Northern Arizona University/Environmental Ethics/Handouts/Syllabus

Topics in Ethics: Philosophy of Law Jeffrey Downard Office: BAA 104 Hours: Monday 2-3:30 and Wed 3:00-4:00

Texts
Readings available online through the course web page

Aims of the Course
This course is designed to offer the class--teacher and students alike--an opportunity to reflect philosophically on some fundamental questions in the philosophy of law. The primary aim is examine the philosophical foundations of both constitutional law and international law. Given all of the troubles one faces--both theoretical and practical--in any attempt to make sense of the foundations of international law, our hope is that a comparison to constitutional law might help to shed some light on the matter. We will range over a number of different types of readings, including different constitutions, significant court cases, and arguments by legal theorists and philosophers, in the hopes of sorting out the important questions, methods and plausible answers. While we will look at a number of different issues, I do hope to take a closer look at the status of indigenous peoples such as Native American tribes in both constitutional law and international law because it serves as a useful test case for thinking about the limits of the law. My proposal is to run the course as a seminar and to let input from you help to shape the topics, reading list, and questions that we will address over the course of the semester.

Class Format
Most philosophical issues are best understood and appreciated in oral and written discussion, so I will encourage discussion rather than lecturing (by teacher or students) in class. By "discussion" I mean: (1) a situation in which all members of the class take responsibility for what happens in class;  (2) a situation in which class members talk to one another--discussions don't consist solely of a series of dialogues between the teacher and particular students. The rules governing student conduct are available in the student handbook and will be made available on the course web page.

Attendance and Participation
I will work hard on planning and teaching this class, and I expect you to do the same when taking it. In discussion classes such as this one, it is often difficult or impossible to take notes from the teacher during class. This does not mean, however, that it is not worth coming to class. The assigned readings are vitally important, and much of the work for the course gets done in class. My experience has been that those who do not come to class and participate regularly have a hard time writing decent papers or doing well on exams. Minimally, therefore, I expect each student to do the assigned reading, think about the issues raised, and come to class regularly, prepared to discuss the issues. You are always welcome to stop by my office to talk about the material, to raise questions or concerns about the course, or to get extra help. If my hours do not fit your schedule, feel free to make an appointment. I am more than happy to help.

Grading
Short papers 25%

Reading questions and online discussion 25%

Term Paper 40%

Final Exam 10%

The grade will be lowered 1/2 of a letter grade for each class day that an assignment is late unless you have an official excuse or have made prior arrangements with me. Consistent attendance and active participation is expected from every student; lack of either will be figured into the final grade.

Reading Questions, Short Assignments and the Term Paper
Each week, as you do the readings for the course, I will ask you to develop a critical question and turn it in via the course web page. If another person has raised a question online that you find interesting, you may also respond to such a question. I will spell out the guidelines for these critical questions and responses in a separate handout.

A number of times during the term I will give you a question about the readings for the class. The short papers will be due at the beginning of the Thursday class. I ask that you outline an answer to each question as you work through the readings. I will feel free at any time to ask you to explain your response to the questions. My reasons for doing this are fourfold: (1) to ensure that you work through the material carefully, (2) to help you learn to focus on the arguments and assumptions made by the author, (3) to help me see how much you understand the material so that I can help you improve your comprehension, (4) to provide a common basis to ensure that our class discussions are focused and productive. You will have the opportunity over the next few months to write a paper that engages in a philosophical argument concerning the philosophical foundations of the law. Go ahead and start to think about the topic and problem that you would like to address in your paper.