Legal reasoning WP-PR-LP
Course Topics:
Introduction
The Concept and Development of Legal Logic
1. Logic and Jurisprudence
2. The Origins of Logic in Ancient Greece
3. The Shift Toward Formal Logic in the Humanist School of Law During the Enlightenment
4. The Development of Legal Logic According to Chaïm Perelman
5. Basic Information on Logic for Lawyers
Elements of Logic for Lawyers in the Field of Semiotics
1. The Semiotic Status of the Language of Law [semiotic status—register or professional dialect, legal and juristic language]
2. Semantics of the language of law [Legal lexicon and its specific characteristics, features of the language of law, legal definitions, legislative methods for eliminating ambiguity in legal language]
3. Legal syntax [the two-level nature of legal language]
4. Legal pragmatics [descriptivism or reconstructionism, Austin’s pragmatic analysis, Hart’s theory (?)]
What Kind of Legal Logic?
1. Deontology of Judicial Disputes
2. The Logic of Judicial Application of Law as a Universal Model of Legal Reasoning [The Subsumptive Model of Legal Application and Its Evolution]
3. Elements of Formal Logic for Lawyers and Its Limitations in the Construction of Legal Theory [Inference, Syllogism, Types of Syllogisms]
Elements of the logic of legal interpretation
1. The Specific Nature of the Logic of Legal Interpretation.
2. The Problem of Meaning in Legal Interpretation
3. Selected Issues in the Construction of a Theory of Legal Interpretation
4. The Current Model of Legal Interpretation
Elements of the logic of factual findings
1. “Judicial Cognition vs. Scientific Cognition”
2. Case facts as the subject of proof [primary and secondary facts]
3. Thesis, source, and means of proof
4. Selected provisions of evidence law in a democratic state governed by the rule of law
Elements of the Theory of Legal Argumentation and the Methodology of Jurisprudence
1. Legal dispute as an example of practical discourse
2. Topics, rhetoric, legal argumentation
3. Research subject, thesis, hypothesis, research question, and the structure of a scholarly study in jurisprudence
4. An overview of analytical and empirical methods in jurisprudence
(in Polish) Dyscyplina naukowa, do której odnoszą się efekty uczenia się
(in Polish) E-Learning
Term 2019/20_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) | Term 2020/21_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2021/22_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2022/23_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2023/24_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2024/25_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2025/26_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy | Term 2026/27_Z: (in Polish) E-Learning (pełny kurs) z podziałem na grupy |
(in Polish) Grupa przedmiotów ogólnouczenianych
Course coordinators
Term 2025/26_Z: | Term 2022/23_Z: | Term 2024/25_Z: | Term 2026/27_Z: | Term 2023/24_Z: | Term 2020/21_Z: | Term 2019/20_Z: | Term 2021/22_Z: |
Subject level
(in Polish) Punkty ECTS
Learning outcome code/codes
Type of subject
Preliminary Requirements
Learning outcomes
The student identifies the rules of logical reasoning and applies the appropriate ones when interpreting legal texts, including in the context of legal argumentation.
The student applies theoretical knowledge of legal logic to describe and analyze specific legal cases.
Assessment criteria
Multiple-choice test
Assessment criteria for learning outcome PR_U01:
Grade 2: The student is unable to apply the rules of logical reasoning and use them when interpreting legal texts.
For a grade of 3 or 3.5: The student has acquired sufficient proficiency in applying the rules of logical reasoning and using them to interpret legal texts, including in the context of specific legal events
For a grade of 4 or 4.5: The student has demonstrated a good command of the rules of logical reasoning and the ability to apply them when interpreting legal texts, including in the context of specific legal events
Grade 5: The student has demonstrated, at a very good level, the ability to apply the rules of logical reasoning and use them to interpret legal texts, including in the context of specific legal events
Assessment Criteria for PR_U02:
Grade 2: The student lacks the necessary theoretical knowledge of legal logic or is unable to apply their existing knowledge to describe, analyze, and resolve specific legal cases
Grade 3: The student possesses the necessary theoretical knowledge of legal logic and is able to apply it to a sufficient degree to describe, analyze, and resolve specific legal cases
Grade 4: The student possesses the necessary theoretical knowledge of legal logic and is able to apply that knowledge at a good level to describe, analyze, and resolve specific legal cases
For a grade of 5: The student possesses the necessary theoretical knowledge in the field of legal logic and is able to apply this knowledge at a very good level to describe, analyze, and resolve specific legal cases
Bibliography
Main:
A. Kotowski, Elements of Logic and Legal Argumentation [Elementy logiki i argumentacji prawniczej], published by Difin, Warsaw 2026
Supplementary:
O. Nawrot, Introduction to Logic for Lawyers [Wprowadzenie do logiki dla prawników], published by Wolter Kluwer Polska, Warsaw 2024
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: