Brian Bix

Brian Bix

  • Frederick W. Thomas Professor of Law and Philosophy
N212 Mondale Hall

Degrees

  • Washington University, St. Louis, B.A.
  • Harvard University, J.D.
  • Balliol College, Oxford University, D.Phil.

Expertise

  • Contracts
  • Family Law
  • Jurisprudence
  • Legal Philosophy

Professor Brian Bix joined the faculty in 2001. He teaches in the areas of jurisprudence, family law, and contract law. He holds a joint appointment with the Department of Philosophy.

Professor Bix received his B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Washington University in St. Louis in 1983; his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1986; and his D.Phil. in Law from Balliol College, Oxford University, in 1991. Professor Bix taught at Quinnipiac University School of Law, as Associate Professor (1995-1997) and Professor (1998-2001). He was a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center during the spring semester of 2000 and at George Washington University Law School in the fall of 1999. Professor Bix was the Lecturer in Jurisprudence and Legal Reasoning at King's College, University of London, from 1991 to 1993; he taught at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, from 1989 to 1990. He was a law clerk for Justice Benjamin Kaplan at the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1993-95, while on leave from the King's College), and he also clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1987-1988), and Justice Alan Handler, New Jersey Supreme Court (1986-1987). He is a member of the American Law Institute.

Books

Advanced Introduction to Contract Law and Theory (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023)
Families by Agreement: Navigating Choice, Tradition, and Law (Cambridge University Press, 2023)
Jurisprudence: Theory and Context, (Sweet & Maxwell (UK), Carolina Academic Press (US), 1st ed., 1996; 2d ed., 1999; 3d ed., 2003; 4th ed., 2006; 5th ed., 2009; 6th ed., 2012; 7th ed., 2015; 8th ed., 2019; 9th ed., 2023; translated into Chinese (Law Press, 2007), Greek (Kritiki Publications, 2007), Spanish (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 2010), Italian (G. Giappichelli Editore, 2016), Portuguese (Tirant lo Blanch 2020), and Georgian (Varlam Cherkezishvili Institute, 2023)
Economic Approaches to Legal Reasoning and Interpretation (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) (editor)
¿Por qué leer a Nietzsche hoy? (Editorial Fontamara, 2018)
(with
Germán Sucar
and
Enrique Serrano
)
Jurisprudence Cases and Materials: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law and Its Applications (LexisNexis, 2d ed., 2006; 3d ed, 2015) (co-editor)
(with
Stephen Gottlieb
,
Timothy Lytton
and
Robin West
)
Obligacion y Significado: Derecho, Lenguaje y Normatividad (Fontamara, 2015) (collection of previously published essays, translated into Spanish, with a new Introduction)
Family Law: Cases, Text, Problems (LexisNexis, abridged 5th ed., 2014)
(with
Ira Mark Ellman
,
Paul M. Kurtz
,
Lois A. Weithorn
,
Karen Czapanskiy
and
Maxine Eichner
)
Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Family Law (Oxford University Press, 2013)
Contract Law: Rules, Theory, and Context (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Law) (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Rights: Concepts and Contexts (Ashgate Publishing, 2012) (co-editor)
(with
Horacio Spector
)
Family Law: Cases, Text, Problems (LexisNexis, 5th ed., 2010)
(with
Ira M. Ellman
,
Paul Kurtz
,
Lois A. Weithorn
,
Karen Czapanskiy
and
Maxine Eichner
)
Family Law: Cases, Text, Problems (LexisNexis, 4th ed., 2004) (Supp. 2008)
(with
Ira M. Ellman
,
Paul Kurtz
,
Elizabeth Scott
and
Lois A. Weithorn
)
Lenguaje, Teoria y Derecho (Universidad Externado de Colombia, 2008) (collection of previously published essays, translated into Spanish, with a new introduction)
Reprint of Jerome Frank, Law and the Modern Mind (Transaction Publishers, 2008) (editor)
Philosophy of Law: Critical Concepts in Philosophy (vols. I-IV) (Routledge, 2006) (editor)
Teoria del Derecho: Ambicion y Limites (Marcial Pons, 2006) (collection of previously published essays, translated into Spanish, with a new introduction)
Law and Morality (Ashgate, 2005) (co-editor)
(with
Kenneth Einar Himma
)
A Dictionary of Legal Theory (Oxford University Press, 2004); translated into Chinese (Law Press, 2007) and Spanish (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 2010)
Contract Law (vols. I and II) (International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory, 2nd Series, Ashgate, 2000) (editor)
Analyzing Law: New Essays in Legal Theory (Oxford University Press, 1998) (editor)
Law, Language, and Legal Determinacy (Oxford University Press, 1993); translated into Chinese (Law Press, 2007); Chapter 2 reprinted in Wittgenstein and Law (Dennis Patterson, ed., Ashgate, 2004)

