Law and Ethics

The Law and Ethics program is designed to expand students’ understanding of both law and ethics. Ethics, the study of the nature of morality and how we ought to live, includes moral and political questions about structuring interpersonal, institutional, and governmental relationships.  Furthermore, students will also be encouraged to explore overlaps between moral and political theorizing and other areas of philosophy–raising issues of human nature, knowledge of ourselves and others, testimony, evidence, and expertise–as well as being informed by empirical data from other disciplines.

Ethics, understood in this broad sense, is an important starting point for developing a critical understanding of the law and legal institutions. It informs our assessment of the values expressed in different areas of law, such as criminal law, constitutional law, common law, and international justice. Students in this program will learn to evaluate the ethical and philosophical foundations of law in these different areas, to recognize and evaluate the values expressed in legal institutions, and to assess the function of law in creating (or undermining) a just society.

Students in this program will gain a firm grounding in the philosophical skills of writing, critical thinking, argumentation, and proficiency working with historical and contemporary texts– expertise that will serve them well, whether they choose to pursue a career in law or other professions in government, the nonprofit sector, health care, technology, or business.

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is a well-established, foundational degree and requires the requirements listed below alongside general graduation requirements.

Major in Law and Ethics

Students majoring in Law and Ethics must complete thirty-nine (39) credits hours, to be divided as follows:

