THEORY OF ARGUMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION
Learning outcomes of the course unit
The aim of the course is to provide the students with the conceptual means and the knowledge of theoretical issues concerning legal reasoning and legal interpretation.
Prerequisites
The students must have passed Philosophy of Law.
Course contents summary
Hermeneutics as a philosophical method; The “exemplary significance” of legal hermeneutics; Law as an interpretative practice; Goals and boundaries of legal interpretation; Application and justification; Preunderstanding, reasoning, decision; Legal interpretation and sources of law; Legal interpretation and legal validity; Specificity of legal discourse; Logic of normative propositions; Theories of legal reasoning; Legal certainty; Legal interpretation and Rule of law; Legal interpretation from legal positivism to “new constitutionalism”; Law and practical reason.
Recommended readings
Attending students:
Texts analysed during the lessons (Ch.L.S. Montesquieu, C. Beccaria, H.G. Gadamer, A. Kaufmann, H. Kelsen, J. Frank, H.L.A. Hart., R. Dworkin, G. Tarello, E. Betti, Ch. Perelman - L. Olbrechts Tyteca, R. Alexy, N. MacCormick).
Non attending students:
F. VIOLA, G. ZACCARIA, Diritto e interpretazione. Lineamenti di teoria ermeneutica del diritto, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2004, pp. 105-408.
Teaching methods
Oral lesson and oral exam.
