HISTORY OF MODERN LEGAL PHILOSOPHY

Course Information
TitleHISTOIRE DE LA PHILOSOPHIE MODERNE DU DROIT / HISTORY OF MODERN LEGAL PHILOSOPHY
CodeΕΛΕ80
FacultyLaw
SchoolLaw
Cycle / Level1st / Undergraduate
Teaching PeriodSpring
CoordinatorConstantin Stamatis
CommonNo
StatusActive
Course ID100001722

Programme of Study: PPS Tmīma Nomikīs (2024-sīmera)

Registered students: 0
OrientationAttendance TypeSemesterYearECTS
ENIAIA KATEUTHYNSĪElective CoursesSpring-5

Class Information
Academic Year2018 – 2019
Class PeriodSpring
Faculty Instructors
Weekly Hours2
Class ID
600127065
Course Type 2016-2020
  • General Knowledge
  • Scientific Area
Course Type 2011-2015
Specific Foundation / Core
Mode of Delivery
  • Face to face
Digital Course Content
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
  • French (Instruction, Examination)
Prerequisites
General Prerequisites
elementary legal culture
Learning Outcomes
The course gives students the opportunity to capture how the contemporary theory of legal reasoning has been historically formed, as well as its variety of currents of thought. This approach seems promising to open up a scope over fundamental questions of modern legal reasoning. By the end of the course, students will have shaped a clear vision as to how jurists ought to justify their judgements. Moreover, it is hoped that they will have adequately understood that foundational matters of legal science are essentially philosophical. In other words, the righteousness of legal judgements proves to be interwoven with the question: under which conditions might a legal order be legitimate and thus susceptible to obedience by the citizens in a democratic polity?
General Competences
  • Apply knowledge in practice
  • Make decisions
  • Work autonomously
  • Work in an interdisciplinary team
  • Generate new research ideas
  • Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
  • Respect natural environment
  • Demonstrate social, professional and ethical commitment and sensitivity to gender issues
  • Be critical and self-critical
  • Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The course suggests mainly a historical overview on the formation of modern legal thinking, from French Revolution to our own era. This overview fosters on the question of what Law is and how it should be interpreted. The course is divided in two parts. The first part has a historical orientation. It examines a) the transition from the rational legal philosophy of the Enlightenment toward the legal positivism in 19th century; b) the contestation of legal positivism by newer currents of legal thought, from the end of 19th century and onwards; c) the appearance of innovative theories on legal reasoning after the II. World War. The second part tries to fertilize the aforementioned rich constellation of ideas, aiming to offer a reconstructive approach on contamporafy legal reasoning. DIAGRAM OF LECTURES 1) Kant’s legal philosophy, as the most representative model within the political philosophy of the Enlightenment. 2) The gradual appearance of legal positivism during the 19th century; its basic features and undercurrents. 3) Currents of thought critical to legal positivism: a) objective and teleological theory of interpretation, b) theory of legal interests, c) free interpretation of law. 4) The analytical theory of law in the after-War Britain. The interpretive model of R. Dworkin’s legal theory in the USA. 5) “Hermeneutic” theory of law, the “topic” legal theory and “New Rhetoric”. 6) The language of law after L. Wittgenstein’s “pragmatic” turn in the philosophy of language. 7) The legal syllogism in the framework of contemporary theory of legal argumentation. 8) Guidelines of a normative theory of legal reasoning and a critique against the decisionist model of legal interpretation (especially H. Kelsen’s). 9) Conditions of possibility for right answers to legal matters. 10) The possibility of critical assessment of Constitution. 