philosophy of Law I 10
Philosophy of Law II 10

MA courses in Philosophy
Newton as Philosopher 10
Philosophy and History of Philosophy: an Uneasy Couple? 10
Philosophy of Historiography I: General and Intellectual History 10
Het ding bij Heidegger en Ponge 10
Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding 10
Nietzschean and Post-Nietzschean Aesthetics 10
Philosophy of Historiography II: History of Science 10
The Taming of the Mind 10
Het ding bij Benjamin 10
Wijsgerige antropologie IV: Taal en Romantiek 10
Ethics and Evolution 10
Moral Psychology 10

Meer info

Description

Law is a peculiar institution in modern societies. It permeates all areas of life and guides our everyday interactions in all sorts of ways. But what is law actually? What makes certain rules law and others not? And what makes something into a rule anyway? Should we identify law as codified law or can we find law in other places as well? What is the proper method for finding law? What sorts of reasoning do legal practitioners use when they seek to apply the law to a case?

In addition to these analytical questions there are the big normative questions about good law. What is the rule of law? Why is it so desirable? Are there limits as to what the law can demand from us? Do we have a (moral) duty to obey the law? What does justice require from the law? These and other questions come up in one form or other in the specialisation Philosophy of Law.

Specialisation co-ordinator

Dr. B.J.E. (Bruno) Verbeek
b.verbeek@phil.leidenuniv.nl