LEGAL THEORY WORKSHOP
presents
Scott Hershovitz
University of Michigan Law School
Law is a Moral Practice
Friday, January 25, 2019
12:30 - 2:00
Solarium (Room FA2), Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
For many decades, the dominant view among philosophers has been that law is a distinct normative system, similar to, but separate from morality. In this paper (which is the first chapter from a book in progress), I sketch a different view. I argue that law is a moral practice—a practice that aims at creating, extinguishing, articulating, arranging, and rearranging our rights and responsibilities. And I argue that legal claims are moral claims, made against the backdrop of that practice.
Scott Hershovitz is a professor of law and a professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan. He also directs the Law and Ethics Program. Prior to joining the faculty at Michigan, he was an attorney-adviser on the appellate staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Hon. William A. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Hershovitz earned an AB in political science and philosophy and an MA in philosophy from the University of Georgia. He also holds a JD from Yale Law School and a DPhil in law from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Professor Hershovitz teaches and writes about jurisprudence and tort law. His publications include "The End of Jurisprudence" (Yale Law Journal, 2015), "The Model of Plans and the Prospects for Positivism" (Ethics, 2014), and "Harry Potter and the Trouble with Tort Theory" (Stanford Law Review, 2010).
To be added to the paper distribution list, please send an email to events.law@utoronto.ca. For further information, please contact Professor Larissa Katz (larissa.katz@utoronto.ca) and Professor Sophia Moreau (sr.moreau@utoronto.ca).
