Jurisprudence causes you to take an analytical step back to address issues that may have been presupposed, or simply left unspoken, during your degree. Jurisprudence builds upon the black-letter subjects you have studied and places them in a theoretical and social context: it is a meta analysis of law which pulls together themes from all of the areas you will have studied hitherto.
In some respects jurisprudence may be regarded as an 'Advanced Legal Method' course in the sense that it returns (at a level appropriate to the final year of study on the programme) to the very first things law students would have been taught on the degree (as basic, building-block 'skills') and asks them to problematise that most 'basic' knowledge: you will learn early on that law is to be found in statutes and case-law (and this is entirely appropriate at the starting point of your study of English law); Jurisprudence, as a culminating exercise of the study of a bachelors degree in law, encourages you to ask 'why?' - it encourages you to ask 'what -at the theoretical level - is 'law'?'. You are then invited to reflect upon the fact that the sources you have been taught to regard as definitive are only so when one presupposes a particular conception of what 'law' is (a particular 'concept of law', vis. legal positivism or some kind of pedigree thesis). There is an older tradition which uses different criteria of identification, and learning about this alternative tradition opens up a whole new vista of thinking and understanding which is appropriate to the final stage of the study of law.
Jurisprudence therefore, encourages you to problematise your knowledge of the law and reflect upon what you have taken for granted in your 'building block studies prior to level 6. It causes you to return (in a virtuous circle) to the very first things you were taught on the law degree (at an appropriate time) and see these things in a different light.
Law and its social context : what is law 'for', what does law 'do?'.
These questions are central to the jurisprudence course. Much of the module is concerned with placing law in a socio-theoretical context. It asks the question: what is the relationship between 'law' and 'society?'. Society has been theorised (as a serious academic endeavour) since around the period of the Enlightenment and 'sociology' as an academic discipline emerged in the 19th century. To understand law is to understand law in its relations with other social institutions and understanding these social institutions is to attempt to have a theoretical handle upon the nature of society. Jurisprudence prepares you for a context within which your legal knowledge will be utilised.
Is the purpose of law the co-ordination of autonomous individuals under a principle of relative certainty? Is it an institution designed to cement the will of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat? Is it to ossify patriarchy? Jurisprudence asks these questions and asking these questions deepens your understanding of 'law'.
Conclusion
Jurisprudence is a core part of our effort to understand law. It invites a level of reflection upon taken-for-granted legal knowledge and makes that reflection systematic and sustained. It is a module which causes you to reflect backwards upon your studies as a whole and to be able to move forward into the non-academic sphere with a critical understanding of your discipline and the context of that discipline within the world in which you will be expected to operate.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
This module is delivered in a 44 hour 'block' where time is devoted to both lectures and seminars. Lectures are designed to introduce students to the key features of each topic and to lay the preparatory ground for the application of knowledge and expanded discussion via the group seminars, where each student will be given the opportunity to work in small groups to discuss a topic as well as participate in the wider plenary sections of the session.
| Definitive UNISTATS Category | Indicative Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | Lectures and workshops | 66 |
| Guided independent study | 234 | |
| Total (number of credits x 10) | 300 | |
Students will be required to submit a portfolio of written work (including work from in-class activities)which will allow them to demonstrate that they have an awareness of the intellectual positions taken by theorists studied on the module; are able to show an ability to assess the adequacy of the arguments put forward by those theorists and otherwise demonstrate the learning outcomes of the module. The work will be assessed according to its informational and analytical content and according to the requirement that appropriate levels of communication are used to express the information and analysis. The seminars, practice essay and oral presentation will be used as opportunities to develop the knowledge and communicative skills required for the summative assessment: they will enable the students to receive feedback (and feed forward) on the level and depth of knowledge, critical thinking and communication skills required to succeed in the module.
| Learning Outcome | Assessment Strategy |
|---|---|
| 1) Demonstrate an awareness of the intellectual positions taken by theorists studied on the course; | Portfolio of written work. Seminars/practice essay (formative) |
| 2) Critically assess, the adequacy of the different arguments put forward by theorists studied on the course; | Portfolio of written work. Seminars/practice essay (formative) |
| 3) Demonstrate the ability to handle abstract thought and, in some cases, to apply the conceptualised subject matter to specific ethico-juridical problems; | Portfolio of written work. Seminars/practice essay (formative) |
| 4) Write a piece of work which (inter alia) demonstrates that they are able to follow the correct academic protocols relating to referencing and citation of content and able to conduct thorough research of a topic making critical decisions on the most pertinent material to use in their work | Portfolio of written work. Seminars/practice essay (formative) |
| 5) Make an oral group presentation on a subject of their own choosing. | This will be purely formative and will take place in the seminar sessions |
| Description of Assessment | Definitive UNISTATS Categories | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Coursework | 100 |
| Total (to equal 100%) | 100% | |
It IS a requirement that the major category of assessment is passed in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.
MDA Freeman and Lord Lloyd of Hampstead Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence (Sweet and Maxwell)
Reza Banakar and Max Travers An Introduction to Law and Social Theory (Hart Publishing).
Hugh Collins Marxism and Law (OUP).
Lon Fuller The Morality of Law (Yale University Press).
JW Harris Legal Philosophies (OUP).
HLA Hart The Concept of Law (OUP).
Catherine A. Mackinnon Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (Harvard University Press.