Journal Articles

Alf Ross on the Nature of Law, 36 Ratio Juris 61-71 (2023)
Religious Family Agreements: Mahr, Ketubah, and Religious Upbringing Provisions in Recent U.S. Cases, 10 Journal of Law, Religion and State 252-267 (2023)
Covid Concerns: Some Realism About Equitable Relief, 85 Law and Contemporary Problems 37 (2022)
Joseph Raz on Law's Moral Claims 8 RphZ Rechtsphilosophie 385-393 (2022)
The Many Faces of Modern Legal Realism, 2022/2 Revista Ordines 18-35 (2022)
Coercion, Function, and the “Why” of Law: Comments on Kenneth Einar Himma’s Coercion and the Nature of Law, 45 Revus. Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law/Revija za ustavno teorijo in filozofijo prava (2021)
Family Law: Values Beyond Choice and Autonomy?, 40 Law and Philosophy 163 (2021)
The Moral Obligation to Perform Contracts: Some Preliminary Thoughts, 15 Problema anuario de filosofía y teoría del derecho 7-28 (2021)
A Critique of Alexy’s Claim to Correctness, 33 Ratio Juris 124 (2020)
Reflections on Truth in Law, 8 Cosmos + Taxis 35 (2020)
Law and Economics and the Role of Explanation: A Comment of Guido Calabresi, The Future of Law and Economics, 48 European Journal of Law and Economics 113 (2019) (reviewing Guido Calabresi,The Future of Law and Economics: Essays in Reform and Recollection (Yale University Press, 2016))
On the Nature of Legal Normativity: Response to Commentators, 37 Revus. Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law/Revija za ustavno teorijo in filozofijo prava 83 (2019)
A New Historical Jurisprudence?, 95 Washington University Law Review 1035 (2018)
Commodified Promises and Contract Theory, 71 Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc 1 (2018) (response to Erik Encarnacion, Contract as Commodified Promise, 71 Vanderbilt Law Review 61 (2018))
Contract Law and the Common Good, 9 William & Mary Business Law Review 373 (2018)
Kelsen, Hart, and Legal Normativity, 34 Revus. Journal for Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law/Revija za ustavno teorijo in filozofijo prava 25 (2018)
Indeterminacy and Good Faith: Politics and Legitimacy, 9 Droit et Philosophie 9 (2017)
The Promise and Problems of Universal, General Theories of Contract Law, 30 Ratio Juris 391 (2017)
Doctrine, Data, and High Theory, 6 U.C. Irvine Law Review 137-147 (2016)
Marriage Agreements and Religion, 2016 University of Illinois Law Review 1665-1678 (2016)
Statutory Reading of Opaque Constructions - Errors and Purposes, 127 Harvard Law Review Forum 200 (Apr. 14, 2014) (response to Jill C. Anderson, Misreading Like a Lawyer: Cognitive Bias in Statutory Interpretation, 127 Harvard Law Review 1521 (2014))
Agreements in American Family Law, 4 International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family 115 (2013)
Boilerplate, Freedom of Contract, and "Democratic Degradation," 49 Tulsa Law Review 501 (2013) (reviewing Margaret Jane Radin, Boilerplate: The Fine Print, Vanishing Rights, and the Rule of Law (Princeton University Press, 2012))
Contract Texts, Contract Teaching, Contract Law: Comment on Lawrence Cunningham, Contracts in the Real World, 88 Washington Law Review 1251 (2013)
Law and Reasons: Comments on Rodriguez-Blanco, 7 Problema 27 (2013)
A New Uniform Law for Premarital and Marital Agreements, 46 Family Law Quarterly 313 (2012)
(with
Barbara A. Atwood
)
The Nature of Law and Reasons for Action, 5 Problema 399 (2012)
Theories of Contract Law and Enforcing Promissory Morality: Comments on Charles Fried, 45 Suffolk University Law Review 719 (2012)
John Austin and Constructing Theories of Law, 24 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 431 (2011)
