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Brian Leiter

Academic Faculty

Full Time Teaching Faculty

Brian Leiter

Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence, Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values, Affiliated Faculty, Department of Philosophy

Biography

Brian Leiter came to the Law School in 2008, after thirteen years at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also been a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale University, the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, the University of Rome III, and the University of Paris X-Nanterre, and a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University, University College London, and University of California, San Diego.

His teaching and research interests are in moral, political, and legal philosophy, in both the Anglophone and Continental European traditions, and the law of evidence. His authored books include Nietzsche on Morality (Routledge, 2002; 2nd ed., 2015), Naturalizing Jurisprudence (Oxford, 2007), Why Tolerate Religion? (Princeton, 2013), Moral Psychology with Nietzsche (Oxford, 2019), Teoría del Derecho realista. Ensayos selectos (Zela, 2024), and (with Jaime Edwards), Marx (Routledge, 2025). He is currently finishing a book exploring realism in political and legal theory, From a Realist Point of View, for Oxford University Press. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew, Turkish, Polish, Slovak, and Greek.

Leiter has delivered major lectures around the world, including the Paolo Bozzi Prize Address at the University of Turin, the Julius Stone Address in Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney, the Fresco Lectures in Jurisprudence at the University of Genoa (twice), the Taylor Lecture in Philosophy at the University of Otago, the ‘Or ‘Emet Lecture at York University, Toronto, the “Headliner” address at the annual Legal Theory Symposium at the National University of Singapore, and the opening plenary address at the 30th biennial World Congress of Legal and Social Philosophy in Bucharest. He is founding editor of the Routledge Philosophers book series and (with Leslie Green) of Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law. He also serves on the editorial boards of Legal Theory (of which he was editor from 2000-2008), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Journal of Nietzsche Studies, Journal of Moral Philosophy, The Philosopher’s Annual, Anilisi e Diritto (Italy), Problema: Anuario de Filosofia y Teoría (Mexico), Indian Journal of Legal Theory, Belgrade Law Review (Serbia), Revista de Teoría Jurídica (Argentina), Revista Estudos Institucionais (Brazil), and Revista Jurídica Facultad de Jurisprudencia (Ecuador), among others.

Education and Experience

Education

The University of Michigan

PhD in philosophy, 1995. Thesis: “Nietzsche and the Critique of Morality”; Advisor: Peter Railton
JD, cum laude, 1987

Princeton University

AB, cum laude in philosophy, 1984

Experience

The University of Chicago Law School

Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence, 2011-present
Director, Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values, 2008-present
John P. Wilson Professor of Law, 2008-2011
Visiting Professor of Law, fall 2006

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales

Visiting Professor of Law, June 2019

Oxford University

Visiting Professor of Philosophy, 2011-2012

University of Paris X, Nanterre

Visiting Professor of Law, March 2010

The University of Texas at Austin

Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law and Professor of Philosophy, 2006-2008
Joseph D. Jamail Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Philosophy, 2002-2006
Charles I. Francis Professor in Law and Professor of Philosophy, 2000-2002
Joe A. Worsham Centennial Professor in Law and Professor of Philosophy, 1997-2000
Assistant Professor of Law and Philosophy, 1995-1997

University College London

Visiting Professor of Philosophy, 2001-2006

Yale University

Visiting Professor of Law, 1998-1999

University of California, San Diego

Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, spring 1995

University of San Diego

Assistant Professor of Law (tenure-track), 1993-1995

Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler

Litigation Associate, New York, NY, 1987-88

Publications

Books (Author)

  • Marx - Routledge Philosophers (Routledge, Forthcoming)2024) (with Jaime Edwards).
  • Teoría del Derecho Realista. Ensayos Selectos (Zela, 2024).
  • Nietzsche on Morality (2nd ed.) (Chinese translation) (Shanghai People's Publishing House, forthcoming)2024).
  • Ni¯che no do¯toku tetsugaku to shizen shugi (Japan Routledge, 2022).
  • Moral Psychology with Nietzsche (Oxford University Press, 2019).
  • Nietzsche on Morality (2nd ed.) (Routledge, 2015).cu
  • Why Tolerate Religion? (Princeton University Press, 2013).cu
  • Naturalismo y Teoría del Derecho - Colección Filosofía y derecho (Madrid, Spain) (Marcial Pons, 2012).cu
  • Nitse kai ethike (Okto Publishing, 2009) (Greek translation,with a new preface, of Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Nietzsche on Morality 2002).cu
  • Naturalizing Jurisprudence: Essays on American Legal Realism and Naturalism in Legal Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2007) (Spanish translation by G Ratti, Naturalismo Y Teoría Del Derecho, Marcial Pons, 2012).cu www
  • Nietzsche on Morality (Routledge, 2002) (Greek translation published in 2009).cu

Books (Editor)

  • 4 Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law.(2022) (edited with John Gardner & Leslie Green ).
  • 3 Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law. (Oxford University Press, 2018) (edited with John Gardner & Leslie Green ). cu
  • 2 Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law. (Oxford University Press, 2013) (edited with Leslie Green). cu www
  • 1 Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law. (Oxford University Press, 2011) (edited with Leslie Green). cu
  • Nietzsche and Morality. (Oxford University Press, 2007) (edited with Neil Sinhababu). cu
  • The Oxford Handbook of Continental Philosophy. (Oxford University Press, 2007) (edited with Michael Rosen). cu
  • The Future for Philosophy. (Oxford University Press, 2004). cu
  • Nietzsche. (Oxford University Press, 2001) (edited with John Richardson). cu
  • Objectivity in Law and Morals. (Cambridge University Press, 2000). cu
  • Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality. (Cambridge University Press, 1997) (edited with Maudemarie Clark) (trans. R. J. Hollingdale). cu

