SECTION 1: Short Answer (8 marks total; 2 marks each)
Using approximately 4-5 sentences each, answer FOUR of the following five questions. Be sure to explain your answers.
NOTE: If you choose to answer all five questions, I will only grade your first four.
- What is the difference between descriptive and normative knowledge? Explain why it might be important to keep these two types of knowledge distinct.
- What is the precise relationship between consequentialism and utilitarianism? Likewise, what is the relationship between deontology and Kantianism? Explain thoroughly.
- What two major ideas (or ‘theses’) do all legal positivists accept as true? Explain what each of these ideas are.
- What do natural law theorists mean when they say ‘an unjust law is no law’? How is this different from a legal positivist view? Explain.
- What is social contract theory? What are social contract theorists trying to explain, and how do they generally go about doing so? (Note: you don’t need to delve into the specifics of each unique version of social contract theory. Instead, focus on what all social contract theories generally have in common.)
SECTION 2: Long Answer (7 marks total)
In approximately 3-4 paragraphs, answer ONE of the following questions. Be sure to EXPLAIN your answers fully, using complete and coherent sentences and paragraphs.
NOTE: If you choose to answer more than one question, I will choose to only grade the first.
Option A: Explain the concept of sovereignty. What is the significance of saying someone or something is sovereign? In your answer, be sure to also explain the role this concept plays in the classical legal positivist view of the nature of law.
Option B: What is natural law? What is its significance in philosophical debates concerning the nature of law? In your answer, be sure to explain the relationship between natural law and positive law, as well as explain how natural law theorists and legal positivists each view natural law.
