PROGRAMS
Roundtables
Two-day conferences in which from 12 to 18 scholars discuss a particular topic of legal-philosophical interest. Classic readings on the topic are assigned in advance. The aim of the roundtables is to deepen everyone’s understanding of the topic and its implications, which deepened understanding might translate into future teaching and scholarship. In its three years of existence, the Institute has held roundtables on such topics as: the tradeoff between welfare and rights; freedom of expression; the nature of rights; hate crime legislation; and the moral status of animals, fetuses, and infants; and moral luck. A future roundtable is planned on the legal treatment of religion and religious arguments.
Conferences
Usually two-day meetings at which participants present original papers on a legal-philosophical topic. Those papers are typically published in one of the School of Law’s scholarly journals, the San Diego Law Review and the Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues. Unlike roundtables, which are intimate and have a limited audience, conferences are open to students, faculty, the bench and bar, and interested members of the public. C.L.E. credits are usually available to members of the bar who attend. To date, the Institute has sponsored two conferences, the first on legal transitions (how law should respond when changes in the laws produce windfalls and wipeouts), the second on the theory underlying compensatory damages. A future conference is planned on the theory of legal interpretation.
Public Lectures
Exactly what the name suggests, namely, lectures by some noted speaker on legal-philosophical topics that are open to the general public. Thus far, the Institute has held public lectures by prominent academics on military intervention in other nations for humanitarian reasons, on the role of moral values in higher education, and on ethics in the adversary system.
Public Debates
Debates between two or more prominent figures on a topic of legal-philosophical interest that are open to the general public. The Institute put on its first public debate in March, 2003 on the relation between morality and religion.