Philosophy of Law and State
Code
722031047
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Filosofia
Credits
10
Teacher in charge
Diogo Pires Aurélio
Weekly hours
3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
a) To understand the nature of the law and the structure of the juridical reasoning, as well as the specificity of a philosophical approach to juridical problems and related notions, like norm, punishment and state as a source of norms.
b) To know the main currents in the Philosophy of Law
c) To be able to critically weigh the legitimacy of the norms, in the light of a reflection on justice, both in its essence and in its positive expressions
Prerequisites
None
Subject matter
This curricular unit deals with the question of the grounds of the statute law, confronting its positivist version with the limits that have been often pointed out, chiefly the problem raised by the notion of subjective rights, previous to any legal-political system, as they appear in the Declarations of Human Rights. According to this commitment, the meaning of the constitution in the modern statute laws will be particularly analysed, as well as its articulation with the will of the people.
Bibliography
Bobbio, N. (1976). Il positivismo giuridico. Lezioni di Filosofia del diritto, Torino, G. Giappichelli Editore
Kelsen, Hans (2006). General Theory of Law & State (1945), New Brunswick and London, Transaction Publishers
Sá, A. F. (2009). O Poder pelo Poder. Ficção e Ordem no combate de Carl Schmitt em torno do poder, Lisboa, Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa, 2009
Schmitt, C. (1985), Politische Theologie, transl. by George Schwab, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press
Sieyes, E.- J. (2008). Qu’ est-ce que le Tiers-État (1789), trad. por Tereza Meneses, Círculo de Leitores
Strauss, L. (1953), Natural Right and History, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press
Teaching method
Two main activities are developed in the course. During the first one and a half hour, there is an explanation of theoretical contents,that will be followed by the presentation of questions by the students and a wide debate on the previously presented issues. In the second part of the class, there will be room for reading, interpretation and analysis of the texts on which the presented contents were based.
Evaluation method
The evaluation is chiefly focused on the elaboration of a paper that shall be previously proposed to and supervised by the lecturer (80%). Attendance and participation in class are also taken into account (20%).