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Ronald Dworkin (born 1931) is a philosopher, especially noted for his contributions to legal, political, and moral philosophy. His theory of law as integrity is one of the
leading contemporary views of the nature of law.
Biographical Sketch
Ronald Dworkin was born in 1931 in Worcester,
Massachusetts, United States of America. He
received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and another from Oxford University, where Dworkin was a student of Sir Rupert Cross at Magdalen
College. Dworkin then attended Harvard Law School at
Harvard University and subsequently clerked for Judge Learned Hand of the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit.
After working at Sullivan and Cromwell, a prominent law firm in New York City, Dworkin became a Professor of Law at Yale
University, where he became the holder of the Wesley N. Hohfeld Chair of Jurisprudence.
In 1969, Dworkin was appointed the Chair of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, in which position he succeeded H.L.A. Hart. After retiring from Oxford, Dworkin assumed a Chair at University
College in the University of London. For many years,
Dworkin has also taught at New York University, where he has
led a seminar with his distinguished colleague Thomas Nagel.
Law as Integrity
Dworkin is most famous for his theory of law as integrity, which is given its fullest statement in his book Law's
Empire. Dworkin's theory is interpretive. He argues that law is best understood as an interpretation of the political
practices of a society. Thus, in deciding a legal case, judges decide in accord with the interpretation of the society's
institutions and legal texts that best fits and justifies the society's history and practices.
Theory of Equality
Dworkin has also made important contributions to what is sometimes called the equality of what debate. In a famous
pair of articles and his book Sovereign Virtue he advocates a theory he calls 'equality of resources'.
Participant in Public Debate
Dworkin is also noted for his avid participation in public debates over law and issues of fundamental rights. He has been a
frequent contributor to The New York Review
of Books
Bibliography
Works by Ronald Dworkin
- Taking Rights Seriously (1977)
- A Matter of Principle (1985)
- Law's Empire (1986)
- Philosophical Issues in Senile Dementia (1987)
- A Bill of Rights for Britain (1990)
- Life's Dominion (1993)
- Freedom's Law (1996)
- Sovereign Virtue (2000)
Works about Ronald Dworkin
- Stephen Guest, Ronald Dworkin (Stanford: Stanford University Press 1991).
See also
External Links
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