The primary aim of this course is to foster and develop with students a basic appreciation of the major theoretical and philosophical approaches that have guided the law in all stages of its development. Students will be introduced to a wide range of sources, from the classical writings of philosophers past, to the seminal texts of contemporary philosophers and legal scholars writing on present day jurisprudential debates. Students will learn to reflect in a disciplined and critical manner on the nature and role of the law, as well as the importance of legal systems, legal reasoning, and legal institutions. And students will also have the opportunity to participate in discussions on the presuppositions and methods of legal, political, and therefore also, to some extent, moral philosophy and related social theories for as far as these bear on the institutions, norms and methods of legal systems.