Journal Articles

  • "Foucault As A Kind Of Realist: Genealogical Critique and the Debunking of the Human Sciences," 67 Inquiry __ (2024). ssrn www
  • "Free Speech on the Internet: The Crisis of Epistemic Authority," 153 Daedalus 91 (2024). www
  • "Realism, Disagreement, and Explanation," 107 Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 803 (2023). ssrn
  • "Politics by Other Means: The Jurisprudence of 'Common Good Constitutionalism'," 90 University of Chicago Law Review 1685 (2023). ssrn www
  • "On the Relevance of Etiology to Justification (with reference to Marx and Nietzsche)," 47 Midwest Studies in Philosophy 157 (2023). ssrn www
  • "The Epistemology of the Internet and the Regulation of Speech in America," 20 Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy 903 (2022). ssrn www
  • "Back to Hart," 69 Annals of the Faculty of Law-Belgrade Law Review 749 (2021). www
  • "¿Qué es una teoría realista del derecho?," 25 Iurius Dictio: Revista de Derecho 27 (2020). www
  • "The Role of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View," 6 Revista de Estudos Institucionais 346 (2020). www
  • "What is a Realist Theory of Law?," 6 Revista de Estudos Institucionais 334 (2020). ssrn www
  • "Hukuki Pozitivizmin Radikalligi," 2 Türk-Alman Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 309 (2020). www
  • "The Death of God and the Death of Morality," 102 The Monist 386 (2019). cu www
  • "Rorty's Rejection of Philosophy," 41 Analyse und Kritik 23 (2019).
  • "All Too Human," Times Literary Supplement __ (2019). www
  • "The Innocence of Becoming: Nietzsche against Guilt," 62 Inquiry 70 (2019). cu www
  • "The Truth is Terrible," 49 Journal of Nietzsche Studies 151 (2018). cu www
  • "Nietzsche's Naturalism and Nineteenth-Century Biology," 48 Journal of Nietzsche Studies 71 (2017). cu
  • "The Case Against Free Speech," 38 Sydney Law Review 407 (2016) (Julius Stone Address in Jurisprudence). cu
  • "The Paradoxes of Public Philosophy," 1 Indian Journal of Legal Theory 51 (2016). cu
  • "Reply to Five Critics of Why Tolerate Religion?," 10 Criminal Law and Philosophy 547 (2016). ssrn cu www
  • "Why Marxism Still Does Not Need Normative Theory," 37 Analyse und Kritik 23 (2015). ssrn cu www
  • "Normativity for Naturalists," 25 Philosophical Issues 64 (2015). ssrn cu
  • "Constitutional Law, Moral Judgment, and the Supreme Court as Super-Legislature," 66 Hastings Law Journal 1601 (2015). ssrn cu www
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Doctrine," 163 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1975 (2015). cu
  • "Marx, Law, Ideology, Legal Positivism," 101 Virginia Law Review 1179 (2015). cu
  • "Friedrich Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols," 33 Topoi 549 (2014). cu
  • "Nietzsche, Naturalism and Normativity (reviewing Christopher Janaway and Simon Robertson (eds.), Nietzsche, Naturalism and Normativity (2012))," 2014 Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews __ (2014). cu www
  • "The Boundaries of the Moral (and Legal) Community," 64 Alabama Law Review 511 (2013). ssrn cu
  • "Legal Realisms, Old and New," 47 Valparaiso University Law Review 949 (2013). ssrn cu
  • "Moralities are a Sign-Language of the Affects," 30 Social Philosophy and Policy 237 (2013). cu
  • "In Praise of Realism (and Against 'Nonsense' Jurisprudence)," 100 Georgetown Law Journal 865 (2012). cu
  • "O naturalismo de Nietzsche reconsiderado," 29 Cadernos Nietzsche 77 (2011) (Portugese translation of Nietzsche’s Naturalism Reconsidered). cu
  • "Naturalized Jurisprudence and American Legal Realism Revisited," 30 Law and Philosophy 499 (2011). cu
  • "The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Scepticism," 31 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 663 (2011). cu
  • "Nietzsche’s Naturalism Reconsidered," 29 Cadernos Nietzsche 77 (2011) (Portuguese translation). cu
  • "Rorty and the Philosophical Tradition: Comment on Professor Szubka," 25 Diametros 159 (2010). cu
  • "Legal Formalism and Legal Realism: What Is the Issue? (reviewing Brian Tamanaha, Beyond the Formalist-Realist Divide: The Role of Politics in Judging (2010))," 16 Legal Theory 111 (2010). ssrn cu
  • "Why Evolutionary Biology Is (So Far) Irrelevant to Legal Regulation," 29 Law and Philosophy 31 (2010) (with Michael Weisberg). cu
  • "Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?," 47 San Diego Law Review 935 (2010). cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Tamsin Shaw, Nietzsche’s Political Skepticism (2007))," Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews __ (2009). cu www
  • "Explaining Theoretical Disagreement," 76 University of Chicago Law Review 1215 (2009) (also reprinted in Analisi e Diritto 2009: Richere di Giurisprudenza Analitica, P Comanducci & R Guastini eds 2010). cu
  • "The Radicalism of Legal Positivism," 66 National Lawyers Guild Review 165 (2009). cu
  • "Why Tolerate Religion?," 25 Constitutional Commentary 1 (2008). ssrn cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Christopher Janaway, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche's Genealogy (2007))," Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews __ (2008). cu www
  • "Science and Morality: Pragmatic Reflections on Rorty's 'Pragmatism'," 74 University of Chicago Law Review 929 (2007). ssrn cu
  • "Nietzsche's Theory of the Will," 7 Philosopher's Imprint 1 (2007). cu www
  • "How to Rank Law Schools," 81 Indiana Law Journal 47 (2006). ssrn cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Ronald Dworkin, ed., Justice in Robes (2006) & Scott Hershovitz, ed., Exploring Law's Empire: The Jurisprudence of Ronald Dworkin (2006))," 56 Journal of Legal Education 675 (2006). cu
  • "Why Blogs Are Bad for Legal Scholarship," 116 Yale Law Journal 53 (2006). cu www
  • "Book Review (reviewing Richard Schacht, ed., Nietzsche's Postmoralism: Essays on Neitzsche's Prelude to Philosophy's Future (2001))," 112 Mind 175 (2003). cu
  • "Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate: The Methodology Problem in Jurisprudence," 48 American Journal of Jurisprudence 17 (2003). cu
  • "Reply to Hoekema's Review of Wilshire," Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews __ (2002). cu
  • "Marxism and the Continuing Irrelevance of Normative Theory (reviewing G. A. Cohen, If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? (2000))," 54 Stanford Law Review 1129 (2002). cu
  • "Naturalized Epistemology and the Law of Evidence," 87 Virginia Law Review 1491 (2001) (with Ronald J. Allen). ssrn cu
  • "Classical Realism," 11 Philosophical Issues 244 (2001). cu
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered," 111 Ethics 278 (2001). cu
  • "Prospects and Problems for the Social Epistemology of Evidence Law," 29 Philosophical Topics 319 (2001). cu
  • "Moral Facts and Best Explanations," 18 Social Philosophy and Policy 79 (2001). cu
  • "Measuring the Academic Distinction of Law Faculties Interpreting Legal Citations," 29 Journal of Legal Studies 451 (2000). cu
  • "The Law School Observer," Green Bag __ (2000) (quarterly column). cu
  • "Nietzsche's Metaethics: Against the Privilege Readings," 8 European Journal of Philosophy 277 (2000). cu
  • "The Philosophical Gourmet," Philosophers’ Magazine __ (1999) (quarterly column). cu
  • "Positivism, Formalism, Realism ," 99 Columbia Law Review [v] (1999). cu
  • "On the Value of Normative Theory: A Reply to Madry and Richeimer," 4 Legal Theory 241 (1998). cu
  • "Leading New Books: Seven Scholars Recommend New and Recent Books on Jurisprudence," 14 Focus on Law Studies 14 (1998) (with Susan Burgess, Susan Coutin, Laura Kalman, Austin Sarat, Brian Tamanaha & Robin West). cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Peter Poellner, Nietzsche and Metaphysics (1995) and John Richardson, Nietzsche's System (1996))," 107 Mind 683 (1998). cu
  • "Realism, Hard Positivism, and Conceptual Analysis," 4 Legal Theory 533 (1998). cu
  • "Incommensurability: Truth or Consequences?," 146 University of Pennsylvania Law Review [i] (1998). cu
  • "Closet Dualism and Mental Causation," 28 Canadian Journal of Philosophy 161 (1998) (with Alexander Miller). cu
  • "Rethinking Legal Realism: Toward a Naturalized Jurisprudence," 76 Texas Law Review 267 (1997). cu
  • "Is There an American Jurisprudence?," 17 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 367 (1997). cu
  • "Nietzsche and the Morality Critics," 107 Ethics 250 (1997). cu
  • "Explanation and Legal Theory," 82 Iowa Law Review 905 (1997). cu
  • "Why Quine Is Not a Postmodernist," 50 SMU Law Review 1739 (1997). cu
  • "Heidegger and the Theory of Adjudication," 106 Yale Law Journal 253 (1996). cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Peter Berkowitz, Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist (1995))," 105 Mind 487 (1996). cu
  • "The Middle Way," 1 Legal Theory 21 (1995). cu
  • "Morality in the Pejorative Sense: On the Logic of Nietzsche's Critique of Morality," 3 British Journal for the History of Philosophy 113 (1995). cu
  • "Legal Indeterminacy," 1 Legal Theory 481 (1995). cu
  • "Tort Theory and the Objectivity of Corrective Justice," 37 Arizona Law Review 45 (1995). cu
  • "Determinacy, Objectivity and Authority," 18 Tel Aviv University Law Review 309 (1994) (with Jules L. Coleman). cu
  • "Mind Doesn't Matter Yet," 72 Australian Journal of Philosophy 220 (1994) (with Alexander Miller). cu
  • "Beyond Good and Evil," 10 History of Philosophy Quarterly 261 (1993). cu
  • "Book Review (reviewing Maudemarie Clark, Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy (1990))," 31 Journal of the History of Philosophy 148 (1993). cu
  • "Determinacy, Objectivity, and Authority," 142 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 549 (1993) (with Jules L. Coleman). cu
  • "Objectivity and the Problems of Jurisprudence (reviewing Kent Greenawalt, Law and Objectivity (1992))," 72 Texas Law Review 187 (1993). cu
  • "Nietzsche and Aestheticism," 30 Journal of the History of Philosophy 275 (1992). cu
  • "Intellectual Voyeurism in Legal Scholarship," 4 Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities 79 (1992). cu
  • "A Reconsideration of the Relevance and Materiality of the Preamble in Constitutional Interpretation," 12 Cardozo Law Review 117 (1990) (with Carole E. Handler & Milton Handler). cu
  • "Current Debate / Critical Legal Studies," 3 Tikkun 87 (1988). cu

