•  1
    Tort law and its theory
    In John Tasioulas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Law, Cambridge University Press. 2020.
  •  14
    From Personal Life to Private Law
    Oxford University Press. 2018.
    The book examines the philosophical foundations of private law, arguing that the foremost preoccupations of the law of obligations are grounded in and pervade the personal lives of individuals.
  •  5
    How do laws resemble rules of games, moral rules, personal rules, rules found in religious teachings, school rules, and so on? Are laws rules at all? Are they all made by human beings? And if so how should we go about interpreting them? How are they organized into systems, and what does it mean for these systems to have 'constitutions'? Should everyone want to live under a system of law? Is there a special kind of 'legal justice'? Does it consist simply in applying the law of the system? And how…Read more
  •  2
    Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law Volume 3 (edited book)
    Oxford University Press. 2018.
    Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Law is a forum for new philosophical work on law. The essays range widely over general jurisprudence, philosophical foundations of specific areas of law, and other philosophical topics relating to legal theory.
  •  10
    Oxford studies in philosophy of law volume 4 (edited book)
    Oxford University Press. 2021.
    This volume provides a forum for some of the best new philosophical work on law, by both senior and junior scholars from around the world. The chapters range widely over issues in general jurisprudence (the nature of law, adjudication, and legal reasoning); the philosophical foundations of specific areas of law (from criminal law to evidence to international law); the history of legal philosophy; and related philosophical topics that illuminate the problems of legal theory.
  •  56
    Law as a leap of faith: essays on law in general
    Oxford University Press. 2012.
    Law as a leap of faith -- Legal positivism : 5 1/2 myths -- Some types of law -- Can there be a written constitution? -- How law claims, what law claims -- Nearly natural law -- The legality of law -- The supposed formality of the rule of law -- Hart on legality, justice, and morality -- The virtue of justice and the character of law -- Law in general.
  •  4
    Forty years after his death, Hans Kelsen (1881-1973) remains one of the most discussed and influential legal philosophers of our time. This collection of new essays takes Kelsen's Pure Theory of Law as a stimulus, aiming to move forward the debate on several central issues in contemporary jurisprudence. The essays in Part I address legal validity, the normativity of law, and Kelsen's famous but puzzling idea of a legal system's 'basic norm'. Part II engages with the difficult issues raised by th…Read more
  •  47
    Michael Moore and I agree about the moral importance of how our actions turn out. We even agree about some of the arguments that establish that moral importance. In Causation and Responsibility, however, Moore foregrounds one argument that I do not find persuasive or even helpful. In fact I doubt whether it even qualifies as an argument. He calls it the “experiential argument.” In this comment I attempt to analyze Moore's “experiential argument” in some detail and thereby to bring out why it doe…Read more
  •  47
    The Legality of Law
    Ratio Juris 17 (2): 168-181. 2004.
    In this paper I outline various different objects of investigation that may be picked out by word “law” (or its cognates). All of these objects must be investigated in an integrated way before one can provide a complete philosophical explanation of the nature of law. I begin with the distinction between laws (artefacts) and law (the genre to which the artefacts belong). This leads me to the distinction between the law (of a particular legal system) and law (the genre of artefacts). Then I discus…Read more
  •  106
    Reasons and Abilities: Some Preliminaries
    American Journal of Jurisprudence 58 (1): 63-74. 2013.
    This paper takes some first steps in a study of the thesis that “ought” implies “can.” Considerable attention is given to the proper interpretation of the thesis, including the interpretation of “ought,” the interpretation of “can,” and the interpretation of “implies.” Having chosen a particular interpretation of the thesis to work on—in some ways its broadest interpretation—the paper tries to bring out some considerations that bear on its truth or falsity. After an excursion into the general th…Read more
  •  215
    Nearly Natural Law
    American Journal of Jurisprudence 52 (1): 1-23. 2007.
  •  35
    Law as a Leap of Faith as OTHERS see IT
    Law and Philosophy 33 (6): 813-842. 2014.
    This is my reply to five extended critical assessments of my book Law as a Leap of Faith, appearing together in a symposium issue of Law and Philosophy. The critics are Kevin Toh, Luís Duarte d’Almeida and James Edwards, Fábio Perin Shecaira, Cristina Redondo, and Matthew Smith. The topics include H.L.A. Hart’s philosophical legacy, the moral claims of law, the nature of legal reasoning, the doctrine of legal positivism, and the possibility of alienation from law
  •  52
    Fifteen Themes from Law as a Leap of Faith
    Jurisprudence 6 (3): 601-623. 2015.
