The course is divided into two modules. The first module, based on Norberto Bobbio’s Teoria generale del diritto, focuses on the concept of the legal norm and the structure of the legal system. The second module, drawing on Bruno Romano’s Ragione sufficiente e diritto. Dataismo e teoria dei quanti, examines the opportunities and risks that new technologies pose in the legal field.
Course Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
The course consists of classroom lectures delivered remotely with active student involvement encouraged throughout. Video materials will also be used to present the central issues covered in the course.
Assessment Methods
Oral examination
Texts
Reading list for attending students: N. Bobbio, Teoria generale del diritto, Giappichelli Editore, Torino 2009 (except for Chapter VI of Part One and Chapters IV and V of Part Two); B. Romano, Ragione sufficiente e diritto. Dataismo e teoria dei quanti, Presentazione di G. Azzoni, Giappichelli Editore, Torino 2023.
Reading list for non-attending students: N. Bobbio, Teoria generale del diritto, Giappichelli Editore, Torino 2009; B. Romano, Ragione sufficiente e diritto. Dataismo e teoria dei quanti, Presentazione di G. Azzoni, Giappichelli Editore, Torino 2023.
Contents
In the first module, the course will aim to clarify what is meant by moral and legal norms. It will also explore the differences between autonomous and heteronomous imperatives, categorical and hypothetical imperatives, value judgments and commands, as well as between advice, claims, and permissions. The essence of moral, social, and legal sanctions will be examined, along with the foundations of legal norms, carefully analyzing the distinction between natural law and positive law. Finally, the relationship between the different norms within the legal system will be analyzed. In the second module, the course will investigate how the rise of dataism reduces humans to mere accumulations of data, making them increasingly dependent on new technologies, delegating not only certain tasks but also some decision-making processes to them. It will become necessary to question whether the act of judgment can be delegated to a machine, or whether it must remain fundamentally human. The module will focus on understanding whether it is still justifiable for a legal system in which the judge is an algorithm, where decisions are no longer the exclusive domain of humans but of technology.