Book Sections

  • "Marx's Economics and the Transition from Capitalism to Communism," in Marx, Brian Leiter & Jaime Edwards eds. (Routledge, forthcoming). www
  • "The Folk Theory of Well-Being," in Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy, volume 5 (forthcoming) (with Jonathan S. Masur & John Bronsteen & Kevin Tobia). ssrn
  • "Anglophone Analytic Legal Philosophy," in Jurisprudence in the Mirror, Luka Burazin, Kenneth E. Himma & Giorgio Pino eds. (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
  • "Realism About Precedent," in Philosophical Foundations of Precedent, Timothy Endicott, H. Kristjansson & Sebastian Lewis eds. (Oxford University Press, 2023). ssrn www
  • "La Metodología de la Filosofía del Derecho," in Cuestión de Métodos(s) Ensayos Sobre Metodología e Investigación Jurídicn de Portada del Libro Cuestión de Métodos(s), Francisco Mora-Sifuentes ed. (Tirant lo Blanch, 2023) (with Alex Langlinais).
  • "Bernard Williams’s Debt to Nietzsche: Real or Illusory," in Morality and Agency: Themes from Bernard Williams, Andras Szigeti & Matthew Talbert eds. (Oxford University Press, 2022).
  • "Nietzsche's Naturalism: Neither Liberal nor Illiberal," in The Routledge Handbook of Liberal Naturalism, Mario Del Caro & David Macarthur eds. (Routledge, 2022). ssrn
  • "Nietzsche’s Naturalistic Moral Psychology: Anti-Realism, Sentimentalism, Hard Incompatibilism," in The Oxford Handbook of Moral Psychology, Manuel Vargas & John M. Doris eds. (Oxford University Press, 2022).
  • "The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View," in Judges and Adjudication in Constitutional Democracies: A View from Legal Realism, Pierluigi Chiassoni & Bojan Spaic eds. (Springer, 2021). www
  • "Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law," in The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism, Patricia Mindus & Torben Spaak eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2021). www
  • "The Naturalized Epistemology Approach to Evidence," in Philosophical Foundations of Evidence Law, Christian Dalhmen, Alex Stein & Giovanni Tuzet eds. (Oxford University Press, 2021) (with Gabe Broughton). ssrn www
  • "The Role of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View," in Judges and Adjudication in Constitutional Democracies: A View from Legal Realism, Pierluigi Chiassoni & Bojan Spaic eds. (Springer International Publishing, 2021). www
  • "Marx and Marxism," in The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Relativism, Martin Kusch ed. (Routledge, 2019) (with Lawrence Dallman). ssrn
  • "Theoretical Disagreements in Law: Another Look," in Dimensions of Normativity: New Essays on Metaethics and Jurisprudence, David Plunkett, Scott J. Shapiro & Kevin Toh eds. (Oxford University Press, 2019). cu
  • "Knowledge and Affect: Perspectivism Reconsidered," in he Emergence of Relativism: German Thought from the Enlightenment to National Socialism (Routledge, 2019).
  • "Justifying Academic Freedom," in Moral Puzzles and Legal Perplexities: Essays on the Influence of Larry Alexander, Heidi Hurd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2018). cu
  • "Legal Positivism about the Artifact Law: A Retrospective Assessment," in Law as an Artifact, Luka Burazin, Kenneth E. Himma & Corrado Roversi eds. (Oxford University Press, 2018). cu
  • "The History of Philosophy Reveals that 'Great' Philosophy is Disguised Moral Advocacy: A Nietzschean Case against the Socratic Canon in Philosophy," in Philosophy and the Historical Perspective, Marcel van Ackeren ed. (Oxford University Press, 2018). cu
  • "Why Academic Freedom?," in The Value and Limits of Academic Speech: Philosophical, Political, and Legal Perspectives, Donald A. Downs & Chris W. Surprenant eds. (Routledge, 2018). ssrn cu
  • "Philosophy of Law," in Encyclopaedia Britannica.2017) (with Michael Sevel). cu
  • "The Methodology of Legal Philosophy," in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology, Herman Cappelen, Tamar Gendler & John Hawthorne eds. (Oxford University Press, 2016) (with Alex Langlinais). cu
  • "Nietzsche and Moral Psychology," in A Companion to Experimental Philosophy, Justin Sytsma & Wesley Buckwalter eds. (Blackwell, 2016) (with Daniel Telech). cu
  • "Moralities Are a Sign Language of the Affects," in Nietzsche and the Problem of Subjectivity, Joao Constancio, Maria J. Mayer Branco & Bartholomew Ryan eds. (De Gruyter, 2015). cu
  • "Nietzsche," in The Oxford Handbook of German Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century, Michael Forster & Kristin Gjesdal eds. (Oxford University Press, 2015). cu
  • "Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche," in Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Russ Shafer-Landau ed. (Oxford University Press, 2014). cu
  • "Leiter Reports," in Philosophy at 3:AM: Questions and Answers with 25 Top Philosophers, Richard Marshall ed. (Oxford University Press, 2014). cu
  • "Nietzsche's Naturalism Reconsidered," in The Oxford Handbook of Nietzsche, Ken Gemes & John Richardson eds. (Oxford University Press, 2013). cu
  • "The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Skepticism," in Neutrality and Theory of Law, Jordi Ferrer Beltrán, Josep J. Moreso & Diego M. Papayannis eds. ( Springer, 2013). cu
  • "The circumstances of civility," in Civility and democracy in America : a reasonable understanding, Cornell W. Clayton & Richard Elgar eds. (Washington State University Press, 2012). cu
  • "Nietzsche: Daybreak," in Introductions to Nietzsche, Robert B. Pippin ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2012) (with Maudemarie Clark). cu
  • "El problema de la demarcación en la teoría del derecho: una razón más a favor del escepticismo," in Neutralidad y teoría del derecho, Jordi Ferrer Beltrán, José Moreso & Diego M. Papayannis eds. (Marcial Pons, 2012) (translation of The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Skepticism). cu
  • " Cómo explicar los desacuerdos entre juristas," in Acordes y desacuerdos : cómo y por qué los juristas discrepan, Pau L. Sánchez & Giovanni B. Ratti eds. (2012) (translation of Explaining Theoretical Disagreement). cu
  • "Who Is Nietzsche's 'Sovereign Individual'?," in Nietzsche’s On The Genealogy Of Morality: A Critical Guide, S. May ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2011). cu
  • "Nietzsche," in Oxford Bibliographies Online., D. Pritchard ed. (2010). cu www
  • "Nietzsche," in A Companion to the Philosophy of Action, T. O'Connor & C. Sandis eds. (Blackwell, 2010). cu
  • "Legal Positivism," in Oxford Bibliographies.(2010) (with Michael Sevel). cu www
  • "Cleaning Cyber-Cesspools: Google and Free Speech," in The Offensive Internet: Speech, Privacy, and Reputation, Martha C. Nussbaum & Saul Levmore eds. (Harvard University Press, 2010). cu
  • "Cómo explicar los desacuerdos entre juristas," in Acordes y Desacuerdos: Cómo y por qué los juristas discrepan, Pau L. Sanchez & Giovanni B. Ratti eds. (Marcial Pons, 2010) (Spanish translation of Explaining Theoretical Disagreement, 76 University of Chicago Law Review 1215 2009). cu
  • "American Legal Realism," in The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, Dennis Patterson ed. (2010). cu
  • "Nietzsche," in Oxford Bibliographies.(2010). cu www
  • "Legal Positivism," in The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, D. M. Patterson ed. (2010) (with Jules L. Coleman). cu
  • "Nietzsche's Theory of the Will," in Nietzsche on Freedom and Autonomy, Ken Gemes & Simon May eds. (Oxford University Press, 2009). cu
  • "Naturalizing Jurisprudence: Three Approaches," in The Future of Naturalism, P. Kurtz & J. Shook eds. (Prometheus Books, 2009). cu
  • "The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychology," in Nietzsche and Morality, Neil Sinhababu & Brian Leiter eds. (Oxford University Press, 2008) (with Joshua Knobe). cu
  • "Against Convergent Moral Realism: The Respective Roles of Philosophical Argument and Empirical Evidence," in Moral Psychology, W. Sinnott-Armstrong ed. (MIT Press, 2008). cu
  • "Introduction," in The Oxford Handbook of Continental Philosophy, Brian Leiter ed. (Oxford University Press, 2007) (with Michael Rosen). cu
  • "Morality Critics," in The Oxford Handbook of Continental Philosophy, Brian Leiter & Michael Rosen eds. (Oxford University Press, 2007). cu
  • "Introduction," in Nietzsche and Morality, Brian Leiter ed. (Oxford University Press, 2007) (with Neil Sinhababu). cu
  • "Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate: The Methodology Problem in Jurisprudence," in Jurisprudence Cases and Materials: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law and Its Applications, S. Gottlieb ed. (LexisNexis, 2006) (reprinted from 48 American Journal of Jurisprudence 17). cu
  • "Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate: The Methodology Problem in Jurisprudence," in Law and Morality, Therese C. Arado & Kenneth E. Himma eds. (Ashgate, 2006) (reprinted from 48 American Journal of Jurisprudence 17). cu
  • "American Philosophy Today," in The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, T. Honderich ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005). cu
  • "American Legal Realism," in The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, W. Edmundson & M. Golding eds. (Blackwell, 2005). cu
  • "The Hermeneutics of Suspicion: Recovering Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud," in The Future for Philosophy, Brian Leiter ed. (Oxford University Press, 2004). cu
  • "Nietzsche's Moral and Political Philosophy.," in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy., Edward N. Zalta ed. 2004). cu www
  • "Introduction," in The Future for Philosophy, Brian Leiter ed. (Clarendon Press, 2004). cu
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered," in The Philosopher's Annual, Patrick Grim, Peter Ludlow & Gary Mar eds. (CSLI Publications, 2003) (reprinted from 111 Ethics 278). cu
  • "Rethinking Legal Realism: Toward a Naturalized Jurisprudence," in Jurisprudence: Classical and Contemporary, R. Hayman ed. (West Group, 2002) (reprinted in part from 76 Texas Law Review 1723). cu
  • "Introduction," in Objectivity in Law and Morals, Brian Leiter ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2001). cu
  • "Karl Nickerson Llewellyn," in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences., Baltes., P. Baltes & Neil J. Smelser eds. 2001). cu
  • "Objectivity, Morality, and Adjudication," in Objectivity in Law and Morals, Brian Leiter ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2001). cu
  • "Objectivity (Philosophical Aspects)," in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences., Baltes., P. Baltes & Neil J. Smelser eds. 2001). cu
  • "Moral Facts and Best Explanations," in Moral Knowledge, Fred D. Miller, Ellen F. Paul & Jeffrey Paul eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2001) (reprinted from 18 Social Philosophy and Policy 79). cu
  • "The Paradox of Fatalism and Self-Creation in Nietzsche," in Nietzsche, Brian Leiter ed. (Oxford University Press, 2001). cu
  • "Legal Realism, Hard Positivism, and the Limits of Conceptual Analysis," in Hart's Postscript: Essays on the Postscript to "The Concept of Law", Jules L. Coleman ed. (Oxford University Press, 2001). cu
  • "Nietzsche and the Morality Critics," in Nietzsche, John Richardson & Brian Leiter eds. (Oxford University Press, 2001). cu
  • "Holmes, Economics, and Classical Realism," in The Path of the Law and Its Influence: The Legacy of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Steven J. Burton ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2000). cu
  • "Charles Alan Wright: Legal Realist," in Charles Alan Wright: The Man and the Scholar, Roy M. Mersky ed. (Jamail Legal Research Center; West Group, 2000). cu
  • "Legal Realism," in The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia., Christopher B. Gray ed. 1999). cu
  • "Naturalism and Naturalized Jurisprudence," in Analyzing Law: New Essays in Legal Theory, Therese C. Arado ed. (Oxford University Press, 1998). cu
  • "The Paradox of Fatalism and Self-Creation in Nietzsche.," in Willing and Nothingness: Schopenhauer as Nietzsche's Educator, Christopher Janaway ed. (Clarendon Press, 1998). cu
  • "Introduction," in Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality, Brian Leiter ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1997) (with Maudemarie Clark). cu
  • "Legal Positivism," in A Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, D. M. Patterson ed. (Blackwell, 1996). cu
  • "Perspectivism in Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals," in Nietzsche, Genealogy, and Morality: Essays on Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morals", Richard Schacht ed. (University of California Press, 1994). cu
  • "Determinacy, Objectivity, and Authority," in Law and Interpretation: Essays in Legal Philosophy, Andrei Marmor ed. (Oxford University Press, 1994) (with Jules L. Coleman). cu

Working Papers

  • "What is a Realist Theory of Law?," (2020). ssrn
  • "Critical Remarks on Shapiro's Legality and the ‘Grounding Turn’ in Recent Jurisprudence," (2020). ssrn
  • "Bernard Williams's Debt to Nietzsche: Real or Illusory?," (2019). ssrn
  • "Disagreement, Anti-Realism About Reasons, and Inference to the Best Explanation," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 697 (2018). ssrn cu
  • "Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series(2017). ssrn cu
  • "The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 622 (2017). ssrn cu
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Doctrine," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 528 (2015). cu
  • "Normativity for Naturalists," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 527 (2015). cu
  • "Constitutional Law, Moral Judgment, and the Supreme Court as Super-Legislature," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 519 (2015). ssrn cu
  • "The Paradoxes of Public Philosophy," University of Chicago Public Law & Legal Theory Paper Series, No. 517 (2014). ssrn cu

