University of Kansas, Spring 2005
Philosophy 674: Philosophy of Law
Ben Eggleston—eggleston@ku.edu

Preview of test on chapters 1–2

Your test on chapters 1–2 will have two parts, a take-home part and an in-class part.

I. Take-home part

The take-home part of your test consists of two essay questions worth 30 points each, and will be due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, February 9. You can use your book or notes or discussions with other people, but all the writing must be your own. Here are the two questions.

  1. Early in chapter 1, Altman writes that “the truth cannot possibly matter above all else if the rule of law also matters.” What argument for this claim can be attributed to Altman, based on the rest of chapter 1? (Hint: part of Altman’s argument for this claim is found in the claim that comes next: “The fact is that the rule of law places substantial limits on acceptable ways of pursuing the truth.” So this latter claim should figure in your answer.)
  2. At the end of chapter 2, Altman writes that according to natural-law theorists, “the ideas of power, coercion, control, and rules cannot adequately explain the nature of legal obligation: moral right and wrong are essential ingredients as well.” Does Dworkin hold this view? (Explain and justify your answer—don’t just answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.)

When you turn in your answers, each answer must be on its own sheet of paper, and the sheets must not be stapled together. Each sheet should look just like the sample answer sheet for take-home essay questions (http:///courses/law2/take-home_essay_question_sample_answer_sheet.pdf), in the following respects:

  1. page
    1. Use one side of a single sheet of business-sized (8.5” x 11”) paper.
    2. Use margins of at least one inch on all four sides.
  2. type
    1. Use the font Times New Roman, or (if not available) the nearest available equivalent.
    2. Use a type size of at least 11 points.
    3. Use the same font and type size throughout the whole sheet.
    4. Double-space all the lines.
    5. Make the lines flush-left—that is, don’t right-justify them.
  3. On the first line, list the following items, separated by commas:
    1. Philosophy of Law
    2. 2/9/05
    3. test 1
    4. question X (where Y is the number of the question being answered on that sheet)
    5. answer Y (where Y is the three-digit code that will be used for this sheet and no other)
  4. Start each paragraph of your answer with a half-inch indentation (even if your answer is just one paragraph long).

Strict compliance with this precise protocol is needed for two important reasons: so that everyone operates within the same space constraints and so that I can grade each answer with a minimal chance of knowing who wrote it. Deviations from this protocol will be penalized.

II. In-class part

The in-class part of your test will consist of four multiple-choice questions worth a total of 20 points and one essay question worth 20 points, and will be given in class on Wednesday, February 9. You will have a total of 40 minutes—from 10:30 to 11:10—to answer these five questions. You will not be able to use your book or any other resources; you will be provided with paper on which to write your essay.