Philosophy of Law

Pre-requisites: None

Course objectives: The goal is mastering the basics of philosophy of law: purpose of law, sources of legal obligation, relation between law and morality, validity of legal norms, etc.

Course description: Philosophy of law is a discipline located somewhere in between ethics, political philosophy and epistemology. The nature of legal norms, which draw a specific kind of obligation, is different from the customary norms and moral norms, and it is also based on the specific kind of agreement without which there can not be their validity (so the right turns to violence). The source of this normative force is complex, and that's why we have two basic theories, or directions, in philosophy of law: theory of natural law (law is ultimately based on morality, on the value of justice) and legal positivism (law is the expression of decision of legislative will on what is ultimately good which should and must be protected by legal norms). From these two starting points, we come to the whole range of issues of great ethical, political and vital importance, and the specificity of these issues adds to the complexity of the subject which is examined within philosophy of law.

Learning Outcomes: Capacity for research in the field of practical philosophy, especially in terms of locating legal norms, their validity, their nature, domain, and so on, compared to the other value criteria.

Literature/Reading:

• G. Radbruh, Filozofija prava
• H. Hart, Pojam prava
• Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously
• J. Feinberg, Harm to Others
• I. Primorac, Prestup i kazna