MV604K Law and Language

Faculty of Law
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. JUDr. Martin Hapla, Ph.D. (lecturer)
JUDr. Lukáš Hlouch, Ph.D. (lecturer)
JUDr. Bc. Terezie Smejkalová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Bc. Linda Tvrdíková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Bc. Linda Tvrdíková, Ph.D.
Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Tereza Buchalová
Supplier department: Department of Legal Theory – Faculty of Law
Prerequisites (in Czech)
MP113Zk Theory of Law I - seminar && MP220K Theory of Law II
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 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 1/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • Law (programme PrF, PR_)
  • Law (programme PrF, M-PPV)
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts (theories) of modern philosophy of language and their relation to the legal domain.
Learning outcomes
- explain the basic theories of meaning in modern philosophy of language; - discuss the deeper connections between law and language; - analyse legal texts through theories from the philosophy of language.
Syllabus
  • Lectures and seminars will be devoted to the following six basic thematic areas: 1) Introduction to Political Theory and Philosophy; 2) Theory Lectures: 1. Introduction to analytic philosophy, especially philosophy of language. Why does it make sense to deal with language in law?; 2. Frege, early Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle -- the question of meaning, references to the world; 3. Austin and Searle -- speech acts, social reality; 4. Late Wittgenstein, Sellars, Brandom, Peregrin -- question of meaning, language games; 5. Hermeneutics; 6. Concept and structure; Seminars: 1. Organizational guidelines. What is philosophy of language and why it makes sense for lawyers and legal scholars to engage in it; 2. Referential theory of meaning, Scandinavian legal realism I (especially Alf Ross and Tu-Tu); 3. How we create social reality through language, law as magic (Scandinavian legal realism II); 5. The question of pre-understanding (hermeneutics), the connection to intuitions in law (American legal realism); 6. Final discussion of the essays.
Literature
    required literature
  • PEREGRIN, J. Wittgenstein a pravidla našich jazykových her. Jarda-peregrin. Online.
  • ROSS, A. Tu-Tu. Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law, 2009.
  • HUTCHESON, J. C., Jr. Judgment Intuitive The Function of the Hunch in Judicial Decision. Cornell Law Review, Vol. 14, Issue 3, April 1929.
  • CARNAP, R. Překonání metafyziky logickou analýzou jazyka. Filozofický časopis. Ročník XXXIX., 1991, číslo 4.
  • FREGE, G. O smyslu a významu, 1982. Překlad Jiří Fiala. Scientia – Philosophia (SciPhi) 4, červen 1992, Praha.
  • WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig. Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Edited by Bertrand Russell, Translated by D. F. Pears - Brian F. McGuinness. 2nd ed. of this translation,. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972, xxii, 166. ISBN 0-7100-3004-5. info
    recommended literature
  • TVRDÍKOVÁ, Linda. Morální uvažování (a morální intuice) v soudním rozhodování: Je možné dospět k racionálnímu rozhodnutí? (Moral Reasoning (and Moral Intuition) in Judicial Decision-making: Is it possible to arrive at a Rational Decision?). Právník. 2023, vol. 162, No 9, p. 835-857. ISSN 0231-6625. Open access časopisu info
  • TVRDÍKOVÁ, Linda. Intuice v soudním rozhodování (Intuition in Judicial Decision-Making). Právník. AV ČR, Ústav státu a práva, 2022, vol. 161, No 4, p. 350-375. ISSN 0231-6625. Open access časopisu info
  • TVRDÍKOVÁ, Linda. Je otázka paradoxu minimálních rozdílů relevantní pro právo? (Is the Question of the Sorites Paradox Relevant to Law?). Pravník. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of State and Law, 2022, vol. 161, No 6, p. 528-549. ISSN 0231-6625. Open access časopisu info
  • HLOUCH, Lukáš. Teorie a realita právní interpretace. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk, 2011, 348 s. ISBN 9788073803032. info
  • BRANDOM, Robert. Articulating reasons : an introduction to inferentialism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2000, 230 stran. ISBN 0674006925. info
Teaching methods
Lectures and discussion seminars with elements of project teaching.
Assessment methods
Writing of a colloquial essay and its defense.
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 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/spring2025/MV604K