Law, Jurisp & Social Thought 247 - Genres of Responsibility

If someone attempts to buy a stolen iPad and it turns out that the iPad wasn’t stolen, should the state prosecute an attempt to purchase stolen goods? Under what circumstances should the use of a voodoo doll to inflict injury be considered an aggravated assault or an attempted murder? If my family stole your family’s land 150 years ago and has worked it since, what (if anything) are you owed? Law has a unique approach to such situations because it has its own internal logic and an account of judgment that differs from what we typically recognize as moral judgment. This course explores what distinguishes the legal account of responsibility from moral reasoning, aesthetic judgments, and psychoanalytic and sociological explanations of behavior. We will examine different legal categories, such as torts and crime and the way mental and physical (neurological) disabilities are treated by the law; the litigation of impossible acts, omissions, fraud, and the creation of passive risks; the reasonableness of social/sociological justifications and excuses (and the difference between a justification and an excuse); and, finally, the appropriateness of legal remedies to structural discrimination and ancient wrongs.

Limited to 30 students.  Fall semester. Visiting Professor Youssef.