Mahr Agreements: Contracting in the Shadow of Family Law (and Religious Law)--A Comment on Oman's Article, 1 Wake Forest Law Review Common Law 61 (2011)
Radbruch's Formula and Conceptual Analysis, 56 American Journal of Jurisprudence 45 (2011)
Reflections on E-Marriage Papers, 2011 Michigan State Law Review 35 (2011)
Rights, Responsibilities, and Roles: A Comment on Waldron, 43 Arizona State Law Journal 1137 (2011)
Law and Language: How Words Mislead Us, 1 Jurisprudence 25 (2010)
Private Ordering and Family Law, 23 Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers 249 (2010), excerpted in Judith Areen, Marc Spindelman & Philomila Tsoukala, Family Law: Cases and Materials (Foundation Press, 6th ed., 2012)
Theorizing about Law, Analisi e Diritto 271 (2010)
Global Error and Legal Truth, 29 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 535 (2009)
Ross and Olivecrona on Rights, 34 Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy 103 (2009), reprinted in Rights: Concepts and Contexts (Brian Bix & Horacio Spector, eds., Ashgate Publishing, 2012); translated into Portuguese, 2:13 Panoptica 199 (July 2008)
Contract Rights and Remedies, and the Divergence Between Law and Morality, 21 Ratio Juris 194 (2008)
Domestic Agreements, 35 Hofstra Law Review 1753 (2007)
Form and Formalism: The View from Legal Theory, 20 Ratio Juris 45 (2007)
Joseph Raz and Conceptual Analysis, 06(2) American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 1 (Spr. 2007)
On Questions and Answers in Law's Quandry, 44 San Diego Law Review 85 (2007)
Perfectionist Policies in Family Law, 2007 University of Illinois Law Review 1055 (2007) (reviewing Linda McClain, The Place of Families: Fostering Capacity, Equality, and Responsibility (Harvard University Press, 2006))
Some Reflections on Contract Law Theory, 1 Problema 143 (2007)
Robert Alexy, Radbruch's Formula, and the Nature of Legal Theory, 37 Rechtstheorie 139 (2006), translated into Portuguese, 2:12 Panoptica 70 (Mar. 2008)
Diverging Perspectives on Electronic Contracting in the U.S. and EU, 54 Cleveland State Law Review 175 (2006)
(with
Jane K. Winn
)
Legal Positivism and "Explaining" Normativity and Autonomy, 5:2 American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 5 (Spring 2006)
Philosophy, Morality, and Parental Priority, 40 Family Law Quarterly 7 (2006)
Raz, Authority, and Conceptual Analysis, 50 American Journal of Jurisprudence 311 (2006)
Everything I Know About Marriage I Learned from Law Professors, 42 San Diego Law Review 823 (2005)
Problem: Conceptual Analysis (translated into Spanish), 5 Discusiones 197 (2005)
State Interests in Marriage, Interstate Recognition, and Choice of Law, 38 Creighton Law Review 337 (2005)
Background Rules, Incompleteness, and Intervention, 2004 Wisconsin Law Review 379 (2004) (comment on Kostritsky)
The Public and Private Ordering of Marriage, 2004 University of Chicago Legal Forum 295 (2004)
Can Theories of Meaning and Reference Solve the Problem of Legal Determinacy?, 16 Ratio Juris 281 (2003)
Physician-Assisted Suicide and Federalism, 17 Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 53 (2003)
Raz on Necessity, 22 Law and Philosophy 537 (2003), reprinted in Law and Morality (Kenneth Einar Himma & Brian Bix, eds., Ashgate, 2005)
State Interest and Marriage--The Theoretical Perspective, 32 Hofstra Law Review 93 (2003), reprinted in 18 Minnesota Family Law Journal 1 (Nov./Dec. 2004)
Choice of Law and Marriage: A Proposal, 36 Family Law Quarterly 255 (2002)
