The Future of Law: Science Fiction and Legal Fiction

LSLW599 LSLW499 and LSPR499

Summer 2002

Materials

Required Reading

Gray, Chris Hables. The Cyborg Handbook. (New York: Routledge, 1995)="G" on reading list below.

Recommended Reading

Dyson, Freeman J. The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)="D"

Grading

PURPOSE OF THIS COURSE

This course is taught at several levels: graduate, undergraduate, and paralegal. Students must read the assignments prior to class, come prepared to discuss the issues intelligently, participate in class discussions, and be prepared to apply their knowledge creatively to problems assigned in class. The purpose of the course and its rules are as follows - being a Trekker helps:

1. To boldly go where no Legal Studies course has gone before.
2. To explore the various threads of technology, philosophy, and law in the tapestry of American cyborg culture.
3. To develop an understanding of legal fiction as a social and structural method of negotiating competing theories of justice
4. To view the various refractions of future legal theory through the prism of science fiction
5. To expand conceptions of social justice and legal resolution using various tools of legal reasoning.

NOTES

1. Reading assignments must be prepared in advance of the class meeting date.
2. Not all course material is covered in the text. Examinations may include material covered by lecture, class discussion, handouts, demonstrations or lab sessions in addition to assigned readings.
3. There will be no makeup examinations.(1)
4. Class attendance is mandatory and class participation will be rewarded.
5. Recommended reference books and supplemental reading materials will be assigned.
6. Students are encouraged to work cooperatively.
7. DO NOT FAX ASSIGNMENTS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS

All assigned chapters refer to the text. Specific assignments within the pages assigned may be announced in class. All topics will be covered on a flexible schedule depending on the needs of the class, and other factors. Preliminary dates are provided.

DAY / TOPIC / ASSIGNMENT

PART I - Humanity, Consciousness, Rights, and Reason
05.20.02	The history and the development of law - many frequencies, some noise, varying power. The Cyborg Planet vs. Gaia Natural Law vs. Positive Law	Film: Cloudminders  See Readings in Blackboard: BlackBoard: Assigned Readings #1 and #2. under Law Reviews and Case Law G: Forward and Introduction
05.21.02	The increasing legal bandwidth - The Eplubnista and other source documents.	Film: Robocop - Essay # 1 in Assignments under Papers G:1.1, 1.2, 5.4
05.22.02	Utopia vs. dystopia considered  - What it means to be human - - Do androids dream of electric sheep?	Film: Bladerunner G:3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7., 3.8 // Read Dred Scott
05.23.02	Dystopia -  Rule by machine	Film: Terminator G: 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 4.8
05.27.02	NO CLASS - I'll be back.	D: Read all.
05.28.02	MIDTERM EXAMINATION  - What it means to be sentient - Could I have some emotion chips with that beer?	Film: Gattaca BlackBoard - Assigned Readings . under Law Reviews and Case Law Film: A taste of Armageddon
05.29.02	Consciousness from machine: Cyberperson	Fin de siecle of man - Film: Bicentennial Man G: 2.1, 5.1,
PART II - Machine Culture and Government by Technology
05.30.01	Government by technology-- "...government is best that governs least". Assignment: Second Paper Due - 6.03.02// Using the readings, movies, and discussion explore the machine culture and its ramifications in global socio-economic terms.	Reading: Assignments - Essays - Thoureau, Henry David. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience: See the American Transcendentalist Movement. Film: Brazil
06.03.01	Conscience and law by technology	Film: Logan's Run G:5.2, 5.5
06.04.01	Rights, liberties, and justice for all...higher level mammals?	Film: Colossus: The Forbin Project G:G:6.1, 6.2, 6.3
06.05.01	Cyborg evolution through technology and the ascendency of the machine culture.	Fin de siecle: man and machine -   Film: The Matrix G:6.4, 6.5, 6.6
06.06.01	FINAL EXAMINATION

(1) Make up exams will only be considered in the event of kidnapping, terrorist acts, national emergency, or death (yours)