Postgraduate Course: Fundamentals of Legal Argument (LAWS11510)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will teach the basic building block of legal argumentation, equipping students with the skills they need to analyse, reconstruct and evaluate arguments.
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| Course description |
The objective of this course is to teach students the fundamental building blocks of legal argumentation, in order to allow them to confidently analyse and evaluate the legal arguments of others. In
doing so, it will provide a solid grounding not only in argumentation theory, but also in the wide range of legal materials and resources that can be used to run cogent legal arguments, particularly in common law jurisdictions. The course will begin with a detailed look at the Hohfeldian schema for understanding legal entitlements and obligations, demonstrating the ways in which it can be applied in concrete cases and controversies. We will then introduce the propositional and predicate logic necessary to reconstruct arguments with complete clarity, and the different fallacies - formal and informal - that such reconstructions help us bring out. We will then look at legal argument in particular: the role of authority (and different kinds of authority) in generating legal reasons; how to argue when the authority is unclear or contested; and what legal reasons might remain when authority has "run out". The reading for each week will be a mixture of the theoretical background to the relevant skills, and a set of excerpts from actual judicial decisions. While there will be time for discussion and debate of the theoretical elements, the core element of each class will consist in the detailed analysis, reconstruction and evaluation of one or more arguments from those decisions. Students will be invited to submit reconstructions in advance, and these too will be discussed in class.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The summative assessment for this course will be in 2 parts:
(1) A short written analysis and evaluation of an argument taken from a judicial decision (max 1500 words) - 50%
(2) A 20-minute oral examination with the CO and one other faculty member - 50%
The oral examinations, which will be recorded to ensure that external examiners have all the necessary material, will probe both the student's written analysis/evaluation, and their understanding of the coursework more broadly. (The written analysis will receive a final mark prior to the oral, and this mark will not be subject to change as a result of the oral).
The written assessment will be released to students at the end of the course, and they will than have a week in which to submit their work. |
| Feedback |
Part of the reading each week will consist in excerpts from the judgments in relevant cases. Students will be invited to submit short reconstructions and evaluations of arguments from these judgments, applying the relevant skills from the course. These will be circulated and discussed during class, providing an opportunity for both instructor and peer feedback.
There will also be a formative assessment, where students will have the chance to reconstruct and evaluate an argument, mirroring the written component of the summative, and on which they will receive feedback. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the propositional logic and predicate logic necessary for the analysis and reconstruction of legal arguments
- Understand and apply the process of argument reconstruction and evaluation
- Identify fallacies in the arguments of others, and avoid them in their own
- Grasp the full range of different materials that can form the basis of cogent legal arguments in common-law jurisdictions
- Be able to apply these skills to the reconstruction and evaluation of actual judgments across a wide range of legal fields
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Reading List
The core reading for this course will be Legal Argument (forthcoming OUP, 2024), written by Euan MacDonald and Luís Duarte d'Almeida. Even if the book has not been published by the time the course runs for the first time, we will be able to make the relevant chapters available.
For each week, there will also be a set of excerpts from relevant judgments, and a detailed further reading list. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Mindsets:
- Enquiry and lifelong learning
- Aspiration and personal development
Skills:
- Research and enquiry
- Personal and intellectual autonomy
- Communication |
| Keywords | Argumentation,Hohfeld,reasons,reasoning,authority,precedent,interpretation,analysis |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Euan MacDonald
Tel: (0131 6)50 9832
Email: Euan.MacDonald@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hannah Ackroyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: hackroyd@ed.ac.uk |
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