Parental Rights for All Parents: A Comment on Gregory, 36 Family Law Quarterly 189 (2002)
An Outsider's Guide to Natural Law Theory, 1 American Philosophical Association Newsletter 126 (Fall 2001)
How to Plot Love on an Indifference Curve, 99 Michigan Law Review 1439 (2001) (reviewing June Carbone, From Partners to Parents: The Second Revolution in Family Law (Columbia University Press, 2000)), reprinted in The Economics of Family Law (Margaret F. Brinig, ed., Edward Elgar, 2007)
Premarital Agreements in the ALI Principles of Family Dissolution, 8 Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy 231 (2001)
Conceptual Jurisprudence and Socio-Legal Studies, 32 Rutgers Law Journal 227 (2000)
Epstein, Craswell, Economics, Unconscionability, and Morality, 19 Quinnipiac Law Review 715 (2000)
On the Dividing Line Between Natural Law Theory and Legal Positivism, 75 Notre Dame Law Review 1613 (2000), reprinted in Law and Morality (Kenneth Einar Himma & Brian Bix, eds., Ashgate, 2005), and in Kenneth Einar Himma, The Nature of Law: Philosophical Issues in Conceptual Jurisprudence and the Legal Theory (Foundation Press, 2011); translated into Russian, 2 Russian Yearbook of Legal Theory (2009)
State of the Union: The States' Interest in the Marital Status of Their Citizens, 55 University of Miami Law Review 1 (2000)
H.L.A. Hart and the Hermeneutic Turn in Legal Theory, 52 SMU Law Review 167 (1999)
Patrolling the Boundaries: Inclusive Legal Positivism and the Nature of Jurisprudential Debate, 12 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 17 (1999), reprinted in David M. Adams, Philosophical Problems in Law (Wadsworth, 4th ed., 2005)
Positively Positivism, 85 Virginia Law Review 889 (1999) (reviewing Anthony J. Sebok, Legal Positivism in American Jurisprudence (Cambridge University Press, 1998))
Bargaining in the Shadow of Love: The Enforcement of Premarital Agreements and How We Think About Marriage, 40 William & Mary Law Review 145 (1998)
Dealing with Incommensurability for Dessert and Desert: Comments on Chapman and Katz, 146 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1651 (1998)
Consent, Sado-Masochism and the English Common Law, 17 Quinnipiac Law Review 157 (1997)
Jules Coleman, Legal Positivism, and Legal Authority, 16 Quinnipiac Law Review 241 (1996)
Conceptual Questions and Jurisprudence, 1 Legal Theory 465 (1995)
Considering the State Law Consequences of an Allegedly Improper Bankruptcy Filing, 67 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 325 (1993)
Local Authorities and Libel Again, 56 Modern Law Review 738 (1993)
(with
Adam Tomkins
)
A.D. Woozley and the Concept of Right Answers in Law, 5 Ratio Juris 58 (1992)
Michael Moore's Realist Approach to Law, 140 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1293 (1992)
The Sounds of Silence: A Duty to Incriminate Oneself?, 1992 Public Law 363 (1992)
(with
Adam Tomkins
)
Unconventional Use of the Convention?, 55 Modern Law Review 721 (1992)
(with
Adam Tomkins
)
H.L.A. Hart and the "Open Texture" of Language, 10 Law and Philosophy 51 (1991)
The Application (and Mis-Application) of Wittgenstein's Rule-Following Considerations to Legal Theory, 3 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 107 (1990), reprinted in Wittgenstein and Legal Theory 209-223 (Dennis Patterson, ed., Westview Press, 1992); translated into Korean, 15(3) Yonsei Law Review 235 (2005) (Kyung-Hwi Kwon, trans.)
Dancing in the Dark: The Philosophical Moves of Ronald Dworkin, 23 Harvard Journal on Legislation 307 (1986) (reviewing Ronald Dworkin, A Matter of Principle (Harvard University Press, 1985))