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
At least three (3) credit hours from the following:		3
ENGL 1250	Literature and Law
PHIL 1201	Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 1246	Sex and Sexuality
PHIL 1248	Killing and Letting Die
POLI 1230	Law and Politics
Law and Ethics Core
PHIL 2303	Right and Wrong	3
or PHIL 2302	Ethics
PHIL 2332	Ethics and Criminal Law	3
PHIL 2335	Ethics of Common and Constitutional Law	3
PHIL 3333	Philosophy of Law (formerly PHIL 2333)	3
PHIL 3474	Moral Responsibility	3
Philosophical Ethics Area Requirement 1, 2
At least six (6) credit hours from:		6
PHIL 3470	Normative Ethical Theories
PHIL 3471	Meta-Ethics
PHIL 3472	Foundation of Ethics
PHIL 3475	Moral Psychology
PHIL 4525	International Justice
PHIL 4585	Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 4528	Topics in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy
PHIL 4590	Topics in Social Philosophy
Historical Context Area Requirement 1,2
At least six (6) credit hours from:		6
ANCS 2450	The ‘Cradle of Civilization’: The Ancient Near East (formerly CLAS 2450)
ANCS 2453	Republic and Revolution: Roman History I (formerly CLAS 2453)
or HIST 2453	Republic and Revolution: Roman History I
ANCS 2454	Bloody Caesars: Roman History II (formerly CLAS 2454)
or HIST 2454	Bloody Caesars: Roman History II
ANCS 2455	Ancient Empires (formerly CLAS 2455)
ANCS 3352	Women and Family in Ancient Greece (formerly CLAS 3352)
ANCS 3400	Rome’s Eternal Glory: The Age of Augustus (formerly CLAS 3400)
or HIST 3400	Rome’s Eternal Glory: The Age of Augustus
ANCS 3411	Great Trials of Ancient Athens (formerly CLAS 3411)
ANCS 3420	International Relations Eastern Mediterranean Style (formerly CLAS 3420)
ENGL 2261	Postcolonial Literature: Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia
ENGL 2262	Postcolonial Literature: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
ENGL 2537	Ireland in Revolution, 1890-1922
or IRST 2537	Ireland in Revolution, 1890-1922
ENGL 4464	Postcolonial Literature: Special Topics
HIST 2401	Canadian Political History
HIST 3301	Crime and Punishment in England Before 1800
HIST 3303	Law and Society in Britain 1500-1800
HIST 3381	China before 1800 (formerly HIST 2381)
HIST 3475	Histories of Indigenous and Settler Relations
HIST 4200	Women’s Rights in Britain 1500-1925
HIST 4401	Crime in Canada
PHIL 2311	Political Philosophy: The Classic Texts
PHIL 2345	Greek Philosophy: The Presocratics and Plato
or ANCS 2345	Greek Philosophy: The Presocratics and Plato (formerly CLAS 2345)
PHIL 2346	Greek Philosophy: Aristotle and The Hellenists
or ANCS 2346	Greek Philosophy: Aristotle and The Hellenists (formerly CLAS 2346)
RELS 2323	The Islamic Religious Tradition
RELS 2370	Introduction to the Qur'an
RELS 4200	Postcolonialism and Religion
Social Context Area Requirement 1,2
At least nine (9) credit hours from:		9
ANCS 3506	Cultural Property Protection in a Global World
or ICST 3506	Cultural Property Protection in a Global World
ANTH 2282	Introducing Forensic Anthropology
CMLW 2201	Legal Aspects of Business - Part I
CMLW 3202	Legal Aspects of Business - Part II
CRIM 2304	Canadian Criminal Justice System
CRIM 3205	Restorative Justice Theory
CRIM 3505	Prisons & Punishment
CRIM 3510	Criminal Law
CRIM 3546	Crime and the Media
ENGL 2461	Mi’kmaq Storytelling and Literature
ENGL 2513	Introduction to Indigenous Literature
ENGL 3462	Post 1945 Black Brit Writing
ENGL 3521	North American Indigenous Literature: United States
ENGL 3522	North American Indigenous Literature: Canada
ENGL 3791	Literatures of the Black Atlantic
or ACST 3791	Literatures of the Black Atlantic
ENGL 4465	Indigenous Literature Seminar
ENGL 4466	Representations of Indigenous Womanhood
PHIL 2304	Evil
PHIL 2305	Environmental Ethics
PHIL 2312	Contemporary Political Philosophy
PHIL 2318	Science and Society
PHIL 2331	Business Ethics
PHIL 2358	Philosophy of Human Nature
PHIL 2334	Health Care Ethics and the Law
PHIL 2385	Philosophical Issues in Feminism
PHIL 3415	Argumentation Theory
POLI 3321	International Organizations
POLI 3350	Indigenous Politics: Past, Present and Future
POLI 3418	International Law
POLI 3419	Comparative Constitutional Law
POLI 4317	Charter Politics and Constitutional Change
POLI 4480	Human Rights, Modern Perplexities
POLI 4481	Human Rights, Contemporary Paradoxes
RELS 2350	Faith in Action: Religion and Social Movements
RELS 3101	Law and Religion
RELS 3354	Indigenous Peoples, Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice
RELS 3102	Neoliberalism and the God of the Market
RELS 4333	Religion Race & Gender
SOCI 3000	Social Inequality
SOCI 3333	Social Movements
SOCI 3336	Sociology of Work
SOCI 3422	Political Sociology
SOCI 3431	Women, Migration and Identity
SOCI 4210	Forced Migration and Refugees
SOCI 4224	Inequality and Human Suffering
SJCS 2220	Race, Racism, Colonialism
SJCS 3216	Unpacking Whiteness
SJCS 3218	Racialization and Social Control
SJCS 3408	Urban Social Justice
SJCS 3508	Corporate and State Crime
SJCS 3608	Forms of Servitude
SJCS 4432	Gender and Law
PSYC 3710	Psychology and Law (formerly PSYC 3320) (Group B)
RELS 4389	Religion and Public Life
Total Credit Hours		39

¹

Students must complete a minimum of 18 credits towards the major at the 3000-level or above.

²

Students are advised to ensure they satisfy the 1000- and 2000-level prerequisites for courses needed for the Ethics and Law, Historical Context, and Social Context Requirements.

Students choosing to satisfy the Law & Ethics requirements exclusively with PHIL courses must declare a major in Law & Ethics or in Philosophy, but may not declare both majors. Students who wish to major in Law & Ethics and minor in Philosophy may not double count any credits towards both programs.