Other Publications

  • "Disagreement, Anti-Realism About Reasons, and Inference to the Best Explanation," Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, August 17, 2021. www
  • "Review of Nietzsche’s Ethics by Thomas Stern (Cambridge University Press, 2020)," Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, July 1, 2021. ssrn www
  • "The Legal Problem with Diversity Statements," Chronicle of Higher Education, March 13, 2020, at p. 46. www
  • Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports, 2020 www
  • Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog, 2020 www
  • "Nietzsche on the Decadence and Flourishing of Culture," Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, November 14, 2019. ssrn www
  • "Go Ahead, Cite That Nazi," Chronicle of Higher Education, December 14, 2018.
  • "Academic Ethics: Should Scholars Avoid Citing the Work of Awful People?," Chronicle of Higher Education, October 25, 2018. www
  • "Friedrich Nietzsche: The Truth is Terrible," Times Literary Supplement, June 21, 2018. www
  • "Academic Ethics: 'Hidden' Hiring Criteria," Chronicle of Higher Education, January 30, 2018. www
  • "Academic Ethics: Is 'Diversity' the Best Reason for Affirmative Action?," Chronicle of Higher Education, September 29, 2017. www
  • "Academic Ethics: To Rank or Not to Rank?," Chronicle of Higher Education, July 12, 2017. www
  • "Academic Ethics: Defending Faculty Speech," Chronicle of Higher Education, March 22, 2017. www
  • "Let's Start Telling the Truth about what the Supreme Court Does," Washington Post, March 17, 2017. www
  • "Academic Ethics: Rethinking the Justification of Tenure," Chronicle of Higher Education, January 17, 2017. www
  • "Academic Ethics: The Legal Tangle of 'Trigger Warnings'," Chronicle of Higher Education, November 13, 2016. www
  • "Academic Ethics: What Should We Do With Sexual Harassers in Academe?," Chronicle of Higher Education, September 19, 2016. www
  • "Shakespeare on Trump: Money Made the Man," Huffington Post, February 29, 2016. www
  • "Roosevelt, Reagan and the Sanders Moment," Huffington Post, January 31, 2016. www
  • "Nietzsche's Hatred of "Jew Hatred" (reviewing Robert C. Holub, Nietzsche's Jewish Problem: Between Anti-Semitism and Anti-Judaism)," The New Rambler, December 21, 2015. www
  • "Not Your Grandfather's Propaganda (reviewing Jason Stanley, How Propaganda Works)," The New Rambler, October 12, 2015 (with Samuel Leiter). www
  • "Salaita v. University of Illinois: The Constitutional Issues," Huffington Post, August 27, 2014. www
  • "University of Illinois Repeals the First Amendment for Its Faculty," Huffington Post, August 23, 2014. www
  • "The Recurring Myth About Nietzsche and Fascism," Huffington Post, June 6, 2014. www
  • "Law School Lateral Faculty Moves 2014," The Faculty Lounge, March 24, 2014. www
  • "Why Philosophy Has Been Central to Legal Education for More Than a Century," Huffington Post, January 21, 2014. www
  • "American Legal Education: The First 150 Years," Huffington Post, January 13, 2014. www
  • "'Experiential' Education Is Not the Solution to the Problems Facing Law Schools," Huffington Post, January 5, 2014. www
  • "American Law Schools and the Psychology of Cyber-Hysteria," Huffington Post, December 31, 2013. www
  • "American Law Schools: The New Economic Realities," Huffington Post, December 29, 2013. www
  • "The Rule of Law Applies to All, Even Religious Believers," Al Jazeera America, November 21, 2013. www
  • "Blame and Christianity," Boston Review, July 2013. www
  • "Rule and Reason (reviewing Frederick Schauer: Thinking Like A Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning (2009))," Times Literary Supplement, February 2010, at p.24.
  • "H.L.A. Hart and 'The Concept of Law'," Times Literary Supplement, March 2005 (with Leslie Green) (letter to the editor).
  • "When Education Board Censors Books, Schoolkids Suffer," Austin American-Statesman, July 24, 2003.
  • "The Fate of Genius (reviewing Joachim Köhler, Zarathustra's Secret: The Interior Life of Friedrich Nietzsche (2002), Rüdiger Safranski, Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography (2002) and Richard Schain, The Legend of Nietzsche's Syphilis (2001))," Times Literary Supplement, October 2002, at p.31.
  • "The Naturalistic Turn in Legal Philosophy," American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law, 2001.
  • "New Directions in Analytical Jurisprudence," American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law, Spring 2001 (Issue editor).
  • "Book Review (reviewing Daniel Brudney, Marx's Attempt to Leave Philosophy (1998))," Times Literary Supplement, December 1999, at p.31.
  • "Landing a Job in Philosophy," Chronicle of Higher Education, December 11, 1998.
  • "The US News Roulette Wheel: Where It Stops Nobody Knows," Texas Lawyer, March 2, 1998, at p. 2.
  • "Why US News Makes State Law Schools Angry," National Law Journal, March 24, 1997, at p. A24.

