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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2013/2014 -
- ARCHIVE as at 1 September 2013 for reference only
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Undergraduate Course: Jurisprudence (LAWS08129)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) Credits10
Home subject areaLaw Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThe course studies law as an institutional normative order within a philosophical and sociological context. Firstly it asks how law is to be seen as a system. What does it mean to say that the law is normative and does that presuppose a particular standard of behaviour? How does law and morality relate to each other, and what does this mean for the administration of justice, both in courts and the law making process? Secondly it looks at concepts within the law such as property, contract, responsibility and critically analyses them within a philosophical and sociological context, with special emphasis on theories from law and economics, Marxist and feminist legal critiques. Students will learn how jurisprudential theories both explain and influence legal practice, in particular in ethically controversial situations.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Legal Reasoning and Legal System (LAWS08106) OR
Students MUST have passed: Scottish Legal System (LAWS08128)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesThis course is only open to visiting students coming through a direct exchange with the School of Law (this includes Erasmus students on a Law Exchange).
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) Learn enabled:  No Quota:  250
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Class Delivery Information First lecture held Monday 16th September 2013, 1110 in LT B David Hume Tower.
Course Start Date 16/09/2013
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5, Summative Assessment Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 70 )
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Written Exam 30 %, Coursework 70 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours:Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)1:00
Resit Exam Diet (August)1:00
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Sources of Law:
The students will be introduced to some of the classic writings in the philosophy of law, together with texts from the most contemporary jurisprudential debates. Students will reflect on how key legal concepts and ideas are shaped by historical, societal, economic and ethical considerations. Key concepts such as (legal) personhood, the role of contracts and free markets in modern societies, property and crimes against person and property will be analysed from economic, sociological, psychological, ethical and legal-theoretical perspectives. As several of the theorists come from outside the Scottish legal system, and are influenced in their thinking by their domestic legal system, students will at the same time be exposed to the similarities and differences that some other legal systems display in conceptualising and thinking about these core concepts.
Assessment Information
Take home exam over 48 hours - 70%

Unseen exam 30% (1 hour)

This exam must be taken on 9 December 2013 (3pm).
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Students will develop research skill to locate jurisprudential material across a variety of media, from traditional books and journals to a variety of digital resources, including academic blogs, newsgroups and discussion lists, social media and wikis. They will learn to use a variety of technological tools to communicate abstract ideas concisely, and contributing in this way to their own digital resources, e.g. through sharing of links through social media like Delicious, as part of a tutorial exercise. They will learn to form rational opinions in emotionally charged debates where diametrically opposed ethical commitments clash, form their own solution and learn to support it with intersubjectively valid arguments.
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern 2 lectures per week, 5 tutorials
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMr Neil Walker
Tel:
Email: neil.walker@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Heather Haig
Tel: (0131 6)50 2053
Email: Heather.Haig@ed.ac.uk
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