Laws
schools neither require nor prefer any specific course
of study when it comes to making admissions decisions.
More than anything, law schools are looking for students
who have acquired significant analytic skills and the
capacity to present arguments in a compelling way.
Still, it is worth noting that philosophy majors consistently
secure among the highest scores on the Law School Admissions
Test (LSAT). Moreover, the skills one develops as
a philosophy major are just those that law schools recognize
as crucial. As judge Richard Posner observes:
[T]he
methods of analytic philosophy and of legal reasoning
-- the making of careful distinctions and definitions,
the determination of logical consistency through
the construction and examination of hypothetical cases,
the bringing of buried assumptions to the surface, the
breaking up of a problem into manageable components,
the meticulous exploration of the implications of an
opponent's arguments--are mainly the same. [Overcoming
Law (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995),
p. 9]
Not
surprisingly, the in depth study of philosophy is widely
regarded as an excellent preparation for law school and
a career in law. Students who wish to prepare for
law school should therefore consider a major in philosophy.
Alternatively, they may wish to supplement a major in
another discipline with a minor in philosophy, and should
in any case supplement whatever major they pursue with
a number of philosophy courses (most especially a logic
course and at least a couple of courses at the intermediate
level or higher). Above all, students should seek
out courses that will give them extensive opportunities
for analytical, critical writing.
Incidentally,
in recent years UNC philosophy students have gone on to
study law at (among other places) Boston College, University
of California/Berkeley, University of Chicago, University
of Michigan, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Harvard, University
of California/Los Angeles, New York University, University
of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, Notre Dame, Pepperdine,
Rutgers, Tulane, Vermont, University of Virginia, Wake
Forest, William and Mary, and Yale.
Additional
information is available on the web. You might
usefully look at Keith Burgess-Jackson's extremely helpful
Advice for Prospective
Law Students, at Academic Advising’s
Pre-law Handbook,
and at the Philosophy Department’s Undergraduate Program.
Pre-Law
advisors in the Department of Philosophy: Gerald Postema,
Cary C. Boshamer Professor of Philosophy and Professor
of Law (Phone: 962-3310; email: gpostema@email.unc.eduu)
and Michael Corrado,
Arch T. Allen Distinguished Professor of Law and Professor
of Philosophy (Phone: 962-4121; email: mlcorrado@email.unc.edu).
Please feel free to contact either of them if you would
like advice or guidance.
The
following suggestions reflect a collaborative effort by
members of the UNC Law School and the Department of Philosophy
to identify a program of study that will put students
in a good position to secure admission to, and then thrive
in (or at least survive), law school and the legal profession.
I.
Courses in Philosophy.
Students
should take at least one course in each
of the following groups.
A.
Logic:
PHIL
155 (logic),
PHIL 356 (topics
in logic) or
PHIL 455 (advanced
logic)
B.
Introduction to Philosophy:
PHIL
101 or 110 (general introductions), or
PHIL 160 or
163 (introduction to ethics, applied ethics)
PHIL 170 (introduction
to political philosophy)
C.
Intermediate Courses (general):
PHIL
145 (language and communication),
PHIL
150 (philosophy of science),
PHIL
210 (ancient philosophy),
PHIL
220 (modern philosophy)
or
PHIL
230 (experience and reality) .
D.
Intermediate/Advanced Courses (ethics, law-related):
PHIL
280 (morality and law),
PHIL 360 (history
of ethics),
PHIL 362 (contemporary
ethical theory), or
PHIL 480 (philosophy
of law)
E.
Advanced Courses:
PHIL
300 and above (any course)
F.
Seminars:
PHIL
390 (seminar in selected topics)
PHIL 397 (colloquium
for majors)
II.
Cognate courses
Students
are also encouraged to take courses in other departments
that develop basic writing, reasoning, or analytic skills
and basic understanding of American society, political
institutions, and principles of economics and finance.
Courses of the following kinds would be especially useful:
In
Political Science or Sociology: introductions to
American government and legal institutions and basic social
institutions.
In
History: history of American legal institutions,
constitutional history, and the like.
In
Economics: introduction to basic micro-economics
and welfare economics.
In
Public Policy Analysis: techniques, methods,
and ethical basis of policy analysis.
In
English: legal writing, non-fiction composition