Book Chapters

Competing Legal Positivisms, Methodology, and Distinctive Visions of Law, in Law, Morality and Judicial Reasoning: Essays on W.J. Waluchow’s Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory (Thomas Bustamante, Saulo Matos & André Coelho, eds., Springer, forthcoming 2024)
Surrogacy and Contract Law, in Research Handbook on Surrogacy and the Law 207-222 (Katarina Trimmings, Sharon Shakargy & Claire Achmad, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024)
Authority, Reason, and Competence in Issues of Legal Truth, in Legal Power and Legal Competence: Meaning, Normativity, Officials and Theories 247–258 (Gonzalo Villa Rosas & Torben Spaak, eds., Springer, 2023)
Reasoning Within and About (Legal) Practices, in New Essays on the Fish-Dworkin Debate 17-26 (Thomas Bustamante & Margaret Martin, eds., Hart Publishing, 2023)
Methodology for Theorizing About the Nature of Law and About Doctrinal Areas of Law, in Meta-theory of Law 75-91 (Mathieu Carpentier, ed., ISTE Publishing, 2022)
Objectivity, Conventions, and the Possibility of Universal Error, in Without Trimmings: The Legal, Moral, and Political Philosophy of Matthew Kramer 113-124 (Mark McBride & Visa AJ Kurki, eds. Oxford University Press, 2022)
Practical Reasoning and the Communicative Model of Law, in Interpretivism and the Limits of Law 12-22 (Tomasz Gizbert-Studnicki, Francesca Poggi & Izabela Skoczeń, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022)
Joseph Raz’s Approach to Legal Positivism, in The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism 349-370 (Torben Spaak & Patricia Mindus, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, in Research Handbook on Modern Legal Realism 478-488 (Shauhin Talesh, Elizabeth Mertz & Heinz Klug, Evjue-Bascom, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021)
The Effects of (Family) Law: Frameworks, Practical Reasoning, Social Norms, Controversy, and Slippage, in The Impact of the Law on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies 55-66 (John Witte &  Michael Welker, eds., Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2021)
The Normativity of Law, in The Cambridge Companion to Legal Positivism 585-605 (Torben Spaak & Patricia Mindus, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2021)
Protestant Interpretation, Conventions, and Legal Truth, in Philosophy of Law as an Integral Part of Philosophy: Essays on the Jurisprudence of Gerald J. Postema 147-156 (Thomas Bustamante & Thiago Lopes Decat, eds., Hart Publishing, 2020)
Some Heretical Thoughts on Legal Normativity, in Contemporary Perspectives on Legal Obligation 68-81 (Stefano Bertea, ed., Routledge, 2020)
Stewart Macaulay and the Law of Contract, in Stewart Macaulay: Selected Works 3-14 (David Campbell, ed., Springer, 2020)
Contract Theory, in Reimagining Contract Law Pedagogy: A New Agenda for Teaching 129-135 (Warren Swain & David Campbell, eds., Routledge, 2019)
Justice Scalia and Family Law, in Justice Scalia: Rhetoric and the Rule of Law 151-159 (Brian G. Slocum & Francis J. Mootz, eds., University of Chicago Press, 2019)
Waismann, Wittgenstein, Hart, and Beyond: The Developing Idea of "Open Texture" of Language and Law, in Friedrich Waismann: The Open Texture of Analytic Philosophy 245-260 (Dejan Makovec & Stewart Shapiro, eds., Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)
Marriage Agreements and Religious Family Life, in The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law 218-233 (Robin Fretwell Wilson, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2018)
Obligations from Artifacts, in Law as an Artifact 163-176 (Luka Burazin, Kenneth Einar Himma & Corrado Roversi, eds., Oxford University Press, 2018)
Private Ordering in Family Law, in Philosophical Foundations of Children’s and Family Law 257-272 (Elizabeth Brake & Lucinda Ferguson, eds., Oxford University Press, 2018)
The Nature of Legal Obligation, in Unpacking Normativity: Conceptual, Normative, and Descriptive Issues 41-54 (Kenneth Einar Himma, Miodrag A. Jovanović & Bojan Spaić, eds., Hart Publishing, 2018)
Consent and Contracts, in The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics of Consent 222-234 (Andreas Müller & Peter Schaber, eds., Routledge, 2018)
Kelsen and Normativity Revisited (translated into Spanish), in Kelsen para Erizos:  Ensayos en Honor a Stanley L. Paulson 273-295 (Carlos Bernal & Marcelo Porciuncula, eds., Universidad Externado de Colombia, 2017)
