Jurisprudence is a module on legal theory and philosophy. This module will examine the major ideas in order to promote a better understanding of the social, moral, political, economic and gendered dimensions of law. It will draw on the work of a variety of theorists and movements including realism, positivism, natural law, postmodernism, law and economics, Marxism and feminisms. It embraces insights from a variety of different disciplines including history, sociology, political science, economics, philosophy , and psychology. It asks questions such as: What is law? What minimum laws are necessary for a legal system? Are legal decisions based entirely on legal rules? What non-legal factors can arise in decision-making? Can we make moral judgments about a law or what it should be? Can we make economic judgments about a law or what it should be? How do judges decide hard cases? Do we have to obey an immoral law? Does law follow or lead in society? Is law objective and neutral? Can it be objective and neutral? Do we have to obey an immoral law? Do rights matter?

1. American Realism 2. Marxism 3. Law and Economics 4. Critical Legal Studies 5. Feminisms 6. Positivism: Classical Positivism 7. Hart and the Concept of Law 8. Natural Law 9. Lon Fuller and Natural Law 10. Justice and Rights Theories: Dworkin 11. Postmodernism

• Differentiate between law as paper rules and law in action • Outline and trace changes in the ideas of legal philosophy • Identify the issues which shape justice • Employ different theoretical approaches to the study of law • Examine the extent to which such theories can explain occurrences in the Irish legal system • discover the complexities at play under the surface legitimation narrative of law • Generalize about general strategy choices from legal materials • Question the extent to which law really is objective and value free in orientation

Develop a healthy scepticism for the presentation of law as flowing from an 'internal', closed logical system which is both neutral and objective

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As outlined in the descriptor section, the module will be taught in a discursive way, designed to increase the critical thinking skills of students. By introducing a variety of critical pathways in to the student of law, it is expected that the subject will challenge the perception of law as a unitary and neutral expression of social rules.