Module: Jurisprudence II

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Jurisprudence II
Module Code	LAW1032 (ITS: LG349)
Faculty	Law & Government	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

Jurisprudence II builds upon the study of legal theory undertaken in Jurisprudence I. It builds upon and moves beyond the familiar theories of legal positivism and natural law, and embraces such challenging theoretical issues such as the relationship of law to state power, and the conceptual separation of law and politics. It aims to look at theories of law in the broad social, political and economic context.

Learning Outcomes

1. express some of the main preoccupations of jurisprudential writers in the Critical, Marxist, Realist and Postmodernist fields in particular ;
2. to identify, understand and discuss some of the main texts,
3. to relate these works to the historical and social contexts in which they were produced and to relate these to students’ own understanding of legal theory, thus enabling them to articulate their own theories about the nature and function of law.
4. To move beyond analytical and conceptual studies of the meaning and operation of legal rules and focus instead on theories addressing the relationship of law to state power as well as culture and identity.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	24	No Description
Independent Study	56	No Description
Assignment Completion	45	No Description
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	20603	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Beatrice Monciunskaite	Module Teacher	David Keane, Ronan Condon

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Assignment	Students will complete assignments discussing the legal theories covered in lectures	100%	Week 1

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Indicative Syllabus
1. Critical Legal Studies 2. Postmodern Legal Theories 3. Marxist Legal Theory 4. The conflict between legal formalist and legal realism 5. Sociological jurisprudence 6. Historical and anthropological jurisprudence 7. The economic analysis of law

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Freeman: 0, Lloyd's Introduction to Jurisprudence, Sweet and Maxwell,
Kelly: 1992, A Short History of Western Legal Theory, Clarendon,
Patterson: 1999, A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, Blackwell,
Simmonds: 1986, Central Issues in Jurisprudence, Sweet and Maxwell,
Unger: 1986, The Critical Legal Studies Movement, Harvard UP,
McCoubrey and White: 1999, Textbook on Jurisprudence, Blackstone,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None