Moral Philosophy and Law and Economics, in I The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics 288-99 (Francesco Parisi, ed., Oxford University Press, 2017)
Theories of Contract Law, in Comparative Contract Law 7-18 (Pier Giuseppe Monateri, ed., Edward Elgar, 2017)
Metaphysical Realism and Legal Reasoning, in Legal, Moral, and Metaphysical Truths: The Philosophy of Michael S. Moore 311-321 (Kimberly Kessler Ferzan & Stephen J. Morse, eds., Oxford University Press, 2016)
Kelsen in the United States: Still Misunderstood, in Hans Kelsen in America - Selective Affinities and the Mysteries of Academic Influence 17-29 (D.A. Jeremy Telman, ed., Springer, 2016)
Vagueness and Political Choice in Law, in Vagueness and the Law: Philosophical and Legal Perspectives 247-60 (Geert Keil & Ralf Poscher, eds., Oxford University Press, 2016)
Engagement with Economics: The New Hybrids of Family Law/Law and Economics Thinking, in Law and Economics: Philosophical Issues and Fundamental Questions 245-266 (Aristides N. Hatzis & Nicholas Mercuro, eds., Routledge, 2015)
Philosophy of Language, Unilateral Contracts, and the Law, in Speaking of Language and Law: Conversations on the Work of Peter Tiersma 76-78 (Lawrence Solan, Janet Ainsworth & Roger W. Shuy, eds., Oxford University Press, 2015)
Rules and Normativity in Law, in Problems of Normativity, Rules and Rule-Following 125-146 (Michal Araszkiewicz, Pawel Banas, Tomasz Gizbert-Studnicki & Krzysztof Pleszka, eds., Springer, 2015)
Ideals, Practices, and Concepts in Legal Theory, in Neutrality and Theory of Law 33-48 (Jordi Ferrer Beltran, Jose J. Moreso & Diego M. Papayannis, eds., Springer, 2013)
Linguistic Meaning and Legal Truth, in Law and Language 34-44 (Michael Freeman & Fiona Smith, eds., Oxford University Press, 2013)
Radbruch's Formula, Conceptual Analysis, and the Rule of Law, in Law, Liberty, and the Rule of Law 65-75 (Imer B. Flores & Kenneth E. Himma, eds., Springer, 2013)
The Role of Contract: Stewart Macaulay's Lessons from Practice, in Revisiting the Contracts Scholarship of Stewart Macaulay: On the Empirical and the Lyrical 241-255 (Jean Braucher, John Kidwell & William Whitford, eds., Hart Publishing, 2013)
Defeasibility and Open Texture, in The Logic of Legal Requirements: Essays on Defeasibility 193-201 (Jordi Ferrer Beltran & Giovanni Battista Ratti, eds., Oxford University Press, 2012)
Ideales, Practicas y Conceptos en la Teoria del Derecho [Ideals, Practices, and Concepts in Legal Theory] (translated into Spanish by Pablo E. Navarro), in Neutralidad y teoria del derecho [Neutrality and Theory of Law] 343-360 (Jordi Ferrer Beltran, Jose Juan Moreso & Diego M. Papayannis, eds., Marcial Pons, 2012)
Introduction, in Rights: Concepts and Contexts xi-xx (Brian Bix & Horacio Spector, eds., Ashgate Publishing, 2012)
(with
Horacio Spector
)
John Austin and Constructing Theories of Law, in The Legacy of John Austin's Jurisprudence 1-13 (M. D. A. Freeman & Patricia M. Mindus, eds., Springer, 2012), earlier version published at 24 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 431 (2011)
Legal Interpretation and the Philosophy of Language, in Oxford Handbook of Language and Law 145-155 (Peter M. Tiersma & Lawrence M. Solan, eds., Oxford University Press, 2012)
Pluralism and Decentralization in Marriage Regulation, in Marriage and Divorce in a Multicultural Context: Multi-Tiered Marriage and the Boundaries of Civil Law and Religion 60-77 (Joel A. Nichols, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Constitutions, Originalism, and Meaning, in The Challenge of Originalism: Theories of Constitutional Interpretation 285-299 (Grant Huscroft & Bradley W. Miller, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Contracts, in The Ethics of Consent: Theory and Practice 251-279 (Franklin G. Miller & Alan Wertheimer, eds., Oxford University Press, 2010)
Legal Reasoning, the Rule of Law and Legal Theory, in The Hart-Fuller Debate in the Twenty-First Century 281-287 (Peter Cane, ed., Hart, 2010)
Natural Law Theory, in A Companion to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory 211-227 (Dennis Patterson, ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2d ed., 2010)
Will versus Reason: Truth in Natural Law, Positive Law, and Legal Theory, in Truth: Studies of a Robust Presence 208-231 (Kurt Pritzl, ed., Catholic University of America Press, 2010)
