• The nature of legal obligation
    In Kenneth Einar Himma, Miodrag A. Jovanović & Bojan Spaić (eds.), Unpacking Normativity - Conceptual, Normative and Descriptive Issues, Hart Publishing. 2018.
  • Protestant interpretation, conventions, and legal truth
    In Thomas da Rosa de Bustamante & Thiago Lopes Decat (eds.), Philosophy of law as an integral part of philosophy: essays on the jurisprudence of Gerald J. Postema, Hart Publishing, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. 2020.
  • Reasoning within and about (legal) practices
    In Thomas da Rosa de Bustamante & Margaret Martin (eds.), New essays on the Fish-Dworkin debate, Hart Publishing, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. 2023.
  •  9
    Natural Law Theory
    In Dennis Patterson (ed.), A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, Wiley‐blackwell. 2010.
    This chapter contains sections titled: Traditional Natural Law Theory Modern Natural Law Theory Conclusion References.
  •  8
    Ronald Dworkin
    Philosophical Quarterly 43 (173): 569-571. 1993.
  •  239
    H. L. A. Hart and the "open texture" of language
    Law and Philosophy 10 (1). 1991.
    H. L. A. Hart and the "Open Texture" of Language tries to clarify the writings of both Hart and Friedrich Waismann on "open texture". In Waismann's work, "open texture" referred to the potential vagueness of words under extreme (hypothetical) circumstances. Hart's use of the term was quite different, and his work has been misunderstood because those differences were underestimated. Hart should not be read as basing his argument for judicial discretion on the nature of language; primarily, he was…Read more
  •  1
    Diccionario de teoría jurídica
    Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. 2009.
  •  12
    Alf Ross on the Nature of Law
    Ratio Juris 36 (1): 61-71. 2023.
    In his work, On Law and Justice, Alf Ross sought to explain law in scientific/empirical terms, in terms that would require no recourse to what he called “metaphysics” or “idealism.” The result is a sort of translation of legal rules and official actions into propositions of behavior, predictions of behavior, and shared ideology. The present work raises questions about the tensions within Ross's work(s), and discusses the places where Ross's analysis seems to fall short of its ambitions. In the c…Read more
  •  3
    The Nature of Law and Reasons for Action
    Problema. Anuario de Filosofía y Teoria Del Derecho 1 (5): 399-415. 2011.
    If a legal rule tells us to do something, do we thereby have a reason to do it? This remains one of the most basic questions for theoretical and practical reflection on law. It is a foundational question, which many prominent contemporary theorists have discussed, yet the topic remains poorly understood. While many legal positivists have recently sought to “explain normativity”, this is likely a project inconsistent with the basic commitments of legal positivism, and, in any event, thoroughly un…Read more
  •  2
    Some Reflections on Contract Law Theory
    Problema. Anuario de Filosofía y Teoria Del Derecho 1 (1): 143-201. 2007.
    The existing divergence between how we talk about contract law and actual contract experience, the parties moral obligation to keep contracts and the government’s role in regulating contracts, are the three main issues addressed in this article. The analysis of this article points to a narrower and more cautious approach to contract law, not towards a general theory, but one focused on the rules of a single time and place.Resumen:La divergencia que existe entre la forma en que hablamos del derec…Read more
  •  7
    Brian Bix
    Problema. Anuario de Filosofía y Teoria Del Derecho 1 (11). 2017.
  •  2
    Law and Reasons: Comments on Rodriguez-Blanco
    Problema. Anuario de Filosofía y Teoria Del Derecho 1 (7): 27-39. 2013.
    In Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco’s thoughtful and important article, “Reasons in Action v Triggering Reasons: A Reply to Enoch on Reason-Giving and Le- gal Normativity,” she explores with great care the nature of reason-giving, in connection with challenging David Enoch’s influential recent work on reason-giving and the law. While Rodriguez-Blanco’s article makes an important contribution to the literature on the best understanding of rea- son-giving and practical reasoning, it is not clear that an …Read more
  • The normativity of law
    In Torben Spaak (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism, Cambridge University Press. 2021.
  •  28
    Legal interpretation and truth
    Jurisprudence 13 (1): 107-112. 2022.
    Pierluigi Chiassoni’s wonderful book, Interpretation without Truth,1 is an important and welcome addition to the ongoing conversations about interpretation, legal realism, and legal truth. Chiasson...
  •  2
    Rights: Concepts and Contexts
    with Horacio Spector
    Routledge. 2012.
    This volume brings together the central works of recent scholarship on the nature of rights, with contributions by some of the most prominent contemporary theorists in moral, legal, and political philosophy. With approaches ranging from the political to the historical, and from the analytical to the critical, this collection touches on the major conceptual and practical questions of this important field and also offers useful introductions to emerging issues in rights theory.
  •  1
    Natural Law: The Modern Tradition
    In Jules Coleman & Scott J. Shapiro (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law, Oxford University Press. 2002.
  •  27
    Family Law: Values Beyond Choice and Autonomy?
    Law and Philosophy 40 (2): 163-183. 2020.
  •  625
    Kelsen, Hart, and Legal Normativity
    Revus. Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law / Revija Za Ustavno Teorijo in Filozofijo Prava 34 25-42. 2018.
    This article focuses on issues relating to legal normativity, emphasizing the way these matters have been elaborated in the works of Kelsen and Hart and later commentators on their theories. First, in Section 2, the author offers a view regarding the nature of law and legal normativity focusing on Kelsen's work (at least one reasonable reading of it). The argument is that the Basic Norm is presupposed when a citizen chooses to read the actions of legal officials in a normative way. In this Kelse…Read more
  •  183
    On the Nature of Legal Normativity, 37 Revus 83-91 (2019)
    Revus. Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law / Revija Za Ustavno Teorijo in Filozofijo Prava 37 83-91. 2019.
    In this response to eight commentaries on my article “Kelsen, Hart, and legal normativity” I clarify some points in my original analysis and agree with some comments regarding work that still needs to be done. In particular, I attempt to distinguish my position from both Berkeleyan idealism and mere subjective perception. I agree with the commentators who urge that more must be done to analyze the nature of normativity in general, and legal normativity in particular.
  •  16
    A Critique of Alexy’s Claim to Correctness
    Ratio Juris 33 (2): 124-133. 2020.
    This article offers an overview of the difficulties in Robert Alexy’s idea of law’s “claim to correctness.” The inquiry takes us deep into the nature of simple communication, back out to what it means to have a theory about the nature of law, and also in the direction of wondering about the interaction of legal theory and practical reasoning—reasoning about how we should best act. The article offers reasons to question whether law in fact makes claims, at least in any straightforward sense. Even…Read more
  •  10
    This is a book review of Grégoire Webber, Paul Yowell, Richard Ekins, Maris Köpcke, Bradley W. Miller, and Francisco J. Urbina, "Legislated Rights" (Cambridge U. Pr., 2018)
  •  21
    There are a growing number of general theories of contract law and of other doctrinal areas. These theories are vastly ambitious in their aims. This article explores the nature of these claims, and the motivations for offering such theories, while considering the challenges to success. It is in the nature of theorizing to seek general categories, including doctrinal categories, and to try to discover insights that hold across those categories. However, differences both within a doctrinal area an…Read more
  •  5
    Philosophy of law (review)
    Philosophical Books 46 (1): 93-96. 2005.