The
American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy was founded in 1955 by a
group of friends in the social sciences, law, and philosophy who shared an interest
in a range of problems traditionally treated within the broad context of
interdisciplinary exploration and discussion of those issues of political and
legal philosophy that are of common interest to those fields. The
society has two major activities: first, an annual meeting devoted to the
discussion of one particular topic in political and legal philosophy,
and second, the publication of a yearbook, NOMOS, in which the results
of the discussions are incorporated in a series of articles on the topic by
members who have participated formally or informally in the
discussions.
The annual meeting of the Society ordinarily takes place immediately after
or preceding the meeting of one of the following three professional
organizations: The American Philosophical Association, the American Political
Science Association, and the Association of American Law Schools. The next
will be on August 28-29, 2008, held alongside the APSA in Boston, on "Evolution and Morality." The
following meeting will be held in January 2010 alongside the AALS.
Annual Meeting of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy
August 28-29, 2008
In conjunction with the American Political Science Association
Hynes Convention Center/ Boston Marriott Copley Place/ Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, MA
Evolution and Morality
Conference co-chairs: Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair of Law and Professor of Government, University of Texas, and James Fleming, The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law, Boston University
Thursday, August 28
4:15 PM: Panel 1. Hynes 105
Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor of Philosophy and James R. Barker Professor of Contemporary Civilization, Columbia University: "Naturalistic Ethics without Fallacies"
Commentators:
Jonathan Beckwith, American Cancer Society Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Robin B. Kar, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School
Chair: James Fleming
7:30 PM: Evening Reception, Sheraton Exeter
Friday, August 29
7:00 AM: Breakfast reception
7:50 AM: Annual business meeting, Sheraton Independence Ballroom West
8:00 AM: Panel 2. Sheraton Independence Ballroom West
Nita Farahany, Assistant Professor of Law and Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University: "Law and Behavioral Morality"
Commentators:
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Professor of Philosophy and Hardy Professor of Legal Studies, Dartmouth University
Jennifer Culbert, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University
Chair: Jacob T. Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory, McGill University
10:15 AM: Panel 3, Sheraton Independence Ballroom West
Larry Arnhart, Professor of Political Science, Northern Illinois University: "Deep History in Biopolitical Science"
Commentators:
Daniel Lord Smail, Professor of History, Harvard University
Richard Richards, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama
Chair: Donald Horowitz, James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science, Duke University
Conference attendees may be interested in continuing discussion at the separate APSA Panel 3-34, Genes, Justice, and the Politics of Biotechnologies, Friday, 2 PM, with the following papers:
Anja Karnein, Designing Our Children: Will This Create a New Inequality Between the Generations?
Bruno Macaes, When Politics Transcends Biology
Ashley Biser, Equal Yet Distinct: Plurality and the Politics of Genetics
Fifty-three volumes of Nomos have been published or will appear
soon. The complete contents are available online.
Harvard University
Press:
I. Authority
1958
The Liberal Arts Press:
II. Community 1959
III. Responsibility 1960
Atherton Press:
IV. Liberty 1962
V. The Public Interest 1962
VI. Justice 1963
VII. Rational Decision 1964
VIII. Revolution 1966
IX. Equality 1967
X. Representation 1968
XI. Voluntary Association 1969
XII. Political and Legal Obligation 1970
XIII. Privacy 1971
Aldine-Atherton Press:
XIV. Coercion 1972
Lieber-Atherton Press:
XV. The Limits of Law 1974
XVI. Participation 1975
New York University Press:
XVII. Human Nature in Politics 1977
XVIII. Due Process 1977
XIX. Anarchism 1978
XX. Constitutionalism 1979
XXI. Compromise 1979
XXII. Property 1980
XXIII. Human Rights 1981
XXIV. Ethics, Economics, and the Law 1982
XXV. Liberal Democracy 1983
XXVI. Marxism 1983
XXVII. Criminal Justice 1983
XXVIII. Justification 1985
XXIX. Authority Revisited 1985
XXX. Religion, Morality, and the Law 1988
XXXI. Markets and Justice 1989
XXXII. Majorities and Minorities 1990
XXXIII. Compensatory Justice 1991
XXXIV. Virtue 1992
XXXV. Democratic Community 1993
XXXVI. The Rule of Law 1994
XXXVII. Theory and Practice 1995
XXXVIII. Political Order 1996
XXXIX. Ethnicity and Group Rights 1997
XL. Integrity and Conscience 1998
XLI. Global Justice 1999
XLII. Designing Democratic Institutions 2000
XLIII. Moral and Political Education 2001
XLIV. Child, Family, and the State 2003
XLV. Secession and Self-Determination 2003
XLVI. Political Exclusion and Domination 2004
XLVII. Humanitarian Intervention 2007
XLVIII. Toleration and Its Limits 2008
forthcoming from New York
University Press:
XLIX. Moral Universalism and Pluralism
L. Transitional Justice
LI. American Conservative Thought and Politics
LII. Loyalty
LIII. Evolution and Morality