Introduction, in Jerome Frank, Law & the Modern Mind (Transaction Publishers, 2009), reprinted in Classic Writings in Law and Society (A. Javier Trevino, ed., 2d ed. revised and expanded, Transaction Publishers, 2011)
Law and Economics and Explanation in Contract Law, in Theoretical Foundations of Law and Economics 203-213 (Mark D. White, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2009)
On Philosophy in American Law: Analytical Legal Philosophy, in On Philosophy in American Law 99-105 (Francis J. Mootz III, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2009), translated into Chinese, Archives for Legal Philosophy and Sociology of Law, vol. 14 (Yong Liu Zheng ed., Peking University Press, 2009)
The American and Scandinavian Legal Realists on the Nature of Norms, in Uppsala-Minnesota Colloquium: Law, Culture and Values 85-100 (Mattias Dahlberg, ed., Iustus, 2009)
The Role of Legal Theory in Law and Justice (in English and translated into Turkish), in Ankara Barosu Uluslarasrasi Hukuk Kurultayi, vol. 1, 82-99 (Ankara Barosu Baskanligi, 2009)
Legal Philosophy in America, in The Oxford Handbook of American Philosophy 551-577 (Cheryl Misak, ed., Oxford University Press, 2008)
The Problem of Persuasion: A Comment on Linda McClain's The Place of Families, in Family Law: Balancing Interests and Pursuing Priorities 20-27 (Lynn D. Wardle & Camille S. Williams, eds., William S. Hein & Co., 2007)
Universal Theory in Family Law, in Family Law: Balancing Interests and Pursuing Priorities 28-34 (Lynn D. Wardle & Camille S. Williams, eds., William S. Hein & Co., 2007)
Introduction, in 1 Philosophy of Law: Critical Concepts in Philosophy 1-18 (Brian Bix, ed., Routledge, 2006)
Reductionism and Explanation in Legal Theory, in Properties of Law: Essays in Honour of Jim Harris 43-51 (Timothy Endicott, Joshua Getzler & Ed Peel, eds., Oxford University Press, 2006)
The ALI Principles and Agreements: Seeking a Balance Between Status and Contract, in Reconceiving the Family: Critique on the American Law Institute's Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution 372-391 (Robin Fretwell Wilson, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Cautions and Caveats for the Application of Wittgenstein to Legal Theory, in Law and Social Justice: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy 217-229 (Joseph Keim Campbell, Michael O'Rourke & David Shier, eds., MIT Press, 2005)
Introduction, in Law and Morality xi-xvii (Brian Bix & Kenneth Einar Himma, eds., Ashgate, 2005)
Some Reflections on Methodology in Jurisprudence, in Problemas contemporáneos de la filosofía del derecho 67-96 (Enrique Caceres, Imer B. Flores, Javier Saldañq & Enrique Villanueva, eds., UNAM, 2005); translated into Italian, 8 Ars Interpretandi 397 (2003); translated into Spanish, 26 Doxa 609 (2003)
Natural Law Theory: The Modern Tradition, in The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law 62-103 (Jules L. Coleman & Scott Shapiro, eds., Kenneth Einar Himma, assoc. ed., Oxford University Press, 2002), reprinted in Philosophy of Law (Joel Feinberg & Jules Coleman, eds., Wadsworth, 6th ed., 2000 & 7th ed., 2004); translated into Turkish, 6 Dokuz Eylul University Law Faculty Journal 291-343 (2004)
Reflections on the Nature of Marriage, in Revitalizing the Institution of Marriage for the 21st Century 111-119 (Alan J. Hawkins, Lynn D. Wardle & David Orgon Coolidge, eds., Greenwood Press, 2002)
Economic Analysis of Law, in 1 The Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences 418-419 (Jonathan Michie, ed., Routledge, 2001)
Natural Law Theory, in 2 The Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences 1100-1101 (Jonathan Michie, ed., Routledge, 2001)
Introduction, in I & II Contract Law (International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory, 2nd series) (Brian Bix, ed., Ashgate, 2000)
On Description and Legal Reasoning, in Rules and Reasoning 7-28 (Linda Meyer, ed., Hart Publishing, 1999)
Natural Law Theory, in A Companion to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory 223-240 (Dennis Patterson, ed., Blackwell Press, 1996), excerpted in The Philosophy of Law (Joel Feinberg & Jules Coleman, eds., Wadsworth Publishing, 7th ed., 2004)
Questions in Legal Interpretation, in Law and Interpretation 137-54 (Andrei Marmor, ed., Oxford University Press, 1995), reprinted in 18 Tel Aviv University Law Review 463 (1994) (in Hebrew); translated into Chinese (Law Press, 2006)

