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Faculty

NYU Law has a proud tradition of faculty members working at the intersection of law and philosophy. Our community at the Center for Law and Philosophy brings together faculty who work in moral, political and legal philosophy and are affiliated with the University's Department of Philosophy and faculty who are based in the Law School and who ask theoretical questions about doctrines within particular areas of law, such as constitutional law, private law, or international law. Faculty and students regularly come together to share ideas, particularly through the Colloquium in Legal, Political, and Social Philosophy.

 

Juliana Bidadanure Juliana Bidadanure is Associate Professor of Philosophy at NYU and an Affiliated Faculty Member in the Law School.  Her research in political philosophy focuses on our commitment to equality: what grounds it, what constitutes an unjust inequality, and what policies can remedy inequality.  She also works on public policy and has written on youth policies, basic income, and basic capital.  She teaches courses in the Department of Philosophy on topics such as egalitarianism, unequal relationships, and the philosophy of public policy.
Mark Geistfeld Mark Geistfeld is Sheila Lubetsky Birnbaum Professor of Civil Litigation at NYU.  His scholarship focuses on tort theory.  Most recently, he has considered how scarcities of compensatory resources have shaped the rules of tort law; how tort law may be able to protect the human rights of foreign workers in global supply chains; and how tort law can address harms caused by AI.  He has recently taught courses on Torts; Products Liability in the Age of AI; and Insurance.
Moshe Halbertal Moshe Halbertal is Gruss Professor of Law at NYU and a Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  His scholarship focuses on Jewish law and its philosophical implications and on the history of Jewish philosophy.  He has recently taught courses on Maimonides; Ethical Obligations in Jewish Law; Legal Punishment and Repentance; and Illiberalism in Legal and Political Theory.
Robert Howse Robert Howse is Lloyd. C. Nelson Professor of International Law at NYU. His research focuses on international economic law and 20th century European legal and political philosophy, particularly the thought of Alexander Kojeve and Leo Strauss. He regularly teaches courses on the theory and history of international law and international trade.
Washington Square Arch drawing Lewis Kornhauser is Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law at NYU. He is an expert in microeconomics and analyzes a variety of legal and political institutions. His current research focuses on models of courts and electoral processes. He regularly teaches the Legal Theory Thesis Seminar to LLM students in Legal Theory, as well as the Legal Theory Workshop and courses on Advanced Contracts and Economic Analysis of Law.
Mattias Kumm Mattias Kumm is Inge Rennert Professor of Law at NYU, and also a Professor of Global Public Law at the WZB Social Science Research Center and at Humboldt University, both in Berlin.  His research focuses on basic issues in European and comparative constitutional law, international law, and philosophy of law.  He regularly teaches courses in International Law, the Transformation of European Legal Thought, and Introduction to Legal Philosophy.
Sophia Moreau Sophia Moreau is Samuel Tilden Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at NYU. She works in legal, moral and political philosophy.  Her current research focuses on our moral obligations within unjust institutions, the nature of structural injustices, systemic discrimination in international law, and social justice tort theory.  She teaches courses in the Law School on discrimination theory, structural injustice, and free speech, and teaches graduate seminars in the Department of Philosophy.
Liam Murphy Liam Murphy is Herbert Peterfreund Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at NYU.  He works in legal, moral, and political philosophy and the application of these inquiries to law, legal institutions, and legal theory —in particular, on the justification of different areas of private law and individuals’ moral responsibilities in relation to such justified legal practices.  He is a current convener of the Colloquium in Legal, Political and Social Philosophy. He regularly teaches the history of moral and political philosophy to law students, and teaches graduate seminars in the Department of Philosophy.
David Richards David Richards is Edwin D. Webb Professor of Law at NYU.  He has written extensively on a variety of topics within criminal law and constitutional law, including gay rights, decriminalization and toleration, and the distorting impact of patriarchy on the interpretation of law and religion.  He regularly teaches courses on resisting injustice, on retribution in criminal justice: political violence and its relation to manhood, on free speech, and on other issues within constitutional law.
Samuel Scheffler Samuel Scheffler is University Professor and Professor of Philosophy and Law at NYU.  He works in moral and political philosophy and the theory of value.  He has also written on topics as diverse as nationalism and cosmopolitanism, tolerance, terrorism, immigration, death, tradition, and the moral significance of personal relationships.  He is a current convener of the Colloquium in Legal, Political and Social Philosophy and has recently taught courses on topics such as Equality and Egalitarianism and The Law and Ethics of Truthfulness, Deception, and Disclosure.
Jeremy Waldron Jeremy Waldron is University Professor and Professor of Law at NYU.  He has written extensively on jurisprudence and political theory, including numerous books and articles on theories of rights, constitutionalism, the rule of law, democracy, property, torture, security, homelessness, and the philosophy of international law. He regularly teaches courses on the rule of law, human dignity, democratic theory, and propery theory.

Emeritus Faculty

John Ferejohn John Ferejohn is Samuel Tilden Professor of Law Emeritus at NYU.  His scholarship focuses on the development of positive political theory, and especially on its application to the study of legal and political institutions and behaviour.  His most recent research concerns Congress and policy-making, constitutional adjudication, and democratic theory.
Thomas Nagel is Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at NYU.  He works in a wide range of areas of philosophy.  These include not only ethics and political and legal theory but also metaphysics, the theory of knowledge, the philosophy of mind, and the meaning of life. He has also worked on the direct application of moral theory to contemporary issues such as taxation, affirmative action, freedom of expression, and the laws of war.  For many years, he co-ran the Law School’s Colloquium in Legal, Political and Social Philosophy together with Professor Ronald Dworkin, and he is still a regular participant.