Foundations of Legal Theory (LAW578H1S)

Every interpretation of law, every project of transformation through law, every effort at law reform rests upon some underlying theory or theories of law. Similarly, every research project involving law engages questions about legal theory and requires decisions about legal method. 

This course is designed to survey the rich and diverse theoretical frameworks that have been developed for the analysis of law and institutions within the Anglo-American legal tradition. It aims to advance the understanding and evaluation of legal theories through questions such as the following: How do legal theories conceptualize the nature and operation of law? How do they imagine law in relation to society, economy and culture, and how do they figure its role in social transformation? What are their implications for the design of legal institutions and the roles and powers of judges and others who interpret and enforce legal rules? 

In this course, we will examine the analytic presuppositions and normative commitments of a range of theories about law, drawing on philosophy, political theory, economics, anthropology, sociology and Indigenous legal traditions. Foundational inquiries will include: the nature of adjudication and legal reasoning; the sources of legal authority and legitimacy; the relationship between law and morality and law and politics; and relations among competing legal orders. Seminar readings will be drawn from the following traditions and methodologies: natural law, American Legal Realism, legal process, law and economics, critical legal studies, feminist legal theory, comparative law, and legal pluralism.