Philosophy of Law and Legal Methodology I

Code:

D400 I

Acronym:

FDMJ

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Philosophy

Instance: 2025/2026 - 1S (since 15-09-2025 to 19-12-2025)

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Law

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LDB	162	Novo Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2016	4	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The course aims to help provide students the necessary tools to a critical, autonomous and sustained reflection on the law and a personal research and deepening of the themes.

These objectives will be pursued through study, reflection and questioning around some issues, more or less "classic", of the field of philosophy of law and political philosophy, using the contribution of various currents of thought, authors and  works, as well as with openness to interdisciplinarity.

Learning outcomes and competences

Students are expected to acquire knowledge in topics addressed in the discipline and develop basic and specific skills, including skills of independent research, analysis capability and critical reflection on the addressed issues, applicable in academic and professional context .

Working method

Presencial

Program

Part I - Philosophy and Law

Part II - Modernity as an epochal paradigm

1. Modernity as paradigm and Lebenswelt

2. Traces of modernity: epistemology, time and space, anthropology, State theory

3. The end or crisis of modernity? The postmodernity

Part III – Modern proposals of Philosophy of Law

1. The naturalization of the political, in particular: Hobbes and Kelsen
2. Modern ethical thought, in particular: Kant and Bentham/ Mill
3. Recurrent topics of modern political thought: social contract, positive law, natural law

Part IV – Modern law methodology: key features


Part V - Law, Ethics, Politics

 

Mandatory literature

Hannah Arendt; A Condição Humana, Relógio D'Água, 2001. ISBN: 9789727086375
C. Taylor; Modern Social Imaginaries, Duke UP, 2004. ISBN: Modern Social Imaginaries
Charles Taylor; Sources of the Self, HUP, 1989
Kant; Fundamentação da Metafísica dos Costumes, Edições 70, 2020. ISBN: 9789724423838
Zygmunt Bauman; Liquid Modernity, Polity Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780745624105
Platão; República, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2017. ISBN: 9789723105094
Thomas Kuhn; A Estrutura das Revoluções Científicas, Guerra e Paz, 2021
Michael Walzer; As^esferas da justiça. ISBN: 972-23-2521-3
Thomas Hobbes; Leviatã. ISBN: 972-27-0708-6

Complementary Bibliography

Coleman Jules; The^Oxford handbook of jurisprudence and philosophy of law. ISBN: 0-19-829824-2
Hespanha António Manuel 1945-; Cultura jurídica europeia. ISBN: 978-972-40-4810-9
Kaufmann Arthur 340; Introdução à filosofia do direito e à teoria do direito contemporâneas. ISBN: 972-31-0952-2
Lamego José 1953-; Elementos de metodologia jurídica. ISBN: 978-972-40-6737-7
Larenz Karl 1903-; Metodologia da ciência do direito. ISBN: 972-31-0770-8
Neves António Castanheira 1929-; A^crise actual da filosofia do direito no contexto da crise global da filosofia. ISBN: 972-32-1156-4
Neves António Castanheira 1929-; Metodologia jurídica. ISBN: 972-32-0630-7
Kant; Metafísica dos Costumes - Princípios Metafísicos da Doutrina do Direito - Parte I, Edições 70, 2019. ISBN: 9789724421797
J. Schröder; Recht als Wissenschaft Gesamtwerk in 2 Bänden , C. H. Beck, 2020. ISBN: 978-3-406-76089-1
C. Taylor; The Ethics of Authenticity, Harvard UP, 2018. ISBN: 9780674987692
C. Taylor; A Secular Age, Harvard UP, 2018. ISBN: 9780674986916
John Locke; Dois Tratados do Governo Civil, Edições 70, 2018. ISBN: 9789724412825
Aristóteles; Ética a Nicómaco, Quetzal, 2009. ISBN: 9789725648032
John Stuart Mill; Utilitarismo e Ensaios sobre Bentham. ISBN: 978-989-8973-16-0

Comments from the literature

.

Teaching methods and learning activities

All the methods used in University teaching, such as lectures, seminars, debates.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	100,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	73,00
Frequência das aulas	64,00
Trabalho escrito	25,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

According to rules enforced in FDUP.

Calculation formula of final grade

«Distributed assessment»:
- Two tests: 40% + 60%;
- Mandatory attendance at  classes.

 Alternative: evaluation through final exam according to rules in force in FDUP.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

According to rules in force in FDUP.

Classification improvement

According to rules in force in FDUP.