Rationality in Law and Legal Theory: An Ethics Symposium

Both the law and legal theory make use of the notion of rationality. Within legal theory both positivists and natural law theorists have put forward theses about rationality in order to support their accounts of the nature of legality. And the law itself is rife with appeals to rationality—for example, in tort law, to specify the general duty of care, violation of which constitutes negligence, and in criminal law, to fill out various standard excuses (duress, mistake, provocation, etc.). The aim of this symposium is to bring together philosophers and legal theorists to examine these notions of rationality within their own disciplines and to consider the relationship between rationality as it is conceived within the law and as it has been conceived in legal theory. Speakers include Marcia Baron (St. Andrews), Heidi Li Feldman (Georgetown), Claire Finkelstein (Penn), John Gardner (Oxford), Scott Hershovitz (Michigan), and Lewis Kornhauser (NYU). Registration is free, but required. For more information or to register, visit the URL below.