Unit aim
Identifies and evaluates some of the theoretical frameworks that inform legal knowledge and legal practice. Analyses a number of philosophical perspectives having implications for law, legal institutions and legal practices. Enables us to better appreciate the ethical and socio-political consequences of our practice as lawyers.
Unit content
Topic 1: Philosophical pursuits and the law
Topic 2: Ethical and political frameworks
Topic 3: Traditional common law theory
Topic 4: Traditional jurisprudence: Legal positivism
Topic 5: Traditional jurisprudence: Natural law
Topic 6: Legal realism and Critical Legal Studies
Topic 7: Law and social theory
Topic 8: Poststructuralism, postmodernism and deconstruction
Topic 9: Feminism, race and colonialism
Topic 10: Historical and anthropological jurisprudence
Topic 11: Ecological jurisprudence
Topic 12: The concerns of legal theory
Learning outcomes
Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.
Learning outcomes and graduate attributes
GA1: Intellectual rigour,
GA2: Creativity,
GA3: Ethical practice,
GA4: Knowledge of a discipline,
GA5: Lifelong learning,
GA6: Communication and social skills,
GA7: Cultural competence| On completion of this unit, students should be able to: | GA1 | GA2 | GA3 | GA4 | GA5 | GA6 | GA7 |
|---|
| 1 | identify the central concerns of both traditional jurisprudence and contemporary legal theory; | Intellectual rigour | | Ethical practice | | Lifelong learning | | |
| 2 | critically reflect upon the philosophical assumptions that inform the teaching, learning and practice of Anglo-Australian law; | Intellectual rigour | | | | Lifelong learning | | |
| 3 | critically appraise the relationship between theory and practice, in particular, the relationship between ideas about law and specific social, cultural, political and legal practices; | Intellectual rigour | | | | Lifelong learning | | |
| 4 | identify and evaluate the ethical frameworks within which our practice, both as lawyers and non-lawyers, operates. | | | Ethical practice | | Lifelong learning | | |
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
- identify the central concerns of both traditional jurisprudence and contemporary legal theory;
- GA1:
Intellectual rigour
- GA3:
Ethical practice
- GA5:
Lifelong learning
- critically reflect upon the philosophical assumptions that inform the teaching, learning and practice of Anglo-Australian law;
- GA1:
Intellectual rigour
- GA5:
Lifelong learning
- critically appraise the relationship between theory and practice, in particular, the relationship between ideas about law and specific social, cultural, political and legal practices;
- GA1:
Intellectual rigour
- GA5:
Lifelong learning
- identify and evaluate the ethical frameworks within which our practice, both as lawyers and non-lawyers, operates.
- GA3:
Ethical practice
- GA5:
Lifelong learning
Prescribed texts
Session 1
- Davies, M, 2008, Asking the Law Question, 3rd edn, Lawbook Co.
- Wacks, R, 2012, Understanding Jurisprudence, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press.
Prescribed texts may change in future study periods.