Department of Philosophy, SUNY Buffalo
LAW AND ONTOLOGY
Graduate Seminar (PHI 531) FALL 1997 Monday 7-9pm. Baldy 684
Barry Smith, David Koepsell, Leonardo Zaibert
The course will explore the use of ontological methods in the study of law and legal objects. Topics to be treated will include:
1. Introduction to Ontology
2. The Ontology of Cultural Objects
3. The Ontology of Space and Spatial Artefacts
4. The Ontology of Institutions
5. The Ontology of the Civil Law
6. The Ontology of Social Facts
7. Law, Ontology and Geography
8. The Ontology of Property (Real Estate, the Doctrine of First Use)
9. The Ontology of Surveying (Boundaries and Fiat Objects)
10. The Ontology of Nations, States and Empires: Property and Sovereignty
11. The Ontology of International Law
12. The Ontology of War
13. The Ontology of Crime
14. The Ontology of Intellectual Property
15. The Ontology of Rights
READING:
Detailed reading lists will be supplied in due course. John Searle, The Construction of Social Reality, can serve as useful preliminary reading.