Obectivism: Philosophy Of Law

Political Philosophy Law
1

I am currently enrolled in a Philosophy of Law course at my University. I am taking this class because I plan on becoming a lawyer after undergrad, and have discovered that my knowledge on the philosophy of law is very lacking. Do any of you know of any Objectivist writings specifically on “Philosophy of Law”? I heard there is an Objectivist conference being planned on this subject in Colorado, but I do not have the necessary funds to get there. Thank you ahead of time for your help.

Marcus Lange

“The unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates

2

http://www.aynrandbookstore2.com/store/products.asp?dept=52

I havent read/heard any of this, so dont take it as a recommendation.

3

Thanks Hal! “How “Activist” Should Judges Be? (CD) by Tara Smith” actually looks really good, especially since it is on CD and not on tape. Does anyone know of a complete book written on Philosophy of Law by an Objectivist scholar?

Marcus Lange

“The unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates

4

Tara Smith is working on one right now. I went to her lecture on the topic at NYU this winter.

5

Here is a good book you might try:

“A Short History of Western Legal Theory” by John Maurice Kelly

It was the textbook in a Philosophy of Law course I took. The professor was virtually an Objectivist (he hated the university culture and despised Platonists, calling himself an out-and-out Arisatotelian).

There’s no better way to learn a subject than to learn its history, and this is a pretty good read at around 450 pages. Long enough to include lots of important stuff, short enough to be readable.

Just rememebr the author’s not an Objectivist. :smiley:

6

Hi John. Did Dr. Smith say she was writing a book or a paper? I remember paper, but I didn’t make a note either way.

7

You might try contacting Adam Mossof; he’s an Objectivist law professor at (I think) MSU. His e-mail address (gleaned from the Forum for Ayn Rand Fans) is [email protected]. I don’t know of anything systematic on the philosophy of law from an Objectivist perspective, unfortunately.

There’s also an on-again-off-again group called the Association for Objective Law; right now they seem to be off-again, though. I realize this probably isn’t what you were hoping to hear, but it seems like philosophy of law is one of the areas where significant domain-specific application of Objectivism has yet to occur.

8

Hi John. Did Dr. Smith say she was writing a book or a paper? I remember paper, but I didn’t make a note either way.

Eh, perhaps it was a paper. Got my brain all in a knot there.