Course Catalogue

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What is law? The answer matters: how we understand law shapes how it is practiced, interpreted and challenged. Many lawyers assume that the answer is straightforward. But this deceptively simple question has sparked one of the longest-running and most fascinating debates in legal theory.

This course introduces students to the cutting-edge debates about the nature of law and equips them with a structured framework to critically evaluate the methodological assumptions that inform rival positions. Engaging closely with the works of leading legal theorists, the course investigates a range of approaches to jurisprudence and, in so doing, addresses questions such as: Is the nature of law independent of language? Is it independent of moral judgments? Is the question of the nature of law philosophical or scientific? And, finally, do we even need to answer the question of the nature of law?

The course deepens students' understanding of current jurisprudential debates while providing them with the tools to examine these debates critically and creatively. By the end of the course, students will be able not only to navigate complex theoretical disagreements but also to reflect on what is at stake in how we understand law.

10 x 2-hour seminars throughout the semester

This course is open to students on both the LLB (Scots Law) and the LLB (Common Law), and to visiting students.

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Assessment 1: Essay (70%)

Students will submit an essay of 3,000 words

Assessment 2: Oral Assessment (30%)

Students will complete an oral assessment/presentation component.

In recognition of the potential disability equality impact of the oral assessment, the course team will, in line with recommendations contained in the School's Disability Handbook, adopt inclusive assessment practices and implement reasonable adjustments to the assessment as required.

The aim of this course is to cultivate students' capacity for critical thinking about law, situate legal practices within a broader framework of theoretical reflection about the nature of law, and develop awareness of the importance and practical consequences of different answers to this question. As such, it is particularly well-suited to support several of the University of Glasgow graduate attributes, contributing to students' development as critical and independent thinkers and ethically and socially aware citizens, as well as subject specialists who understand the values, principles and limitations of their discipline. As such, students who take the course will be better equipped to contribute to their communities as well as to the disciplinary culture and practice of law.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

- Interpret texts and ideas in legal theory

- Assess complex and abstract theoretical arguments about the nature of law

- Evaluate different approaches to the question of the nature of law

- Formulate theoretical questions about law, legal institutions and legal practices

-Construct sustained arguments drawing on a range of theoretical sources