11) From legal theory to philosophy of justice. EDUCATIONAL OUTCOME The course gives students the opportunity to capture how the contemporary theory of legal reasoning has been historically formed, as well as its variety of currents of thought. This approach seems promising to open up a scope over fundamental questions of modern legal reasoning. By the end of the course, students will have shaped a clear vision as to how jurists ought to justify their judgements. Moreover, it is hoped that they will have understood that foundational matters of legal science are essentially philosophical. In other words, the righteousness of legal judgements proves to be interwoven with the question: under which conditions might a legal order be legitimate and thus susceptible to obedience by the citizens? ELEMENTS OF BIBLIOGRAPHY Constantin Stamatis, Argumenter en droit. Une théorie critique de l’argumentation juridique, éd. Publisud, Paris, 1995. ----, «La possibilité de critique de la Constitution en tant que source suprême du droit», in: Le droit entre autonomie et ouverture. Mélanges en l'honneur de Jean-Louis Bergel, éd. Bruylant, Bruxelles, 2013, pp. 477-499. Le profil de la méthodologie contemporaine du droit remonte his-toriquement à la pensée juridique formée en Europe, surtout à la suite de la dynamique dégagée par la revolution française. Or, il nous faudra revenir en arrière pour en retracer les origines dans la pensée juridique du 19e siè-cle, dominée par ce courant immense, et à l’époque écrasant, que fut le juspositivisme. Vers la fin du 19e siècle, pourtant, pensée et méthodologie positivistes ont subi le feu d’une critique de plus en plus pénétrante. Avec un certain émerveillement pour les sciences sociales naissantes à l’époque, un en-semble de courants anti-formalistes a fait irruption sur la scène de la sci-ence européenne du droit. Au long du 20e siècle, sa force revivifiante a pu infuencer profondément le paysage méthodologique en ce qui concerne la justification des jugements juridiques. PLAN DES CONFERENCES 1) Philosophie de droit chez Kant. 2) La formation du positivisme juridique au 19e siècle: traits et courants principaux du juspositivisme. 3) Courants de pensée anti-formaliste au début du 20e siècle: a) la théorie d’intrerprétation objective et téléologique, b) la jurisprudence des in-térêts, c) le mouvement du droit libre. 4) La théorie analytique du droit en Grande Bretagne. Le modèle herméneutique de R. Dworkin aux Etats-Unis. 5) Théorie herméneutique du droit, la Topique et la Nouvelle Rhétorique après la guerre. 6) Le langage du droit à la suite de L. Wittgenstein. 7) Le syllogisme juridique selon la théorie contemporaire d’argumentation juridique 8) Pour une théorie normative, non décisioniste, de l’intrerprétation ju-ridique (contre les vues de H. Kelsen et M. Troper). 9) La justesse des jugements juridiques; à la recherche d’un critère ra-tionnel. 10) La possibilité de critique rationnelle de la Constitution. 11) De la théorie du droit vers la philosophie de la justice. TEXTES D’APPUI Constantin Stamatis, Argumenter en droit. Une théorie critique de l’argumentation juridique, éd. Publisud, Paris, 1995 (les quatre premiers chapitres). ----, «La possibilité de critique de la Constitution en tant que source su-prême du droit», in: Le droit entre autonomie et ouverture. Mélanges en l'honneur de Jean-Louis Bergel, éd. Bruylant, Bruxelles, 2013, pp. 477-499. ----, «La systématicité du droit chez Kelsen et les apories de la norme fondamentale», Archives de philosophie du droit, tome 31, 1986, pp. 45-55.
Keywords
Law, Enlightenment, Kant, Legal Positivism, Contemporary currents of legal thought, Legal Reasoning, Theory of Justice.
Educational Material Types
  • Book
Course Organization
ActivitiesWorkloadECTSIndividualTeamworkErasmus
Lectures120
Reading Assigment
Internship
Total120
Student Assessment
Description
The final examination inludes two questions to be dealt with. a) A theoretical question on some aspect of modern legal reasoning, and b) a practical question on some problem of legislative policy.
Student Assessment methods
  • Written Exam with Extended Answer Questions (Summative)
  • Written Exam with Problem Solving (Summative)
Bibliography
Additional bibliography for study
Για τη διδασκαλία του μαθήματος αυτού στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος ERASMUS, ο διδάσκων θα χρησιμοποιεί ως διδακτικό βοήθημα το έργο του: Argumenter en droit. Une théorie critique de l’argumentation juridique, éd. Publisud, Paris, 1995, σελίδες 336. Constantin Stamatis, «La possibilité de critique de la Constitution en tant que source suprême du droit», Le droit entre autonomie et ouverture. Mélanges en l'honneur de Jean-Louis Bergel, éd. Bruylant, Bruxelles, 2013, σ. 477-499.
Last Update
25-11-2015