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Law and Method


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Access_open Rethinking the Philosophy of Law Curriculum

Critical Race Theory as Methodology

Keywords Philosophy of Law, Critical Race Theory, Legal Idealism, Law and Methodology
Authors Adebayo Oluwayomi
AbstractAuthor's information

    This article examines archetypal philosophy of law curricula in selected colleges and universities in the United States, revealing a problem regarding how the curriculum is set up to portray the view that philosophical discussions about the law ought to be fundamentally abstract with no bearing on material existence. This teaching practice and pedagogical setup proceed from a certain ideological commitment that seeks to portray legal philosophy in idealistic frames of normativity, justice, universality, and shared human aspirations devoid of the entanglement of the law with the social reality of the prevalence of racism in the American society. This article aims to explore two tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) as methodology (the interest convergence principle and racial realism), to accentuate how the philosophy of law curriculum can be revamped to embrace other ‘voices’ and perspectives and, thereby, present a comprehensive view regarding the philosophical thinking about the law.


Adebayo Oluwayomi
Adebayo Oluwayomi, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor & Graduate Coordinator, Department of Philosophy, West Chester University, USA.