The Public Interest in Law and Philosophy

The debate on public interest has regained attention in the last decade, particularly in legitimizing whistleblowing actions, framing anti-corruption regulations, crafting policies for public safety and national security, and in the governance of public goods. Public interest principles also play a vital role in constitutional decisions, and have been a key factor in movements opposing both public and private abuses of power.
In this Special Workshop we welcome contributions in both Legal Theory and Political Philosophy aiming at the conceptual circumscription and clarification of the idea of the public interest. Contributions may deal with specific philosophical contributions focused on public interest or cognate notions (Rawls’ conception of public goods, utilitarian approaches to maximization of individual utilities, neo-Aristotelian views of the common good, neo-Rousseaunian views of the general interest, Habermas’ theory of communicative action, etc.), but also with particular legal contexts, including – but not exclusively - in Constitutional Law and European Law.
As a follow-up of this Special Workshop we envisage the publication of a coherent collection of papers in an international academic publisher.
Participants should send their abstracts (around 500 words) to the convenors by March 15th, 2024. Notification of acceptance will occur shortly after the reception of abstracts and no later than March 22nd.

Convenors:

Eric Boot (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) [email protected]

Joao Cardoso Rosas (University of Minho, Portugal) [email protected]

Daniele Santoro (University of Minho, Portugal) [email protected]

More information can be found here: