Why We Follow Rules: Law and the Mind - HSSO13
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Why We Follow Rules: Law and the Mind
This course explores why people obey the law, drawing on legal theory, moral philosophy, and psychology to ask when legal obedience is truly free and legitimate. Legal positivism claims that law’s validity depends on its source, not its moral content, but critics argue that its supposed neutrality is illusory—and increasingly problematic amid rising populism and democratic decline. Challenging the neutrality of legal positivism, we examine three competing answers to the question of political obligation: freedom, culture, and justice. Through these thematic lenses, students will explore how rule-following is understood across different traditions: as individual freedom grounded in public reason and non-domination (Rawls, Habermas, Pettit); as a culturally embedded practice shaped by identity, recognition, and belonging; and as a response to moral truth and fairness, informed by moral psychology and theories of justice. The course focuses on how perceptions of legitimacy and fairness shape civic motivation and the internalization of legal norms. Last update: Marešová Svatava, Ing. (25.06.2025)
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1. Why Do We Follow Rules? 2. Legal Positivism: Formal Rules and Validity 3. The Thin Morality of Law: Positivism Under Pressure 4. Public Reason and Constitutional Consensus 5. Law, Reasons and the Discourse Principle 6. Law as Non-Domination 7. Rule-Following as Recognition 8. Rules and Practices 9. Rules and Moral Objectivity 10. The Sense of Justice Last update: Marešová Svatava, Ing. (25.06.2025)
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