MP417Zk History of Legal Thought

Faculty of Law
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
2/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
JUDr. Lukáš Hlouch, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. JUDr. Radim Polčák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
JUDr. Bc. Terezie Smejkalová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. JUDr. Mgr. Martin Škop, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Dennis Wassouf (lecturer)
Mgr. Tomáš Havlíček (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
JUDr. Bc. Terezie Smejkalová, Ph.D.
Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Martina Lemonová
Supplier department: Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 182 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/182, only registered: 0/182
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • Law (programme PrF, PR_) (2)
  • Law (programme PrF, M-PPV) (2)
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to introduce the crucial approaches in legal theory and legal analysis, as solving hard cases implies their deep understanding. That is why the aim of this course is to teach the students to use fundamental means of legal methodology; understand fundamental theoretical approaches; argument by use of legal conceptions; solve hard cases and make reasoned decisions at meta-legal level.
Learning outcomes
After successfully passing this course the students will be able to 

- use the basic tools of legal methodology;

- understand the basic theoretical approaches;

- argue using fundamental legal concepts;

- solve hard cases

- provide reasoning and rational analyses on meta-legal level


Syllabus
  • 1. "What is law?" False question leading to limited answers?
  • 2. What is law? I. Iuspositivism v. iusnaturalism
  • 3. Conflict of legal and moral validity 
  • 4. Conflict of legal and social validity
  • 5. What is law? II Realism and formalism
  • 6. Legal principles
  • 7. Purpose in legal thinking and proportionality
  • 8. Language turn 
  • 9. Category of truth in law
  • 10. Legal hermeneutics
  • 11. Justice 
  • 12. Current trends in legal theory: Critical legal theories and empirical turn
Literature
    required literature
  • WEINBERGER, Ota. Norma a instituce : (úvod do teorie práva). Translated by Pavel Hungr. Vyd. 1,. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1995, 217 s. ISBN 8021011238. info
    recommended literature
  • HOLLÄNDER, Pavel. Filosofie práva. 2. rozš. vyd. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, 2012, 421 s. ISBN 9788073803667. info
  • HOLLÄNDER, Pavel. Ústavněprávní argumentace :ohlédnutí po deseti letech Ústavního soudu. Praha: Linde, 2003, 103 s. ISBN 80-86131-37-8. info
  • HOLLÄNDER, Pavel. Nástin filosofie práva :úvahy strukturální. 1. vyd. Praha: Všehrd, 2000, 125 s. ISBN 80-85305-43-7. info
Teaching methods
lectures; analysis of selected legal documents
Assessment methods
Written examination
The written exam consists of 5 questions. The first 4 are open-ended questions that seek to find out about the student's knowledge and knowledge of contexts. The fifth question is a complex prompt requiring deeper understanding and argumentation. It requires essay-like answers (approx. 300 words).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2026, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/spring2026/MP417Zk