Presentations
  • Session on Edwards & Leiter, Marx book, Philosophy, Politics & Economics Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, November, 2024.
  • Discussion of Marx’s economics and historical materialism, German Philosophy Workshop, Northwestern University, November 2024.
  • “Free Speech on the Internet: The Crisis of Epistemic Authority.” Law School, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, October 2024.
  • “The Law and Philosophy of Academic Freedom.” Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, October 2024.
  • “Nietzsche’s Naturalism and Laws of Nature.” Workshop on book manuscript on Spinoza and Nietzsche by Jason Yonover, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University, May 2024.
  • Seminar on Nietzsche’s views on agency and free will with Prof. Stan Husl’s seminar, Department of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, May 2024 (via Zoom).
  • Organizer and participant, 7th annual meeting of the International Society for Nietzsche Studies, University of Porto, Portugal, March 2024.
  • Organizer and participant on Marx manuscript (by Edwards & Leiter), Law School, University of Chicago, January 2024.
  • “Free Speech on the Internet: The Crisis of Epistemic Authority.” Law & Philosophy Society, Law School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., November 2023.
  • “The Metaphysical Turn in Recent American Jurisprudence: A Critique.” Law & Philosophy Workshop, Law School, Harvard University, Cambridge Mass., November 2023.
  • “On the Relevance of Etiology to Justification (with reference to Marx and Nietzsche).” Department of Philosophy, National University of Singapore, August 2023.
  • “Free Speech on the Internet: The Crisis of Epistemic Authority.” Chan Sek Keong Professorial Lecture in Public Law (inaugural), Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, August 2023.
  • “Methodological Positivism in Legal Philosophy and Its Critics.” Centre for Legal Theory, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore.
  • Invited discussant, workshop on legal reasoning. Law School, University of Wisconsin, Madison, May 2023.
  • “How are Ideologies False?” Department of Philosophy, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, March 2023.
  • “Nietzsche Against Marx on the Causes of Suffering.” Bernd Magnus Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, March 2023.
  • “How are Ideologies False?.” Social Philosophy & Policy conference on “Ideology,” University of Arizona, Tucson, December 2022.
  • Workshop on “Methodological Positivism.” Faculty of Law, University of Rome III, November 2022.
  • “Nietzsche Against Marx on the Causes of Suffering.” Department of Philosophy, University of Rome-Sapienza, Italy, October 2022.
  • “Why Academic Freedom?” Faculty of Law, University of Rome III, Italy, October 2022.
  • “Alf Ross’s Critique of American Legal Realism—and Hart’s Naturalistic Critique of Ross.” Conference on Alf Ross, Scandinavian Realism, and Contemporary Jurisprudence. Faculty of Law, University of York, UK, October 2022.
  • “Nietzsche Against Marx on the Causes of Suffering.” Annual Philosophy Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of Lincoln, UK, October 2022.
  • “Marx’s Economics and the Early Marx.” Colloqium in Legal, Political and Social Philosophy, School of Law, New York University, NY, September 2022.
  • “Three Kinds of Necessary Connections Between Law and Morality: Conceptual, Nomological, Metaphysical.” Special Workshop on the Separation Thesis, 30th World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR), Christian Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest, July 2022.
  • “Some Realism about Legal and Political Philosophy.” Plenary Address, 30th World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR), Christian Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest, July 2022.
  • “Why should capitalism self-destruct? Marx’s account reconsidered.” Conference on “Transnational Capital, the Leviathan of the 21st Century?” Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 2022.
  • Workshop on two chapters of Marx book on economics and the “early” Marx. Department of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland, June 2022.
  • “Nietzsche Against Marx on the Causes of Suffering.” Department of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland, June 2022.
  • Organizer and participant, 5th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Nietzsche Studies, St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, UK, June 2022.
  • “Critical Remarks on Shapiro’s Legality and the ‘Grounding’ Turn in Recent General Jurisprudence.” Cambridge Forum on Legal & Political Philosophy, Faculty of Law, Cambridge University, UK, March 2022 (via Zoom)
  • “Nietzsche’s Naturalism: Neither Liberal Nor Illiberal.” International Conference on the Challenge of Naturalism. Iranian Institute for Philosophy, Tehran, March 2022 (via Zoom).
  • “Academic Freedom: What is it and what is it good for?” Classical Liberalism Seminar, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, February 2022 (via Zoom).
  • “The Epistemology of the Internet and the Regulation of Speech.” Symposium on the Ethics of Free Speech, Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics, Georgetown University, November 2021.
  • Panelist, webinar on new U.S. News rankings of law libraries. Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section, Association of American Law Libraries, June 2021 (via Zoom).
  • “Back to Hart.” Presentation at the panel on “The Most Important Problem of Contemporary Legal Philosophy,” Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Serbia, May 2021 (via Zoom).
  • Comment on Edward Remus, “Civil Liberty as a ‘Test of Politics’: James P. Cannon, James Burnham, and Hal Draper on Liberal Socialism vs. Progressive Statism.” Conference on “What is Left? Class Analysis and the Present Crisis,” Departments of English and Sociology, University of Chicago, May 2021 (via Zoom).
  • Invited participant and discussant at the colloquium “Religious Liberty at the Crossroads,” Institute for Human Studies, (via Zoom).
  • “Academic Freedom in the Classroom.” Panel discussion, John Marshall Law School, Univeristy of Illinois, Chicago, March 2021 (via Zoom).
  • “What is a Realist Theory of Law?” International Seminar on Political and Legal Philosophy, Department of Law, University of Guanjuato, Mexico, March 2021 (via Zoom).
  • A discussion of Marx (with Donna Lyons and Brian O’Connor). Trinity College Dublin, March 2021 (via Zoom).
  • A discussion of Moral Psychology with Nietzsche (with Donna Lyons, Brian O’Connor, and Alexander Prescott-Couch). Trinity College Dublin, December 2020 (via Zoom).
  • “Nietzsche against Marx on the Causes of Suffering.” Department of Philosophy, American University of Cairo, November 2020 (via Zoom).
  • “The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View.” Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, September 2020 (via Zoom).
  • “Anti-Realism,Value, Perspectivism,” Maudemarie Clark’s Nietzsche Seminar, Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, May 2020 (via Zoom).
  • Workshop on “Why Marxism Still Does Not Need Normative Theory,” Department of Philosophy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, March 2020 (via Zoom).
  • “Socialism, Social Democracy, and Market Capitalism: Which is Right for America?” A debate with Bryan Caplan (George Mason University), Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, March 2020.
  • “Disagreement, Anti-Realism about Reasons, and Inference to the Best Explanation.” Ethics Group, Department of Philosophy, University of Vermont, Burlington, November 2019.
  • Organizer and speaker at the conference on “New Frontiers of Experimental Jurisprudence,” Law School, University of Chicago, October 2019.
  • “Foucault’s Genealogical Critique of the Human Sciences: Some Doubts.” II Congress on Genealogy and Critique, Department of Philosophy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2019.
  • “Nietzsche on Guilt and Revenge.”Keynote address, III International Colloquium (“Revenge, Punishment and Forgiveness”): Nietzsche in the Savannas, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil, September 2019.
  • “Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law.” Keynote, Workshop on “Legal Realism and Legal Positivism” as part of the 29th World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR), University of Lucerne, Switzerland, July 2019.
  • “Bernard Williams’ Debt to Nietzsche: Real or Illusory?” Keynote, Conference on “Agency, Fate, and Luck: Why Williams Matters,” University of Lund, Sweden, June 2019.
  • Organizer and participant, 4th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Nietzsche Studies, Brown University, Provide, RI, May 2019.
  • “Nietzsche, Spinoza, Freedom.” Workshop on “Modern Naturalisms: Spinoza, Hume, Nietzsche,” Department of Philosophy, Boston University, MA, April 2019.
  • The Roles of Judges in Democracy: A Realistic View.” Legal Theory Workshop, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, March 2019.
  • “Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law.” Keynote (“Headliner”) Address, Legal Theory Symposium, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, March 2019.
  • “Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law.” Legal Philosophy Forum, Faculty of Laws, University College London, December 2018.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.”Birkbeck Nietzsche Workshop, University of London, December.
  • “Legal Positivism as a Realist Theory of Law.” Conference on “Fundamentals of Legal Positivism:Main Tenets, Normativity and Values,” University of Stockholm, Sweden, November 2018.
  • “Academic Freedom: What is it and what is it good for?” Harper Lecture, University of Chicago Alumni Association, Boston, MA, October 2018.
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” Law School, University of California, Los Angeles, September 2018.
  • “Disagreement, Anti-Realism about Reasons, and Inference to the Best Explanation.” Conference on “Moral Disagreements: Philosophical and Practical Implications,” Australian Catholic University Melbourne-Rome Campus, Rome, Italy, September 2018.
  • “Nietzsche’s Naturalism.” Keynote for the 8th Annual Summer School on Classical German Philosophy, University of Bonn, Germany, July 2018.
  • “The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View.” Centre for Law & Philosophy, University of Surrey, UK, March 2018.
  • “The Innocence of Becoming: Nietzsche Against Guilt.” 3rd Annual Meeting of the International Society of Nietzsche Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, March 2018
  • Workshop on four chapters of Moral Psychology with Nietzsche. Department of Philosophy, University of Calfornia, San Diego, December 2017.
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” College of Law, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, November 2017.
  • “Academic Freedom and the Obligations of Administrators.” Center for Law and Liberty, Law School, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., November 2017.
  • “On the Relevance of Etiology to Justification.” Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, November 2017.
  • “What is academic freedom?” Public panel discussion sponsored by the Center for Western Civilization, University of Colorado, Boulder, November 2017.
  • “Langdell, Wissenschaft, Realism.” Panel on “Langdell and Legal Formalism” as part of the Harvard Law School Bicentennial, Law School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., October 2017.
  • “Toleration and Respect.” A public dialogue with philosopher Anna Elisabetta Galeotti, Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy, October 2017.
  • “Realism and Moralism in Political Thought.” Keynote address in connection with the Bozzi Prize in Ontology and the conference on “Post-Truth, New Realism, Democracy,” University of Turin, Italy, October 2017.
  • “Faculty Speech and the Obligations of Administrators.” Panel discussion on academic freedom. School of Law, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL October 2017
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” Brooklyn Law School, New York, September 2017.
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” Keynote to the Philosophy of Law Section, Swedish Congress of Philosophy, Uppsala University, Sweden, August 2017.
  • “Prospects and Problems for the Social Epistemology of Evidence Law (Revisited).” Workshop on “Evidence, Disagreement, and Rights,’ Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University, Sweden, August 2017.
  • “Freedom and Free Will in Nietzsche.” Keynote for 7th Annual Summer School on Classical German Philosophy, this one on “Freedom and Free Will,” University of Bonn, Germany, July 2017
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” Schaffer Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University Of Iowa, Iowa City, April 2017.
  • “The Case Against Free Speech.” Seminar with the Department of Philosophy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, April 2017.
  • “The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View.” College of Law, University of Iowa, Iowa City, April 2017.
  • “Theoretical Disagreements in Law: Another Look.” Roundtable on “Theoretical Disagreements.” Law School, Duke University, Durham, NC, April 2017.
  • “Theoretical Disagreements in Law: Another Look.” Law & Philosophy olloquium, Hebrew University, Jerusalem,March 2017.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.” Department of Philosophy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, March 2017.
  • “The Innocence of Becoming: Nietzsche Against Guilt.” Department of Philosophy, Haifa University, Israel, March 2017.
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” Faculty of Law, Haifa University, Israel, March 2017.
  • “Justifying Academic Freedom: Mill and Marcuse Revisited.” Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University, Israel, March 2017.
  • *Organizer and participant, 2nd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Nietzsche Studies, University of Chicago, Illinois, March 2017.
  • “The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View.” College of Law, Syracuse University, New York, February 2017.
  • Discussant at the conference on “The Prospects of Naturalistic Jurisprudence.” Osgoode Hall School of Law, York University, Toronto, November 2016.
  • “Law and Morality: The Differences” Seminar Group in Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Serbia, October 2016.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Center for Constitutionalism, Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, Serbia, October 2016.
  • “The Roles of Judges in Democracies: A Realistic View,” keynote at conference on “Interpreting Law: The Role of Judges in Contemporary Democracies,” Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Serbia, October 2016.
  • “Knowledge, Affect, and Meaning: Perspectivism Revisited.” Conference on “Relativism in German-Speaking Philosophy of the 19th- and early 20th-Centuries,” Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, September 2016.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality,” a symposium at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, September 2016.
  • “The Epistemology of the Hermeneutics of Suspicion.” Keynote Address, 6th Annual International Summer School on German Philosophy on “The Hermeneutics of Suspicion,” Institute for Philosophy, University of Bonn, Germany, June 2016.
  • *“Theoretical Disagreements in Law: Another Look.” Joint KCL/NUS/Chicago Conference on Moral, Political & Legal Philosophy, University of Chicago, IL, May 2016
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Public Lecture, Drury University, Springfield, MO, April 2016 (also sponsored by the philosophy departments at Evangel University and Missouri State University).
  • “The Case Against Free Speech.” School of Law ,Willamette University, Salem, OR, April 2016.
  • “Religious Liberty and Religious Toleration.” Faculty of Philosophy, University of Catanzaro, Italy, March 2016.
  • “The Methodology of Legal Philosophy.” Faculty of Law, University of Catanzaro, Italy, March 2016.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.” Workshop on Law, Philosophy, & Political Theory, Law School, Department of Philosophy, and Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, February 2016.
  • Comments on Emden’s Nietzsche’s Naturalism. North American Nietzsche Society, Annual Meeting of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, Washington, DC, January 2016
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.” Department of Philosophy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, December 2015.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Secular Student Alliance, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, December 2015.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.” Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, November.
