FALL 2000
This information effective for Fall 2000.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Instructor(s): J. Neu
Fall 2000
Philosophy of Law, (Sixth Edition, 2000), ed. by J. Feinberg and J. Coleman (FC) (available at The Literary Guillotine)
Supplement (S) (Cases and materials--available at the Campus Copy Center)
1. MENS REA AND THE "REASONABLE MAN": THE MENTAL ELEMENT IN THE CRIMINAL LAW
People v. Young (FC 646-48)
People v. Goetz (S)
Scheppele, 'The Reasonable Woman' (FC 514-19)
State v. Rusk (FC 519-22)
Regina v. Morgan (FC 523-25)
Bienen, 'Mistakes' (S)
2. LEGAL INSANITY AND THE "UNREASONABLE MAN"
'The M'Naghten Rules' (1843) (FC 668-69)
ALI Model Penal Code, 'The Insanity Defense' (FC 669-71)
State v. Guido (FC 672-73)
Dershowitz, 'Psychiatry in the Legal Process: A Knife That Cuts Both Ways' (S)
Feinberg, 'What Is So Special About Mental Illness' (FC 674-82)
3. PUNISHMENT/TREATMENT/PREDICTION & PROOF
Morris, 'Persons and Punishment' (S)
Schoeman, 'On Incapacitating the Dangerous' (S)
Lafollette, 'Licensing Parents' (S)
Langbein, 'Torture and Plea Bargaining' (FC 394-403)
4. RATIONALES OF PUNISHMENT
Feinberg, 'The Expressive Function of Punishment' (FC 688-98)
Feinberg, 'The Classic Debate' (FC 727-31)
Rawls, 'Punishment' (S)
Mackie, 'Retributivism: A Test Case for Ethical Objectivity' (FC 780-87)
Murphy, 'Getting Even: The Role of the Victim' (FC 788-99)
5. RESPONSIBILITY: CAUSATION AND FAULT
Hart and Honore, 'Causation and Responsibility' (FC 572-83)
Palsgraf v. The Long Island Railroad Co. (FC 598-604)
Keeton, 'The Basic Rule of Legal Cause in Negligence Cases' (S)
'The Ambiguous Suicide Case' (S)
Thomson, 'The Decline of Cause' (FC 584-91)
Parker, 'Blame, Punishment, and the Role of Result' (FC 592-98)
Kadish and Schulhofer, 'The Case of Lady Eldon's French Lace' (FC 663-67)
6. LEGAL REASONING: PRECEDENT AND PRINCIPLE
Products Liability Cases (S)
7. HART'S RULES MODEL
Austin, 'A Positivist Conception of Law' (FC 33-44)
Hart, 'A More Recent Positivist Conception of Law' (FC 45-59)
Hart, 'Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals' (FC 59-75)
8. DWORKIN'S RIGHTS MODEL
Dworkin, 'The Model of Rules' (FC 130-47)
Dworkin, 'Integrity in Law' (FC 152-66)
Mackie, 'The Third Theory of Law' (FC 167-73)
Dworkin, 'Civil Disobedience' (S)
9. LAW/LIBERTY/MORALITY
Mill, 'On Liberty' (FC 259-70)
Lord Devlin, 'Morals and the Criminal Law' (S)
Hart, 'Immorality and Treason' (S)
Dworkin, 'Lord Devlin and the Enforcement of Morals' (S)
10. OBSCENITY AND OTHER SPEECH
Kristol, 'Pornography, Obscenity and the Case for Censorship' (S)
MacKinnon, 'Pornography: On Morality and Politics' (S)
Dworkin, 'MacKinnon's Words' (S)
Grey, 'Civil Rights Versus Civil Liberties' (FC 339-55)
Gates, 'War of Words: Critical Race Theory and the First Amendment' (S)
Cohen v. California (FC 322-25)
Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party of America (FC 326-29)
Texas v. Johnson (FC 330-38)
11. PATERNALISM
G. Dworkin, 'Paternalism' (FC 271-80)
Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County (FC 530-37)
12. PRIVACY AND SODOMY
Griswold v. Connecticut (FC 281-86)
Bork, 'The Right of Privacy' (FC 356-59)
Wasserstrom, 'Privacy' (S)
Reiman, 'Privacy, Intimacy, and Personhood' (S)
Bowers v. Hardwick (FC 295-305)
'Michael Hardwick' (S)
Dworkin, 'Sex, Death, and the Courts' (S)
13. ABORTION
Wertheimer, 'Understanding the Abortion Argument' (S)
Thomson, 'A Defense of Abortion' (S)
Roe v. Wade (FC 287-90)
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (FC 291-94)
14. GOOD SAMARITANS AND BAD
Macaulay, 'Notes on the Indian Penal Code' (FC 623-25)
Weinrib, 'The Case for a Duty to Rescue' (FC 625-45)
15. JUSTICE/EQUALITY/REVERSE DISCRIMINATION
Nagel, 'Equal Treatment and Compensatory Discrimination' (FC 492-99)
Hill, 'The Message of Affirmative Action' (FC 499-513)
Williams, 'The Idea of Equality' (S)
The list of topics above is meant to correspond to neither sessions nor weeks, but only to indicate the order in which topics will be taken up. The pace of topics covered, reading difficulty, and reading load will all increase as the term progresses. This is by design, on the assumption that the necessary foundation for more intensive work will have been established during the early weeks. Attendance at lectures and sections is mandatory.
There will be two major exams: a midterm after topic 4 (on topics 1-4), and a final exam (emphasizing topics 5-15, or to as far as we get). A paper (10-12 pages) may be substituted for the final exam by pre-arrangement. The topic of the paper (which must be rooted in the readings for some topic from 5-15) must be approved in advance and the paper is due before the start of the final exam. If the completed paper is not submitted on time, the final exam must be taken.
In addition, there will be a number of short in-class quizzes on the readings throughout the term. These will be given at the start of class--you must be on time. While you will not be permitted to open books during these quizzes, you will be permitted to consult your notes. (The aim is to ensure that you keep up with and understand the readings.)
While all of the required readings can be found in the required texts, and while the optional paper calls for thought rather than research or additional outside reading, you should be prepared to engage in close study of materials that will often be lengthy and difficult.