Pragmatism and
American Thought
Philosophy 161
Note: there will be no class on on University holidays (MLK Day, Presidents' Day, Easter Monday) as well as Wed., April 12th.
| Session | Topic | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Jan. | Introduction to the course | none |
| 18 Jan. | Due Process and Judicial Self-Restraint | Lochner v New York, 1905. We'll read the majority opinion and the two dissents, including Holmes's. Some Supplementary Quotes for Due Process discussion Roscoe Pound, "Liberty of Contract," Fisher, pp. 27-33. James B. Thayer, "The Origin and Scope of the American Doctrine of Constitutional Law," Fisher, pp. 10-14. See also my Legal Realism Timeline |
| 25 Jan. | Justice Holmes's rejection of Natural Law Jurisprudence | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., "Natural Law," (available under "documents" in Blackboard). |
| 30 Jan. | Justice Holmes's Legal Realism | Holmes, "The Path of the Law," Fisher, pp. 15-24. |
| 6 Feb. | Realism vs. Formalism | continue with Holmes, "Path" Max Radin, "The Theory of Judicial Decision: Or How Judges Think," Fisher, 195-198. |
| 8 Feb. | Realism and Public Policy | Walter Cook, "Scientific Method and the Law," Fisher, pp. 242-250. |
| 13 Feb. | The Emergence of Legal Realism: the Early Phase | Pound, "Law in Books and Law in Action," Fisher, pp. 39-44 Karl Llewellyn, "A Realistic Jurisprudence — The Next Step," Fisher, pp. 53-58 Pound, "the Call for a Realistic Jurisprudence," Fisher, pp. 59-67. |
| 15 Feb. | A Philosophical Argument for Legal Realism | Felix Cohen, "Transcendental Nonsense and the Functional Approach," Fisher, pp. 212-227. |
| 22 Feb. | Exploring the Philosphical Argument | C.S. Peirce, "How to Make Our Ideas Clear," in Pragmatism. |
| 27 Feb. | William James, "What Pragmatism Means," in Pragmatism. | |
| 1 Mar. | Class discussion of the Philosophical Arguments | |
| 13 Mar. | CLASS CANCELED | |
| 15-20 Mar. | Legal Critique of Legal Realism | H.L.A. Hart, "Formalism and Rule-Skepticism," from The Concept of Law, on paper and electronic reserve in Lauinger. This link might work to get you right there to our course's page: LINK. |
| 22 Mar. | Philosophical Assessment of the Legal Critique | John Dewey, "Logical Method and Law," Fisher, pp. 185-194. |
| 27-29 Mar. | Introduction to Dewey's political philosophy | "I Believe," Dewey, pp. 234-239. "Creative Democracy — The Task Before Us," Dewey, pp. 240-245. |
| 3-10 April | Participatory Democracy | "Renascent Liberalism," Dewey, pp. 142-152. "Liberty and Social Control," Dewey, pp. 158-160. |
| 12 & 17Apr. | NO CLASS |
|
| 19 Apr. | Democracy & Intelligence | "Science and Free Cutlure," Dewey, pp. 48-58. "The Basic Values and Loyalties of Democracy," Dewey, pp. 207-209. "Culture and Human Nature" and "Democracy and Human Nature," Dewey, pp. 210-229. |
| 24-26 Apr | Dewey and his Critics | Walter Lippmann, excerpts from The Phantom Public, on reserve in Lauinger. Reinhold Niebuhr, "The Pathos of Liberalism," in Dewey, pp. 153-7. Dewey, "The Problem of Method," in Dewey, pp. 184-191. |
| 1 May | Final class session | |