Jurisprudence – GOVT 345

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 02/01/2024

Course Description

An introduction to law and philosophy of law, including categories of law, some legal terminology, justice, liberty, crime and punishment.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

A basic philosophical understanding of law and its relationships to society is essential for a proper application of legal principles in politics, the legal profession, and criminal justice.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each Discussion. Each thread must be at least 250 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 1 other classmate’s thread. The reply must be at least 150 words. Both the thread and the reply must have at least 2 sources (with 1 being the textbook) in current APA format.

Short Paper Assignments (4)

The student will write three 2–3-page papers and one 4–5-page paper in current APA format. These papers will be written on the following topics:

Short Paper: Bastiat's The Law Assignment 

An evaluation of The Law by Frederic Bastiat

Short Paper: O. W. Holmes, Jr. Assignment

An evaluation of The Path of the Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Short Paper: Biblical Defense of Rights & Justice Assignment

A scriptural argument for the existence of the natural right to life, liberty, and property as well as a definition of justice in light of that existence utilizing concept distinctions between various types of rights

Short Paper: The Future of American Jurisprudence Assignment

Quizzes (8)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material as well as the presentations for the assigned Module: Week. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 20 true/false questions, and have a 45-minute time limit.