TOMAS CLAUDIO COLLEGES

COLLEGE OF LAW
Morong, Rizal

PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
2 Semester, SY 2020-2021
nd

SAMUEL A. LAURENTE
Professor of Law

Syllabus

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Philosophy defined

a. Philosophy- The search for knowledge of general principles; the study of the elements,
powers, or causes and law that explain facts and existence (The New International Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary of the English Language). It is a science that studies beings in their
ultimate causes reasons and principles by the aid of human reason alone.

b. Legal Philosophy- Legal philosophy is a systematic study that seeks to understand that a)
nature and essence of law; b) its definition and elements; c)the sources of its authority; d) its
various application and development; and e) its role in society, i.e. its relationship to other
institutions and societal practices such as norms, morality and custom. It explores on the
perennially difficult question regarding the relationship between law and morality, and as to
whether the two are linked or separate (Tabucanon, Gil Marvel P. Legal Philosophy for
Filipinos: A Study Approach, pg.12. ) Legal philosophy, also known as jurisprudence or the
science and philosophy of law as such, and not what is the Philippine law on say property.
Rather it seeks to know what is law’s “true” nature, its ultimate goal and purpose. This
presumes that “law” has certain characteristics and qualities common to all the laws of the
world. While lawyers study on which the applies to particular case, legal philosophers ask if
what purports to be a “law” is indeed true law, in that it complies with requirement of what
law is. (id)

c. Logic – is the study of the principles of reasoning and the formal validity of argument. A
logical argument is one in which a conclusion is drawn from premises (accepted or assumed
propositions) so that to accept the premises but deny the conclusion is inconsistent and
without merit.(Daniel Smith, the Book of Big Ideas, pg 137)

d. Ethics- Ethics is a major branch of thought concerned with what is good and bad, what is
right and wrong, and what constitutes a life well lived. Ethics demands we explore what we
ought and ought not to think and do, outside the realm of formal legislation. As Immanuel
Kant put it: “In law a man is guilty when he violates the right of others. In ethics he is guilty
if he only thinks of doing so (id pg. 131)

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 B. Law defined

1. Law “in its specific and concrete sense is a rule of conduct, just, obligatory,
formulated by legitimate power for common observance and benefit” (Lapitan vs.
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, 60 O.G. 6841)

2. In his Summa Theologica (“S.T.”) I-II, Q, 90, A.4,) Aquinas explained that “law is
an ordinance of reason ordered towards the common good, promulgated by him who
has charged of the community.
3. Cicero, the great Roman jurist-writer-philosopher, said “Law is the highest reason
implanted in nature, which commands what ought to be done and forbids the
opposite” (De Legibus, I vi) (Leon I. Asa, Law, Truth and Justice, The Lawyer’s
Review, February 8, 2009)

4. Mr. Justice Oliver Wendel Homes said: “The prophecies of what the courts will do
in fact and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law (Path of the law, 10
Harvard Law Review, 457, 460)

C. Law as Rules and Process

a. Law as Rules
b. Law as Process

D. Common Characteristics of Law

a. Obedience
b. Generality
c. Promulgation
d. The Rule of Law

2. Structure of Philippine Legal System

a) Executive
b) The Legislative; and
c) The Judiciary
1. Gonzaga vs. Court of Appeals, 51 SCRA 381
2. Ysip vs. Municipal of Cabiao, 43 Phil. 251
3. Air Manila Inc., vs Court of Industrial Relations, 83 SCRA 589
4. Aytona vs. Castillo, 4 SCRA 1, 11
5. Alonzo vs Intermediate Court of Appeals (150 SCRA 259, 28 May 1987

3. Publication of the law:

Ignorance of the law
a) Articles 2,4 and 4 of the Civil Code

4. Classical Theories

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 a) Natural law
b) Legal Positivism
c) Positivism and the Separation Thesis

5. Modern Theories
a) Legal Realism
b) The path of law
c) Bad Man Theory
d) Legal Interpretivism
e) Pure Theory of Law

6. Law and Morality

a) Moral Foundation of Law

b) Utilitarianism
c) The four categories of fundamental human goods
e) Virtue Jurisprudence
f) Secular and Religious Morality
g) Freedom of expression
h) Obscenity and Pornography

8. Law and Equity

a) Principles of Equality
b) Right and Equality
c) Human Rights
d) Equality before the Law,

9. Legal Philosophy and Legal Education

a) Value of Legal Philosophy

b) The Ends of Legal Education

10. Law and Justice

a) Utilitarian Theory of Justice

b) Libertarian Theory of Justice
c)Justice as Fairness
d) Justice as Inherent Component of Law
e) Socialism versus Capitalism
f) Social Justice

11. Cases (suggested readings)

a) Felixberto c. Sta. Maria vs. Salvador P. Lopez, et al. (G.R. No. L-30773, February 18, 1970

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 b) Jorge B. Vargas v. Emilio Rilloraza, Et Al, (G.R. No. L-1612, February 26, 1948
c) William F. Peralta v. The Director of Prisons (G.R. No. L-49, November 12, 1945
d) Alejandro Estrada v. Soledad Escritor (A.M. No. P-02-1651, August 4, 2003)
e) Joel G. Miranda v. Antonio M. Abaya and the Commission on Elections (G.R. No. 136351,
July 28, 1999
f) Teodoro Regala, et Al. v. Sandiganbayan (G.R. No. 105938, September 20, 1996
g) Cipriano P. Primicias v. Valeriano Fuguso (G.R. No. L-1800, January 27, 1948
h) Paulino and Lucena Padua v. Gregorio Robles and Bay Taxi Cab (G.R. No. L-40486, August
29, 1975
i) Republic of the Philippines vs. Sandiganbayan, Et al., (G.R. No. 104768, July 21, 2003)

REFERENCES
BOOKS

1. Aquino, David Robert, The Philosophy of law

2. Bernardo, Nicolo F and Bernardo, Oscar B, Philawsophia Philosophy and Theory of Law
3. Mizzoni, John Ethics the Basics
4. Sabine, George H and Thorson Thomes L, A History of Political Theory, Fourth Edition
5. Smith, Daniel, The Little Book of Big Ideas
6. Tabucanon, Gil Marvel P. Legal Philosophy for Filipinos: A Case Study Approach

Article

1. Asa, Leon L, Law, Truth and Justice, Lawyer’s Review, February 8, 2009

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