  • “The Public Perception of Legal Education.” College of Law, Georgia State University, Atlanta, November.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?”Department of Philosophy and College of Law, Georgia State University, Atlanta, November 2015 (also sponsored by the Emory University Center for Law & Religion).
  • “The Innocence of Becoming.” Department of Philosophy, University of Geneva, Switzerland, October 2015.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.” Post-Kantian Seminar, Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford University, UK, October 2015.
  • “The Innocence of Becoming.” Nietzsche Workshop, Department of Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London, U.K., October 2015.
  • “Why Legal Positivism?” Department of Legal Theory, Jagellonian University, Krakow, Poland, October 2015.
  • “Marx: Ideology, Morality, Science.” Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria, October 2015.
  • “Nietzsche: Naturalism, Perspectivism, Asceticism.” Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria, October 2015.
  • “The Death of God and the Death of Morality.” Conference in Honor of Maudemarie Clark, Department of Philosophy, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, September 2015.
  • “Theoretical Disagreements in Law: Another Look.” Keynote Address, Conference on “Deep Disagreements:Philosophical and Legal Perspectives,” Humboldt University, Berlin, June 2015.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Department of Philosophy, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, February 2015.
  • “Normativity for Naturalists.” Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, February 2015.
  • “Normativity for Naturalists.” Department of Philosophy, University of Miami, January 2015.
  • “The Case Against Free Speech.” School of Law, University of Miami, Florida, January 2015.
  • “Constitutional Law, Moral Judgment, and the Supreme Court as Super-Legislature.” Mathew O. Trobiner Memorial Lecture on Constitutional Law, Hastings College of Law, University of California, San Francisco, January 2015.
  • “The Paradoxes of Public Philosophy.” Keynote address at international philosophy conference, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana (NCR of Dehli), India, November 2014.
  • “The Case Against Free Speech.” Human Rights Program, University of Palermo, Italy, October 2014.
  • “Why Legal Positivism?” European University Institute, Florence, Italy, October 2014.
  • “Legal Positivism and the Methodology of Legal Philosophy.” Fresco Lectures, Faculty of Law, University of Genoa, Italy, October 2014.
  • “Marx, Law, Ideology, Legal Positivism.” Conference on “Jurisprudence and History.” Law School, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, September 2014.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Veritas Forum, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, September 2014.
  • “Resolve: Repeal the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” Yale Political Union, Yale University, New Haven, CT, September 2014.
  • “On the Esoteric Reading of Nietzsche.” Conference on Nietzsche, Value and Self-Constitution, Oxford University, UK, May 2014.
  • “Reply to Critics.” “Author Meets Critics” session on Why Tolerate Religion? (Princeton, 2013), Annual Meeting, Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association, San Diego, CA, April 2014.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Canada, March 2014.
  • “Marx, Law, Ideology, Legal Positivism.” Section on Law & Philosophy, Annual Meeting, Central Division of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, IL, February 2014.
  • “Nietzsche against the Philosophical Canon.” Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, February 2014.
  • “Is Religion Special? Toleration, Conscience, and Exemptions from the Law.” Isaac Backus Lecture on American Freedoms, La Sierra University, Riverside, CA February 2014.
  • “Is Religion Special? Toleration, Conscience, and Exemptions from the Law.” College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, January 2014.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Hansford M. Epes Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities, Davidson College, North Carolina, November 2013.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?.” Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles, CA, October 2013.
  • “Is Religion Special? Toleration, Conscience, and Exemptions from the Law.” School of Law, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, October 2013.
  • “Toleration: Its Nature and Moral Justification.” Keynote address at the conference on “The Spectacle of Toleration,” organized by the Newport Historical Society, in conjunction with Brown, George Washington, and Salve Regina Universities, Newport, Rhode Island, October 2013.
  • Commentary on Lawrence Sager. Conference on the Role of Religious Institutions in a Democracy, Center for Church-State Studies, College of Law, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, September 2013.
  • “Nietzsche Against the Philosophical Canon.” Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri, St. Louis, September 2013.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Department of Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, September 2013.
  • “Is Religion Special? Toleration, Conscience, and Exemptions from the Law.” Dan & Gwen Taylor Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, August 2013.
  • “The Innocence of Becoming.” Department of Philosophy, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, August 2013.
  • “Why Legal Positivism?” Keynote Address at the annual meeting of the Australian Society of Legal Philosophy, August 2013.
  • “The Case Against Free Speech.” Julius Stone Address, Law School, University of Sydney, August 2013.
  • “The Innocence of Becoming.” Conference on “Moral Psychology and Responsibility: Empirical and Non-Empirical Perspectives.” Centre for Law and Cosmopolitan Values, University of Antwerp, Belgium, June 2013.
  • Conference on Why Tolerate Religion? Center for Inquiry, Washington, D.C., April 2013.
  • “Nietzsche’s Naturalism Reconsidered.” Conference on “Nietzsche’s Naturalism Reconsidered,” Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J., April 2013 (organized by Helmut Heit).
  • “The Methodology of Legal Philosophy. College of Law, Florida State University, Tallahassee, April 2013.
  • “Legal Realisms, Old and New.” Faculty of Law, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 2013.
  • “The Methodology of Legal Philosophy.” Faculty of Law, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 2013.
  • “In Praise of Realism.” Faculty of Law, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 2013.
  • “Nietzsche against the Philosophical Canon.” Keynote Address, Annual Meeting of the Danish Philosophical Association, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, March 2013.
  • “Moralities are a Sign-Language of the Affects.” Invited session on Nietzsche, Annual Meeting of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association, New Orleans, LA, February 2013.
  • “Moralities are a Sign-Language of the Affects.” Conference on “New Essays in Moral Philosophy.” Social Philosophy & Policy Center and University of Arizona Freedom Center, Tucson, AZ, January 2013.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Carnegie Council, New York, N.Y., December 2012.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Department of Philosophy, Nassau Community College, Garden City, N.Y., December 2012.
  • “The Methodology of Legal Philosophy.” Law & Philosophy Workshop, University of Pennsylvania, December 2012.
  • “Legal Realisms, Old and New.” Seegers Lecture in Jurisprudence, Law School, Valparaiso University, IN, November 2012.
  • Workshop on Why Tolerate Religion? Department of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland, November 2012.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Department of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland, November 2012.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Conference on “Nietzsche on Morality and the Affirmation of Life.” St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, November 2012.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Practical Philosophy Workshop, Department of Philosophy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, October 2012.
  • “Moralities are a Sign-Language of the Affects.” BU Workshop on Late Modern Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Boston University, MA, October 2012.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche,” 9th Annual Metaethics Workshop, Department of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, September 2012.
  • “Legal Realisms, Old and New.” Conference on “New Frontiers of Legal Realism,” Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. May 2012.
  • Comments on Stefan Sciaraffa’s legal philosophy book manuscript. Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson, May 2012.
  • “The Truth is Terrible.” Conference on “Nietzsche and Community,” Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, April 2012.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., April 2012.
  • “The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence.” Law & Philosophy Workshop, Law School and Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., April 2012.
  • “Moralities are a Sign-Language of the Affects.” Project on Nietzsche and the Self, Department of Philosophy, New University of Lisbon, Portugal, March 2012.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Faculty of Law, King Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain, March 2012.
  • “Moralities are a Sign-Language of the Affects.” Bernd Magnus Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside,March 2012.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Moral Sciences Club, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, October 2011.
  • Conference on Why Tolerate Religion? Faculty of Law, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy, October 2011.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” School of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, October 2011.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Department of Philosophy, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, October 2011.
  • “The Boundaries of the Moral (and Legal) Community.” Meador Lecture, School of Law, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, September 2011.
  • “The Law of Religious Liberty in a Tolerant Society.” School of Law, Pennsylvania State University, State College, August 2011.
  • “The Law of Religious Liberty in a Tolerant Society.” Keynote Address, Summer Workshop on Law, Religion & Culture, Law School, University of Colorado, Boulder, July 2011.
  • Discussion of Why Tolerate Religion? Law and Religion Roundtable, School of Law, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, June 2011.
  • “The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Skepticism.” Keynote Address, legal philosophy conference, Department of Philosophy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 2011.
  • “The Law of Religious Liberty in a Tolerant Society.” Leon Green ’15 Lecture in Jurisprudence, School of Law, University of Texas, Austin, March 2011.
  • Participant, Conference on “Metaethics and Legal Judgment.” Institute for Law and Philosophy, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, March 2011.
  • “The Circumstances of Civility.” NEH-sponsored conference on “Civility and American Democracy,” Washington State University, Spokane, March 2011.
  • “The Law of Religious Liberty in a Tolerant Society.” School of Law, Fordham University, New York, February 2011.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Department of Philosophy, Graduate Center, City University of New York, February 2011.
  • Why Tolerate Religion? Chapters 1-3. Law School, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., October 2010.
  • Why Tolerate Religion? Chapters 1-3. Legal Theory Workshop, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., October 2010.
  • “The Radicalism of Legal Positivism.” Mary Olive Woods Lecture, Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Western Illinois University, September 2010.
  • “Legal Formalism and Legal Realism: What is the Issue?” School of Law, University of California, Irvine, September 2010.
  • “The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Skepticism.” Conference on “Jurisprudence and Value-Neutrality.” Faculty of Law, University of Girona, Spain, May 2010.
  • “Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?” Conference on “Freedom of Conscience.” Institute for Law and Philosophy, University of San Diego, CA, April 2010.
  • “In Praise of Realism (and Against ‘Nonsense’ Jurisprudence).” School of Law, University of San Diego, CA, April 2010.
  • “Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?” Analytic Legal Philosophy Conference, School of Law, New York University, NY, April 2010.
  • “In Praise of Realism (and Against ‘Nonsense’ Jurisprudence).” School of Law and Department of Philosophy, University of Miami, FL, February 2010.
  • “Rorty and the Philosophical Tradition: A Comment on Professor Szubka.” Annual Meeting of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, IL, February 2010
  • “Why Legal Positivism?”. Symposium on “Legal Positivism: For and Against.” Section on Jurisprudence, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, New Orleans, LA, January 2010.
  • “Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?” Society for Applied Philosophy, Annual Meeting, Easter Division of the American Philosophical Association, New York, NY, December 2009.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Department of Philosophy, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, December 2009.
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” Department of Philosophy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, December 2009.
  • “Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?” Conference on Respect, Global Justice, and Human Rights. Institute for Advanced Study, Pavia, Italy, November 2009.
  • “Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?” Law & Philosophy Workshop, University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, October 2009.
  • “Explaining Theoretical Disagreement.” Joseph Raz’s Legal Philosophy Seminar, Law School, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., October 2009.
  • “In Praise of Realism.” College of Law, Arizona State University, Tempe, October 2009.
  • “Who is the ‘Sovereign Individual’ Nietzsche on Freedom.” Keynote Address, Annual Meeting of the Friedrich Nietzsche Society (Topic: “Mind and Nature”), St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, September 2009.
  • Address to junior faculty. Big Ten Aspiring Legal Scholars Conference. College of Law, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, August 2009.
  • Commentary on Maudemarie Clark’s Magnus Lecture. Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, May 2009.
  • “Foundations of Religious Liberty: Toleration or Respect?”. MacMillan Center Initiative on Religion, Politics & Society, Yale University, New Haven, CT, March 2009.
  • “In Praise of Realism.” 1st Annual Distinguished Lecture in Jurisprudence, Legal Philosophy Club, School of Law, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, February 2009.
  • “Cleaning Cyber-Cesspools: Google and Free Speech.” New York Law School, N.Y., February 2009.
  • Author-Meets-Critics Session on Naturalizing Jurisprudence, Committee on Philosophy and Law, Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Philadelphia, PA, December 2008.
  • “In Praise of Realism.” Law School, University of Wisconsin, Madison, December 2008.
  • “Cleaning Cyber-Cesspools.” Conference on “Speech, Privacy, and the Internet.” Law School, University of Chicago, IL, November 2008
  • “Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche.” 5th Annual Conference on “Issues in the History of Modern Philosophy.” Department of Philosophy, New York University, NY, November 2008.
  • “The Epistemic Authority of the Human Sciences: Critical Reflections on Foucault.” Keynote Address at the symposium on “How Do We Keep Knowing?” Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, October 2008.
  • “In Praise of Realism.” College of Law, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, August 2008.
  • “Nietzsche’s Naturalism Reconsidered.” Conference on “Nietzsche, Naturalism, and Normativity.” Department of Philosophy, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, July 2008.
  • “Science and Methodology in Legal Theory” and “Explaining Theoretical Disagreement.” Faculty of Law, University of Girona, Spain, June 2008.
  • “Gemes on Perspectivism.” Conference on “Skepticism: Ancient, Modern, and Contemporary,” sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, New York University, in Florence, Italy, June 2008.
  • “In Praise of Realism.” Dunbar Lecture on Law and Philosophy, School of Law and Department of Philosophy, University of Mississippi, Oxford, March 2008.
