This learning unit is not open to incoming exchange students!
Teacher(s)
Language
French
Content
This course offers an introduction to political and legal philosophy through a central question: what conceptions of justice, freedom, and democracy underpin law and political institutions? It aims to show why philosophy constitutes an important component of legal education: it enables students to step back from legal norms and institutions, to question their foundations, assumptions, and effects, and to reflect on the values they seek to promote.
The course will begin with a historical overview of major conceptions of justice, law, and political life. The study of Plato and Aristotle will introduce the fundamental philosophical questions surrounding justice, law, the political community, and the common good. The discussion will then turn to medieval scholasticism, with particular attention to the relationships between law, justice, and moral order. The modern period will examine the transformations brought about by contractualism and liberalism, through the work of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Adam Smith, Rousseau, Kant, and Hegel. This part of the course will provide an opportunity to understand the gradual emergence of a modern conception of the legal subject, individual freedom, and the universality of rights.
The final part of the historical overview will address modern and contemporary thinkers, in order to examine transformations in conceptions of freedom, justice, power, and law, drawing in particular on Foucault, Rawls, and Habermas.
Building on these foundations, the course will then address four sets of contemporary problems.
The first concerns the relationship between freedom and security. We will examine the tensions that arise when the protection of individuals and society leads to restrictions on certain freedoms, and consider the criteria that might justify such restrictions.
The second focuses on the relationship between truth, freedom, and democracy. Does the possibility of democracy presuppose shared access to certain forms of truth? How should political freedom be understood when the conditions under which truth is produced, circulated, and recognised are themselves contested?
The third set of issues will concern environmental approaches to law. Drawing in particular on the work of Michel Serres and Camille de Toledo, as well as debates surrounding the rights of nature, we will question the limits of a conception of law centred exclusively on human beings and consider the possibility of legally recognising the interests or rights of non-human entities.
Finally, the course will conclude with an introduction to feminist approaches to law and democracy, focusing in particular on the question of consent.
The overall aim of the course is to provide students with conceptual tools for analysing law beyond its purely normative dimension, encouraging them to question its philosophical foundations and assumptions, as well as the contemporary transformations and challenges it faces.
The course will begin with a historical overview of major conceptions of justice, law, and political life. The study of Plato and Aristotle will introduce the fundamental philosophical questions surrounding justice, law, the political community, and the common good. The discussion will then turn to medieval scholasticism, with particular attention to the relationships between law, justice, and moral order. The modern period will examine the transformations brought about by contractualism and liberalism, through the work of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Adam Smith, Rousseau, Kant, and Hegel. This part of the course will provide an opportunity to understand the gradual emergence of a modern conception of the legal subject, individual freedom, and the universality of rights.
The final part of the historical overview will address modern and contemporary thinkers, in order to examine transformations in conceptions of freedom, justice, power, and law, drawing in particular on Foucault, Rawls, and Habermas.
Building on these foundations, the course will then address four sets of contemporary problems.
The first concerns the relationship between freedom and security. We will examine the tensions that arise when the protection of individuals and society leads to restrictions on certain freedoms, and consider the criteria that might justify such restrictions.
The second focuses on the relationship between truth, freedom, and democracy. Does the possibility of democracy presuppose shared access to certain forms of truth? How should political freedom be understood when the conditions under which truth is produced, circulated, and recognised are themselves contested?
The third set of issues will concern environmental approaches to law. Drawing in particular on the work of Michel Serres and Camille de Toledo, as well as debates surrounding the rights of nature, we will question the limits of a conception of law centred exclusively on human beings and consider the possibility of legally recognising the interests or rights of non-human entities.
Finally, the course will conclude with an introduction to feminist approaches to law and democracy, focusing in particular on the question of consent.
The overall aim of the course is to provide students with conceptual tools for analysing law beyond its purely normative dimension, encouraging them to question its philosophical foundations and assumptions, as well as the contemporary transformations and challenges it faces.
Teaching methods
The course consists of two two-hour lectures per week, held on Mondays and Fridays.
The lectures are complemented by six two-hour tutorial sessions, which students are required to attend (attendance will be recorded). These sessions will focus on selected key texts discussed in the lectures, providing an opportunity to examine and explore them in greater depth.
The lectures are complemented by six two-hour tutorial sessions, which students are required to attend (attendance will be recorded). These sessions will focus on selected key texts discussed in the lectures, providing an opportunity to examine and explore them in greater depth.
Evaluation methods
The assessment will be divided as follows:
During the semester
5/20 for the tutorial component.
During the examination session
5/20 for the reflective question on the required reading: Camille de Toledo, L’internationale des rivières (Paris: Verdier, 2026).
10/20 for the multiple-choice questions (20 MCQs).
During the semester
5/20 for the tutorial component.
During the examination session
5/20 for the reflective question on the required reading: Camille de Toledo, L’internationale des rivières (Paris: Verdier, 2026).
10/20 for the multiple-choice questions (20 MCQs).
Teaching materials
- Powerpoints du cours, disponibles sur Moodle
- Extraits de textes, disponibles sur Moodle
- L'ouvrage de Camille de Toledo, "L'internationale des rivières", Paris, Verdier, 2026.
Faculty or entity
