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Core Modules and Options at Level 10

PHI9PF - Crime and Punishment

The unit focuses on three sets of issues concerning the principles of criminal law –

• The Purpose and Scope of the Criminal Law: What are the proper aims of a system of criminal law? To prevent harmful conduct (but what counts as ‘harm’)? To prohibit and punish wrongful conduct (but should the criminal law attend to all kinds of wrongdoing)?

• The Principles of Criminal Liability: What is it to be guilty of a crime? What conditions should be met if a defendant is to be convicted? We will explore the general principles of criminal liability by looking at particular offences and particular legal doctrines.

• Punishment and Sentencing: How (if at all) can criminal punishment be justified; what are its proper aims? By what principles should the courts determine offenders’ sentences? What kinds of punishment should be available to the courts?

Outcomes

The module will introduce students to some of the central aspects of philosophy of criminal law, and related aspects of moral and political philosophy. It also aims, as do all Philosophy modules, to improve students’ skills in critical reading, critical thinking, and oral communication, through participation in seminars and the writing of essays. (See Section B of the Philosophy Student Handbook for more details.)

Reading

Much of the reading for the unit will be drawn from articles; a coursepack will be available for purchase at the start of semester. Two useful books for the third part of the module are -

T Honderich	Punishment: The Supposed Justifications Revisited	(Pluto Press, 2005)
R A Duff, D Garland (eds.)	A Reader on Punishment	(Oxford University Press, 1994)

As preparatory reading, read R v Brown [1994] 1 AC 212 (= vol. 1 of Appeal Cases for 1994; available through Westlaw through the Library’s list of online resources).

Availability:	Honours (semester 6 or 8), Three Year Degree, General degree
Prerequisite:	PHI9CA or PHI9CB
Assessment:	Coursework (one required essay) 50%; final examination (3 questions in 3 hours) 50%. Students my choose to submit a second coursework essay to improve their coursework grade.
Teaching Pattern:	One tw-hour lecture/seminar and one one-hour seminar each week
Regulations:	For the purposes of the University’s attendance regulation 14, lectures and seminars are prescribed classes; any seminar at which a student has been assigned a formal role, such as making a presentation or leading the discussion, will count as compulsory for that student The rationale for these rules may be found in the Philosophy Student Handbook, section F. This section also contains regulations relating to the submission of coursework, and other matters.

 

Please contact Antony Duff if you would like to know more about this module.