Description

I will offer controversial positions on two central questions of legal theory:  First, that the normativity of law depends on the choices of citizens; and second, that legal normativity is sui generis and not merely a form or subset of morality.    In the course of the discussion, the works of Hans Kelsen, H. L A. Hart, and Mark Greenberg will be explored.  Ultimately what is at stake in these topics is the nature of law, the connection between law and morality, and the nature and grounding of obligation.

About The Speaker

Brian H. Bix is the Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Minnesota.   He received his law (J.D.) degree from Harvard University and his doctorate (D. Phil.) from Balliol College, Oxford University.  He is the author if 16 books – including Jurisprudence: Theory and Context (7th ed., Sweet & Maxwell, forthcoming, 2015), Family Law (Oxford, 2013), Contract Law:    Rules, Theory, and Context (Cambridge, 2012), and A Dictionary of Legal Theory (Oxford, 2004) ‐‐ and 120 articles, and his work has been translated into many languages.