INSTITUTE FOR LAW & PHILOSOPHY

The Institute for Law and Philosophy brings together a number of scholars in law, philosophy, and other disciplines for the purpose of discussing the application of legal theory to contemporary legal, moral and political issues. Topics are debated and discussed at the Institute's regularly scheduled faculty workshops, featuring guest speakers who present papers on their current research interests. The Institute also hosts special conferences on specific topics in legal philosophy. Its mission is to provide a forum in which scholars working on theoretical topics in the law and related fields can exchange ideas on topics of mutual interest.

Claire Finkelstein, 2008-09 Director of the Institute for Law & Philosophy
For further information: please contact Anna Gavin, Administrative Assistant, at agavin@law.upenn.edu.

All workshops are from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. in Silverman Hall, Room 144 (Faculty lounge)

FALL 2008

Thursday, October 2

Fred Schauer, University of Virginia School of Law
Title: Why Precedent in Law (and Elsewhere) is Not Totally (or Even Substantially) About Analogy
View Paper (PDF)
Title: The Practice and Problems of Precedent
View Paper (PDF)

Thursday, October 30

Dan Markovits, Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Title: Solidarity at Arm's Length
View Paper (PDF)

Thursday, November 20

Michael Smith, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University
Title: Beyond the Error Theory
View Paper (PDF)

Thursday, December 4

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Professor of Philosophy, Dartmouth College
Title: Can Neurological Evidence Help Courts Assess Criminal Responsibility? Lessons from Law and Neuroscience
View Paper (PDF)
Title: Brain Images as Legal Evidence
View Paper (PDF)

Spring 2009

Tuesday, February 3

Bill Edmundson, Georgia State University College of Law
12:00 PM, Faculty Lounge
Title: Political Authority, Moral Powers, and the Intrinsic Value of Obedience
View Paper (PDF)

Monday, March 16

David Velleman
4:30 PM, Faculty Lounge
New York University, Department of Philosophy
View Paper (PDF)

Friday, April 17

Michael Bratman
2:00 PM, Faculty Lounge (Please note new meeting time.)
Stanford University, Department of Philosophy
View Paper (PDF)

Thursday, April 30 - Saturday, May 2

Hobbes Today Conference
For more information, click here

For past events, click here