    This article contains the author's responses to five critics of his book Law as a Leap of Faith whose criticisms appear in this journal. The critics are Kimberley Brownlee, Antony Hatzistavrou, Kristen Rundle, Sari Kisilevsky and Nicola Lacey. The criticisms and responses pick up the following fifteen themes from the book: law, morality, society, explanation, continuity, rationality, ends, instruments, values, justice, allocation, games, modalities, generalities, jurisprudence
  •  6
    Making sense of mens Rea: Antony duffs account
    with Jung Heike
    Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 11 (4): 559-588. 1991.
  •  8
    Avoiding the Premature Introduction of Psychedelic Medicines in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders
    with Adrian Carter, Myfanwy Graham, Wayne Hall, and Michaela Barber
    American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 14 (2): 129-131. 2023.
    Peterson et al. (2023) identify two potential uses of psychedelic drugs in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (AD/ADRD). The first is to treat depression and anxiety that commonly occur afte...
  •  1
    Reasons, Reasoning, Reasonableness
    with Timothy Macklem
    In Jules Coleman & Scott J. Shapiro (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law, Oxford University Press. 2002.
  •  1
    Reasons
    with Timothy Macklem
    In Jules Coleman & Scott Shapiro (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence & Philosophy of Law, Oxford University Press. 2004.
  •  1
    Reasons, Reasoning, Reasonableness
    with Timothy Macklem
    In Jules Coleman & Scott J. Shapiro (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence & Philosophy of Law, Oxford University Press. 2002.
  • 15 Backward and Forward with Tort Law
    with Torts as Wrongs
    In Joseph Keim Campbell, Michael O'Rourke & David Shier (eds.), Law and Social Justice, Mit Press. pp. 255. 2005.
  •  33
    Torts and Other Wrongs
    Oxford University Press. 2019.
    This book collects John Gardner's celebrated essays on the theory of private law, alongside two new essays. Together they range across the central puzzles in understanding the significance of outcomes, the role of justice in private law, strict liability, the reasonable person standard, and the role of public policy in tort law.
  •  45
    Although famous as an economist, Amartya Sen is no less distinguished as a philosopher. In this he is far from unique. The same went for the founding father of economics, Adam Smith. But in these days of increased academic specialization the combination of philosopher and economist is rarer than once it was. Moreover the philosophical contributions of contemporary economists, such as they are, tend to be relatively narrow. Some, notably John Harsanyi and Thomas Schelling, are rightly lauded by p…Read more
  •  249
    What is Tort Law For? Part 1. The Place of Corrective Justice
    Law and Philosophy 30 (1): 1-50. 2011.
    In this paper I discuss the proposal that the law of torts exists to do justice, more specifically corrective justice, between the parties to a tort case. My aims include clarifying the proposal and defending it against some objections (as well as saving it from some defences that it could do without). Gradually the paper turns to a discussion of the rationale for doing corrective justice. I defend what I call the ‘continuity thesis’ according to which at least part of the rationale for doing co…Read more
  •  78
    Relations of responsibility
    In Rowan Cruft, Matthew H. Kramer & Mark R. Reiff (eds.), Crime, Punishment, and Responsibility: The Jurisprudence of Antony Duff, Oxford University Press. pp. 87--102. 2011.
  •  230
    Complicity and causality
    Criminal Law and Philosophy 1 (2): 127-141. 2007.
    This paper considers some aspects of the morality of complicity, understood as participation in the wrongs of another. The central question is whether there is some way of participating in the wrongs of another other than by making a causal contribution to them. I suggest that there is not. In defending this view I encounter, and resist, the claim that it undermines the distinction between principals and accomplices. I argue that this distinction is embedded in the structure of rational agency
  •  103
    The wrongness of rape -- Rationality and the rule of law in offences against the person -- Complicity and causality -- In defence of defences -- Justifications and reasons -- The gist of excuses -- Fletcher on offences and defences -- Provocation and pluralism -- The mark of responsibility -- The functions and justifications of criminal law and punishment -- Crime : in proportion and in perspective -- Reply to critics.
  •  70
    Human disability
    with Timothy Macklem
    Draft, not yet submitted for publication. Posted 12 February 2008.
  •  104
    Hart and Feinberg on responsibility
    In Matthew H. Kramer (ed.), The Legacy of H, Oxford University Press. 2008.
    Forthcoming in Kramer et al (eds), The Legacy of H.L.A. Hart. Posted 8 February 2008.