  • Respondent to papers on Nietzsche on freedom and autonomy by Ken Gemes and Peter Poellner. Annual Meeting, Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association, Pasadena, CA, March 2008.
  • “American Legal Realism” and “Explaining Theoretical Disagreement.” Fresco Lectures, Department of Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law, University of Genoa, Italy, March 2008.
  • “Science and Methodology in Legal Theory.” Institute for Philosophical Investigations, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, November 2007.
  • “Explaining Theoretical Disagreement.” Institute for Philosophical Investigations, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, November 2007.
  • “Explaining Theoretical Disagreement.” Law School, University of California, Los Angeles, October 2007.
  • “Naturalizing Jurisprudence: Three Approaches.” Conference on “The Future of Naturalism,” Center for Inquiry Transnational and Department of Philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo, September 2007.
  • “Explaining Theoretical Disagreement.”& Faculty of Law and Program in Social and Political Theory (Research School), Australian National University, Canberra, August 2007.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Florence G. Kline Colloquium, Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri, Columbia, April 2007.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Department of Philosophy, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., March 2007.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Department of Philosophy, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., March 2007.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, March 2007.
  • 9“Why Tolerate Religion?.” Law School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, March 2007.
  • “Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law.” Institute for Law and Philosophy, Law School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, February 2007.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, January 2007.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, November 2006.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Keynote Address, Graduate Conference, Department of Philosophy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA, November 2006.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” Faculty Workshop, Law School, University of Chicago, IL, October 2006.
  • “Indeterminacy in the Law and the Ethical Obligations of Judges in Hard Cases.” Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, Dallas, TX, July 2006.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Department of Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, March 2006.
  • “Why Tolerate Religion?” ‘Or ‘Emet Lecture, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada, March 2006.
  • “The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychology.” Committee on Law and Philosophy, College of Law, Arizona State University, Tempe, February 2006.
  • “The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychology.” Political Theory Group and Law School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, December 2005.
  • “Philosophy of Law: The Current State of Play.” Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and Faculty of Law, London School of Economics, December 2005.
  • “Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate.” Department of Philosophy, University of Reading, December 2005.
  • “Toleration and Religion.” Gardner/Honoré Seminar on Political Philosophy, Oxford University, UK, December 2005.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Department of Philosophy, University of Manchester, UK, November 2005.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Moral Sciences Club, Cambridge University, UK, October 2005.
  • “Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law.” College of Law, Florida State University, Tallahassee, September 2005.
  • “Does Naturalized Jurisprudence Change the Subject?” Conference on “The Challenge of Philosophical Naturalism,” Institute for Law & Philosophy, Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, NJ, June 2005.
  • Participant and Discussant. Conference on, “The Conditions for a Pragmatic Approach to the Norm: Reflections on the Recent Pragmatist Turn in Legal Philosophy,” Center for Philosophy of Law, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, June 2005.
  • Organizer and participant, 10th annual Analytic Legal Philosophy Conference, School of Law, University of Texas, Austin, April 2005.
  • “The End of Empire: Dworkin and Jurisprudence in the 21st Century.” Institute for Comparative Jurisprudence, Law School, Loyola University, Los Angeles, CA, December 2004.
  • *Organizer and participant, conference on “Methodology in Jurisprudence.” Law & Philosophy Program, University of Texas, Austin, November 2004.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will.” Conference on “Nietzsche and Naturalism,” The Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, November 2004.
  • “The Hermeneutics of Suspicion: Recovering Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud.” Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University, New York, N.Y., October 2004.
  • “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will”. Plenary Address, Conference on “Nietzsche and Ethics,” Annual Meeting of the Friedrich Nietzsche Society of Great Britain, University of Sussex, UK, September 2004.
  • “The End of Empire: Dworkin and Jurisprudence in the 21st Century.”& Keynote address, Inaugural Conference of the Institute for Law & Philosophy, Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, NJ, May 2004.
  • Participant, Annual Conference on Analytic Legal Philosophy, School of Law, New York University, April 2004.
  • “The Hermeneutics of Suspicion: The Case of Freud.” Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, March 2004.
  • “Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law.” Law School, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, February 2004.
  • “Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law.” Law School, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, October 2003.
  • “Why Evolutionary Biology is (so far) Irrelevant to Law.” Law & Economics Workshop, College of Law, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, September 2003.
  • Participant, Roundtable on Nietzsche and Normativity, Institute for Law and Philosophy, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, September 2003.
  • “The Hermeneutics of Suspicion.” Philosophical Society, Oxford University, UK, May 2003.
  • *“The Methodology Problem in Jurisprudence.” Faculty of Law, University College London, UK, May 2003.
  • *“Nietzsche as Naturalist: For and Against.” Intercollegiate seminars (two), University of London, UK, May 2003 (with Sebastian Gardner).
  • 63. “Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate: The Methodology Problem in Jurisprudence.” Conference on “Law’s Moral Foundations: Has It Any?”, Law School and American Journal of Jurisprudence, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, April 2003.
  • “Why Texas Can’t Afford Textbook Censorship.” Rotary Club of Houston, TX, February 2003.
  • *Organizer, commentator and participant, conference on "Moral Theory After Nietzsche," University of Texas, Austin, February 2003. (External participants: Maudemarie Clark [Colgate], Thomas Hurka [Toronto], Nadeem Hussain [Stanford], Christopher Janaway [London], Elijah Millgram [Utah], Peter Poellner [Warwick], and Mathias Risse [Harvard].)
  • “Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate.” Faculty of Law, Cambridge University, UK, November 2002.
  • *“Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality.” Intercollegiate seminars (three), University of London, UK, November 2002.
  • “The Hermeneutics of Suspicion.” Department of Philosophy, Birkbeck College, London, UK, October 2002.
  • “American Legal Realism.” School of Law, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, October 2002.
  • “Textbook Censorship in Texas.” American Constitution Society, School of Law, University of Texas, Austin, September 2002.
  • “Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate.” Faculty of Law, University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), March 2002.
  • “Beyond the Hart/Dworkin Debate.” Legal Philosophy Colloquium, Oxford University, UK, March 2002.
  • "Asceticism and Perspectivism." Conference on "Nietzsche on Truth," Philosophy Programme, School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK, October 2001. (Paper presented by Ken Gemes [Birkbeck College, London].)
  • "Adjudication as Craft." Comments on Brett Scharffs, "The Judicial Craft," Research Workshop, Institute for Humane Studies, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, July 2001.
  • "Naturalism in Legal Philosophy." Workshop on Naturalism and Realism in Legal Philosophy, Center for Law and Philosophy, Columbia University, New York, NY, April 2001.
  • *Organizer, Speaker, & Moderator. Conference on "Nietzsche: Philosophical Influences and Philosophical Legacies," College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas, Austin, March 2001. (External participants: Maudemarie Clark [Colgate], Nadeem Hussain [Stanford], Christopher Janaway [London], and John Richardson [NYU].)
  • "What is 'Genealogy' and What is Nietzsche's Genealogy?" Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, March 2001.
  • "Naturalized Epistemology and the Law of Evidence." Symposium on New Perspectives on Evidence, School of Law, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, February 2001. (Paper presented by Ronald Allen [Northwestern].)
  • "The Naturalistic Turn in Legal Philosophy." Special session on "New Directions in Analytic Jurisprudence," Jurisprudence Section of the Association of American Law Schools, San Francisco, CA, January 2001.
  • "Educational Quality Ranking of U.S. Law Schools." National Association of Pre-Law Advisors, Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 2000.
  • "Charles Alan Wright: Legal Realist." A Tribute to Charles Alan Wright, School of Law, University of Texas, Austin, November 2000.
  • Symposium on Brian Leiter, Nietzsche on Morality, Department of Philosophy, Cardiff University, Wales, UK, November 2000. I presented a précis of the book, followed by commentaries on the book by Maudemarie Clark [Colgate], Sebastian Gardner [London], Peter Poellner [Warwick], Peter Sedgwick [Cardiff], and Alessandra Tanesini [Cardiff].
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered." Law School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, October 2000.
  • Commentary on Maudemarie Clark, "Nietzsche's Soul." Annual Chapel Hill Philosophy Colloquium, Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, October 2000.
  • *"Legal Realism, Hard Positivism, and the Limits of Conceptual Analysis." Conference on "Reason and Rationality in the Common Law" (joint Oxford-UT conference), Worcester College, Oxford University, UK, July 2000.
  • "Moral Facts and Best Explanations." Conference on Moral Epistemology, Social Philosophy & Policy Center (Bowling Green State University), La Jolla, CA, June 2000.
  • Participant, Workshop on Methodology in Legal Philosophy, Center for Law and Philosophy, Columbia University, New York, NY, March 2000.
  • "Holmes, Nietzsche, and Classical Realism." Legal Theory Workshop, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, Canada, November 1999.
  • Comment on paper by Susan Haack. Conference on Epistemology and the Law of Evidence, 3rd Annual Law & Philosophy Workshop, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, October 1999.
  • "Social Epistemology and the Law of Evidence." Conference on Epistemology and the Law of Evidence, 3rd Annual Law & Philosophy Workshop, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, October 1999.
  • "Measuring the Academic Distinction of Law Faculties." Conference on Citation Studies, School of Law, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, April 1999. (Also sponsored by Journal of Legal Studies and West Publishing.)
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered." School of Law, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, April 1999.
  • "Marx, Justice, and Relativism." Comment on a paper by Justin Schwartz, winner of the Fred Berger Prize in philosophy of law, American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 1999.
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered." Legal Theory Workshop, Law School, University of Chicago, IL, January 1999.
  • “Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered.” Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, October 1998.
  • “Hart, Legal Realism, and Empirical Rule-Skepticism.” Special Session on Philosophy of Law, XXth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, MA, August 1998 (one of three invited speakers).
  • "Nietzsche's Metaethics." Department of Philosophy, Rice University, Houston, TX, April 1998.
  • Participant, 3rd Annual Conference on Analytic Legal Philosophy, School of Law, University of San Diego, California, April 1998.
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered." Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, March 1998.
  • “Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered.” School of Law, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, January 1998.
  • "Objectivity, Morality, and Adjudication." 2nd Annual Conference on Analytic Legal Philosophy, School of Law, Columbia University, New York, NY, April 1997.
  • "Holmes, Nietzsche, and Classical Realism." A Centennial Symposium on Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s Intellectual Legacy, College of Law, University of Iowa, Iowa City, January 1997.
  • "Why Quine Is Not a Postmodernist." Symposium on Dennis Patterson's Law and Truth (Oxford, 1996), School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, December 1996.
  • Participant, Conference on "The Path of the Law 100 Years Later: Holmes's Influence on Modern Jurisprudence," Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, NY, November 1996.
  • *"Nietzsche: Three Themes." Symposium on "Five Perspectives on Nietzsche," Department of Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin, April 1996.
  • "Explanation and Legal Theory." Comment on paper by Larry Alexander & Ken Kress, Jurisprudence Section of the Association of American Law Schools, Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, January 1996.
  • Participant, 1st Annual Conference on Analytic Legal Philosophy, Law School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, December 1995.
  • "Rethinking Legal Realism." College of Law, University of Iowa, Iowa City, November 1995.
  • "Nietzsche and the Morality Critics." Department of Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin, November 1995.
  • "Nietzsche and the Morality Critics." Department of Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, September 1995.
  • "The Philosophy of Judging." Workshop/Presentation, Annual Education Meeting, Florida Conference of District Court of Appeals Judges, Sarasota, FL, September 1995.
  • "Legal Realism." Oxford-USC Legal Theory Institute, Brasenose College, Oxford University, United Kingdom, July 1995.
  • "Realism and Positivism Reconsidered." School of Law, University of Texas, Austin, March 1995.
  • "Heidegger and the Theory of Adjudication." Law & Interpretation Section of the Association of American Law Schools, Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 1995.
  • "Tort Theory and the Objectivity of Corrective Justice." Comment on paper by Jules Coleman at the conference on "Issues in the Philosophy of Law" (in honor of Joel Feinberg), College of Law University of Arizona, Tucson, September 1994.
  • "Morality in the Pejorative Sense." Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson, April 1994.
  • "Legal Indeterminacy and the Legitimacy of Adjudication." College of Law, University of Arizona, Tucson, April 1994.
  • "Pornography, Causation and Harm." School of Law, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, January 1994.
  • "The Middle Way." Comment on paper by Hilary Putnam, Jurisprudence Section of the Association of American Law Schools, Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, January 1994.
  • "Pornography and Equality." Fourth Biennial Discussion Group on Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C., December 1993.
  • "Morality in the Pejorative Sense." Department of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego, October 1993.
  • "Morality in the Pejorative Sense." Department of Philosophy, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, February 1993.
  • "The Jurisprudence of Neorealism." School of Law, University of San Diego, CA, January 1993.
  • "Legal Realism and Varieties of Legal Indeterminacy." School of Law, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, January 1993.
  • "American Legal Realism and Naturalized Jurisprudence." Law School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, January 1993.

