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Philosophy of Law Prof. Eugenio H. Villareal Ateneo de Manila Law School

This document outlines the course objectives, methodology, materials, grading system, and course outline for a Philosophy of Law course. The course aims to help students develop an understanding of the nature and purpose of law, examine different schools of legal thought, and apply legal philosophy to real-world situations. It will use historical perspectives, experiential approaches, and focus on developing students' independent sense of law. Readings will come from various sources and cover topics like natural law theory, legal positivism, the rule of law, and special topics like legal formalism and critical legal studies. Student performance will be evaluated based on recitation, mid-term exercises, and a final exam.

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Alexis Louisse Gonzales
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357 views5 pages

Philosophy of Law Prof. Eugenio H. Villareal Ateneo de Manila Law School

This document outlines the course objectives, methodology, materials, grading system, and course outline for a Philosophy of Law course. The course aims to help students develop an understanding of the nature and purpose of law, examine different schools of legal thought, and apply legal philosophy to real-world situations. It will use historical perspectives, experiential approaches, and focus on developing students' independent sense of law. Readings will come from various sources and cover topics like natural law theory, legal positivism, the rule of law, and special topics like legal formalism and critical legal studies. Student performance will be evaluated based on recitation, mid-term exercises, and a final exam.

Uploaded by

Alexis Louisse Gonzales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHILOSOPHY OF LAW

Prof. Eugenio H. Villareal


Ateneo de Manila Law School
Section 1F, 1st Semester, SY 2021-2022

Course Objectives

This course aims to create in the law student a reasoned and practical
understanding as well as appreciation of the nature, purpose, and attributes
of the Law. It endeavors to inform the student about the historical roots of
law and its relevant schools of thought. This shall include the development
of a “discriminating” appreciation of the Natural Law and its healthy
“conflict” (at times) with Positive Law.

The course also seeks to form in the student a reasoned and critical
approach toward the Law and its various aspects and institutions. Such
formation will assist the student in applying legal philosophy to real-world
situations, particularly to the understanding of, and solution to, socio-
economic-political-moral ills. In this way, the student of the Law will
become an effective member of, if not a vibrant agent of change in, the legal
community and society as a whole.

Methodology

This course departs from the standard and purely theoretical approach that is
usually expected from a course of such nature. Aimed at vivifying the
student’s appreciation of legal philosophy, this course shall also: (a) adopt a
historical perspective when warranted as regards particular topics; (b) use a
more experiential approach such that the student is empowered to verify and
encounter societal phenomena and then apply a studied and reasoned
understanding of the Law; and (c) ultimately, evolve a sense of journey such
that the student will be able to discover his or her own (but spared from the
pitfalls of relativism) sense and idea of the Law.
Text and Materials

Readings and video materials shall be taken from various sources.


These can be accessed through research (listed below). The professor,
however, reserves the option of amending the said list should exigencies
warrant.

Consistent with independent learning, students are expected to cover


all the material required for a particular class day as well as for a section or
module of the course. The same shall be true for the mid-terms and the
finals. But, it will not be necessary for all items or aspects included in an
assignment to be taken up in class. At times, the professor will discuss focal
points, which nonetheless shall presume that the student has studied all the
required material.

Grading System

Components Percentage
Recitation and Other Exercises 35%

Mid-Term Exercises (or Written 30%


Examinations)
Final Exercises (or Written 35%.
Examinations)

Course Outline and Materials

Initial Musings on the Law

 Law and Necessity

 The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens, 14 QBD 273 (1884)

 The “Power” of the Law to “Define”

 Case No. 16-15469, Naruto, by and through his Next Friend


v. David J. Slater, et al., 9th Circuit (United States) Court of
Appeals – Opening Brief for Plaintiff-Appellant; Brief for

2
Defendants-Appellees Slater and Wildlife Personalities Ltd.;
and Brief for Defendant-Appellee Blurb, Inc..

Definitional Challenge vis-a-vis the Law (“Imperatives” and their Content)

 “Persistent Questions,” H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (1961, 1986


reprinting) (or 1994 ed.) (3rd ed., 2012) (“Hart”)

 “Law, Commands, and Orders,” Hart

 “The Variety of Laws,” Hart

 “Sovereign and Subject,” Hart

The Human Person (Rights and Duties) and Justice

 “Rights and Duties,” De Pedro, Javier, ICD, Lecture One, Course on


the “Ontological and Ethical Foundations of the Law (“De Pedro”)

 “Person and Law,” Lecture Two (except Part 2.4), De Pedro

 Questions 58 (Of Justice) and 61 (Of Commutative and Distributive


Justice), Baumgarth, W. and Regan, R. SJ, Saint Thomas Aquinas:
On Law, Morality and Politics (Excerpts from the Summa Th.), 1988

 Rawls, John, Parts 10 to 19, Chapter II and Parts 20 to 24, Chapter


III, A Theory of Justice, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press,
1999.

The “What of Law” and Authority

 “Law as the Union of Primary and Secondary Rules,” Hart

 “Foundations of a Legal System,” Hart

 “Law and Positive Law,” Part 2.4, Lecture Two, De Pedro

 “Human Laws and Good Citizens,” Lecture Three, De Pedro

3
 “Human Laws and the Power to Enforce Them, De Pedro

Law and Morality; Natural Law and Legal Positivism

 “Natural Law Theory,” Brix, Brian, A Companion to Philosophy of


Law and Legal Theory, edited by Patterson, D. (2nd ed.) (“Patterson”)

 “Legal Positivism,” Coleman, Jules and Leiter, Brian, Patterson

 Selected Lectures of Prof. Charles E. Rice on Natural Law (see


playlist under “Philosophy” category E
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw9X6tJ8WpqE63fNVykS1XA
/playlists)
 Lecture 1 - Enlightenment Jurisprudence & the Culture of
Death
 Lecture 2 - The Reasoned Foundation of Natural Law
 Lecture 3 - Revelational Foundations of Natural Law
 Lecture 4 - How Does Natural Law Work
 Lecture 5 - (Natural Law) A Basis for Good Laws & a
Protection against Unjust Laws.

The Rule of Law

Bingham, Tom, The Rule of Law, 2010/2011, pp. 3 – 159.

 The Importance of the Rule of Law


 Some History
 The Accessibility of the Law
 Law not Discretion
 Equality Before the Law
 The Exercise of Power
 Human Rights
 Dispute Resolution
 A Fair Trial
 The Rule of Law in the International Legal Order
 Terrorism and the Rule of Law.

4
Special Topics

 “Legal Formalism,” Weinrib, E., Patterson

 “Legal Realism,” Leiter, Brian, Patterson

 “Critical Legal Studies,” Binder, Guyora, Patterson.

 “Deconstruction,” Balkin, Jack, Patterson

 “Belief v. Belief: Resolving LGBTQ Rights Conflicts in the Religious


Workplace,” Brown, Elizabeth and Scott, Inara, American Business
Law Journal, Issue 1, 55-113, Spring 2019

 de Torre, J.M., “The Roots of International Law and the Teachings of


Francisco de Vitoria as a Foundation for Transcendent Human Rights
and Global Peace,” 2 :1 Ave Maria Law Review 123 (Spring 2004).

gáh

philaw-syl2021-2022

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