Legal Philosophy and Legal Theory

Co-ordinator: Professor Jeff Goldsworthy

Issues in legal philosphy range from conceptual questions about the nature of law and legal reasoning to inquireis concerning the moral foundations of particular areas of law such as tort law, criminal law and public law.  Our researchers in this area have a range of interest from political theory, critical theory, moral philosophy and philosophy of language.

This cluster incorporates:

• Analytical Legal Philosophy
• Constitutional Theory
• Criminal law Ttheory
• Critical Theory
• Law and Gender
• Legal Positivism and Natural Law
• Theories of Legal Interpretation

Current and recent research projects:

• Originalism in constitutional interpretation
• Moral responsibility and criminal liability
• The nature of legal disagreement
• The scholarly work of Ulrich Hubbes (1805-1892)
• Threat mechanisms and self defence in individual and collective contexts