Additional Activities

Memberships and Professional Affiliations

  • Founder and member of Executive Committee, International Society for Nietzsche Studies, 2015-present
  • Steering Committee, Experiment Month Project, Program in Cognitive Science, Yale University, 2009-present
  • Advisory Board, Center for Naturalism, Somerville, MA, 2005-present
  • Steering Committee, annual Analytic Legal Philosophy Conference, 2003-2017
  • Program Committee, North American Nietzsche Society, 1998-2001
  • Secretary, Jurisprudence Section of the Association of American Law Schools, 1996

Awards and Honors

  • Paolo Bozzi Prize in Ontology, Department of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy, 2017
  • Why Tolerate Religion? (Princeton, 2013) named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2013
  • Visiting Fellow, John Fleming Centre for Advancement of Legal Research, College of Law, Australian National University, Canberra (August 2007)
  • Finalist, Robert W. Hamilton Book Awards, University of Texas-Austin (2004)
  • Harold Gill Reuschlein Distinguished Visiting Chair at Villanova Law School (2003-2004)
  • "Legal Realism and Legal Positivism Reconsidered" chosen as "one of the ten best articles in philosophy" to appear in 2001 by The Philosopher's Annual
  • Best Research Paper Award, University of Texas-Austin, (1997-1998) 
  • Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (1992-1993)
  • Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (1992-1993)
  • Nelson Research Fellowship, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (winter 1991-1992)
  • "Outstanding Teaching Assistant," Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (1991-1992)
  • Regents Fellowship, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (1988-1991)
  • Certificate of Merit, University of Michigan Law School (1985)

Service

  • Director and Founder, Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values, University of Chicago (2008-present)
  • Faculty Advisor, Student Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (2000-present)
  • Chair, Graduates Studies Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (1999-present)
  • Advisor, Persons Interested in Teaching Law, University of Texas-Austin Law School (1996-present)
  • Tenure Committee, University of Chicago Law School (2008-2009)
  • Director and Founder, Law and Philosophy Program, University of Texas-Austin (1998-2008)
  • Chair, Law & Philosophy Program Search Committee, University of Texas-Austin (2004-2007)
  • Appointments Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (1996-2004; 2006-2007) 
    Chair, Laterals Subcommittee (1999-2000)
    Chair, Appointments (1997-1998)
  • Dean Search Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (2006) 
  • Admissions Committee, University of Texas-Austin Department of Philosophy (1999-2004)
  • Long-Term Planning Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (2001-2002) 
  • Search Committee, University of Texas-Austin Department of Philosophy (1997-2000)
  • Placement Committee, University of Texas-Austin Department of Philosophy (1997-1998)
  • Interdisciplinary Issues Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (1997-1998)
  • Library Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (1995-1997)
  • Standards Committee, University of Texas-Austin Law School (1995-1997)
  • Admissions Committee, School of Law, University of San Diego (1993-1995)

Editorial Work

  • Referee, Oxford University Press; Cambridge University Press; Harvard University Press; University of Illinois Press; Routledge; Oneworld.
  • Referee, Journal of the History of Philosophy; Legal Theory; Law and Philosophy; Ethics, Philosophy & Phenomenological Research; Polity; Canadian Journal of Philosophy; Science in Context; European Journal of Philosophy; American Philosophical Quarterly; Philosopher’s Imprint; Journal of Legal Studies; Journal of Philosophy.
  • International Editorial Board, Belgrade Law Review, Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Serbia, 2021-present
  • Editorial Committee, Revista Jurídica Facultad de Jurisprudencia, Faculty of Law, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, 2018-present
  • International Editorial Board, Journal of Institutional Theory, Faculty of Law, Federal University of Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 2015-present
  • Advisory Board, Centre for Legal Theory and Indian Journal of Legal Theory, National Law University, Jodhpur, India, 2015-present
  • Editorial Board, Legal Theory Review (Revista de Teoría Jurídica) (Palermo University, Argentina), 2013-present
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Nietzsche Online (de Gruyter), 2011-present.
  • Editorial Committee, Anilisi e Diritto: Ricerche di Giurisprudenza Analitica, 2010-present
  • Editorial Board, Problema: Anuario de Filosofía y Teoría del Derecho, 2010-present
  • Editorial Board, Oxford Bibliographies Online: Philosophy, 2009-present
  • Scientific Committee, Chair of Legal Culture, University of Girona, Spain, 2009-present
  • Editor, Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Law, 2009-present
  • Nominating Editor, The Philosopher’s Annual, 2008-present
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Nietzsche Studies, 2008-present
  • Editorial Board, IVR Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence, Legal Theory and Philosophy of Law, 2005-present
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Moral Philosophy: An International Journal of Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy, 2004-present
  • Series Editor, The Routledge Philosophers, 2001-present
  • Editorial Board, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2001-present
  • Board of Advisors, Routledge International Library of Philosophy, 2000-present
  • Editor, Legal Theory, 2000-present
    Editorial Board, 1994-1998; 2009-present
    Advisory Board, 2000-2008
  • Editor and author, The Philosophical Gourmet Report (1989-present) 
  • Author & Publisher, A Ranking of U.S. Law Schools by Educational Quality, 1997-present
  • Consulting Editor, Theoria: A Swedish Journal of Philosophy, 2008-2022
  • Consulting Editor, Epistēmē:  A Journal of Social Epistemology, 2002-2003