1st part of the Course 1st lesson: General: introduction to the Sociology of Law as an interdisciplinary approach of the legal phenomenon: Legal sociology and Sociology of law: Τhe three postulates of Sociology of law as a realistic science of law. The Development of the 1st postulate: Law is not limited only to the official State law (the sources of law). Karl Schmitt’s theory of the three types of legal thought 2nd lesson: Development of the second postulate: legal norms are part of the total social norms [criteria in order to distinguish between legal and other social norms, Kelsen’s Pure theory of Law and the probability of intervention of a judge (judiciality) as a criterion of legality (juridicity] 3rd lesson: Development of the third postulate of Sociology of law as a realistic legal science: Law goes beyond the consciousness and the will of the legislator, of the judge and of individuals 4th, 5th and 6th lessons: A comparative, historical and sociological study of three important legal traditions: France (the exegetic school, the school of the free interpretation of law, François Gény; E: Durkheim, M. Hauriou, Léon Duguit, Marcel Mauss, H. Lévy-Bruhl, Jean Carbonnier), Germany.(legal conceptualism, historical school of law, R. von Jhering, Interessenjurisprudenz) and USA (legal formalism, American legal realism, O.W. Holmes, R. Pound, gender law, critical school of law, law and economics etc.) 2nd part of the course 7th lesson: The definition of the enlarged object of study of a realistic social science of law and the techniques of legal interpretation 8th lesson: legal socialisation and the three types of social contract (T. Hobbes, J. Locke and J-J Rousseau) 9th lesson: Semiotic and cybernetic analysis of the legal phenomenon 3rd part of the course: 10th lesson: Critical approaches to the relations between the legal phenomenon and its social environment (dialectical, Hegelian, Marxist and post-Marxist approaches) 11th lesson: Understanding Sociology; Max Weber’s thought (axiological neutrality, the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, the four ideal types of law) 12th lesson: introduction to Functional, critical functional and systemic approaches to law (the functions of law, Robert King Merton and Talcott Parsons) 13th lesson: Discussion on some currently interesting subjects such as: -Globalization and the relations between Nation and State. -Xenophobia and the socio-legal status of migrant populations