CFP: Philosophy & Legal Theory Collaborative

I am writing to invite expressions of interest in the formation of a new Philosophy & Legal Theory Collaborative - a "CRN" (division) of the Law & Society Association.

I and about seventy LSA members aim to form a new CRN to both foster collaboration and community among the already substantial number of LSA members engaged in legal theory and philosophical methods (broadly construed) and attract law and philosophy scholars into the the LSA as a natural home for the multidisciplinary field.

Our very provisional description is as follows:

The Philosophy & Legal Theory Collaborative aims to create a forum to share and collaborate on research in philosophy of law, laws, or legal institutions, and legal scholarship engaged with philosophy, broadly construed. This includes scholarship on philosophy of law and individual legal questions from all philosophical traditions (e.g. analytic, continental, non-western, critical theory) as well as political philosophy, political theory, moral philosophy, social epistemology, social ontology, moral psychology, philosophy of action and decision theory on topics relevant to law or socio-legal topics. It also includes socio-legal scholarship that draws from work in philosophy or that employs philosophical methods. We hope to spark philosophically informed conversations on both the foundational and the highly specific questions in law and society. Topics appropriate for this CRN range from work on classic debates in analytic jurisprudence, such as the relationship between legality and morality, to scholarship applying contemporary social ontology literature to doctrinal questions in equal protection law, and everything in between – as well as research on normative philosophical topics commonly regarded as within “philosophy of law” or “legal theory” as a field, such as the nature or justification of coercion, self-defense, paternalism, consent or restitution. This CRN welcomes a multidisciplinary set of participants to foster interdisciplinary discussions, drawing perspectives not only from philosophy and legal academia, but also political science and political theory, sociology, psychology, history, economics, literature, anthropology, social policy, and other social science and humanities disciplines.

At the 2023 LSA meeting in Puerto Rico, we hosted a dinner reception with 25 attendees.

This academic year, we plan to host a free standing conference (date to be determined) and a workshop in Denver on June 5, 2024.

If you are interested in participating in this project or joining our Saturday gathering, please write to me ([email protected]) or my co-organizer, Amin Afrouzi ([email protected]) or preferably fill out this google form:

https://forms.gle/eCYvDAki4irNw4iQ8

Thank you and hope to hear from you.

Best wishes,
Samantha