Book Reviews

Book Review, 133 Ethics 307 (2023) (reviewing David Dyzenhaus, The Long Arc of Legality: Hobbes, Kelsen, Hart (Cambridge University Press, 2022))
Book Review, 78 Zeitschrift fur Offentliches Recht (ZoR): Journal of Public Law 771 (2023) (reviewing Alexander Somek, Knowing What the Law Is: Legal Theory in a New Key (Hart Publishing, 2021))
Book Review, 71 Journal of Legal Education 377 (2022) (reviewing Larry Alexander & Emily Sherwin, Advanced Introduction to Legal Reasoning (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021))
Legal Interpretation and Truth, 13 Jurisprudence 107 (2022) (Book Symposium, Pierluigi Chiassoni, Interpretation without Truth: A Realistic Enquiry (Springer, 2019))
Book Review, 79 Cambridge Law Journal 363 (2020) (reviewing Peter Benson, Justice in Transactions: A Theory of Contract Law (Harvard University Press, 2019))
Book Review, 78 Cambridge Law Journal 671 (2019) (reviewing The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Jurisprudence (George Duke & Robert P. George, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2017) and Christianity and Natural Law: An Introduction (Norman Doe, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2017))
Default Rules and Private Alterations, 34 Journal of Law and Religion 504 (2019) (reviewing John Witte Jr., Church, State, and Family: Reconciling Traditional Teachings and Modern Liberties (Cambridge University Press, 2019))
Human Rights Through the Legislature, 38 Law and Philosophy 221 (2019) (reviewing Grégoire Webber et al., Legislated Rights: Securing Human Rights through Legislation (Cambridge University Press, 2018))
A New Blackstone, Jotwell (Jan. 2018) (reviewing William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Ruth Paley & Wilfrid Prest, eds., Oxford University Press, 2016))
Book Review, 77 Cambridge Law Journal 643 (2018) (reviewing Martin Hogg, Obligations: Law and Language (Cambridge University Press, 2017))
Book Review, 65 Journal of Legal Education 983 (2016) (reviewing Katherine Franke, Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality: How African Americans and Gays Mistakenly Thought the Right to Marry Would Set Them Free (New York University Press 2015))
Book Review, 124 Mind 1309 (2015) (reviewing Reason, Morality, and Law: The Philosophy of John Finnis (John Keown & Robert P. George, eds., Oxford University Press, 2013))
Book Review, 74 Cambridge Law Journal 619 (2015) (reviewing Philosophical Foundations of Contract Law (Gregory Klass, George Letsas & Prince Saprai, eds., Oxford University Press, 2014))
Book Review, 32 Law and Philosophy 327 (2013) (reviewing Christopher J. Peters, A Matter of Dispute: Morality, Democracy, and Law (Oxford University Press, 2011))
Book Review, 72 Cambridge Law Journal 443 (2013) (reviewing John Gardner, Law as a Leap of Faith: Essays on Law in General (Oxford University Press, 2012))
Law, Plans, and Reasons for Action, 122 Ethics 444 (2012) (reviewing Scott Shapiro, Legality (Harvard University Press, 2011))
Book Review, 12 Journal of International Economic Law 1067 (2009) (reviewing Fiona Smith, Agriculture and the WTO: Towards A New Theory of International Agricultural Trade Regulation (Edward Elgar, 2009))
Book Review, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (Mar. 2008) (reviewing Howard Schweber, The Language of Liberal Constitutionalism (Cambridge University Press, 2007))
Book Review, 48 Philosophical Books 285 (2007) (reviewing Larry Alexander, Is There a Right of Freedom of Expression? (Cambridge University Press, 2005))
Book Review, 117 Ethics 124 (2006) (reviewing Peter Cane, Responsibility in Law and Morality (Hart, 2002))
Book Review, 48 American Journal of Legal History 457 (2006) (reviewing George W. Liebmann, The Common Law Tradition: A Collective Portrait of Five Legal Scholars (Transaction Publishers, 2005))
Book Review, 1 International Journal of Law in Context 115 (2005) (reviewing Roger Cotterrell, The Politics of Jurisprudence: A Critical Introduction to Legal Philosophy (Lexis Nexis UK, 2d ed., 2003))
Book Review, 46 Philosophical Books 93 (2005) (reviewing Philosophy and the Law of Torts (Gerald J. Postema, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2001))
Book Review, 28 Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy 231 (2003) (reviewing Julie Dickson, Evaluation and Legal Theory (Hart, 2001))
Book Review, 65 Modern Law Review 305 (2002) (reviewing Cross Currents: Family Law and Policy in the United States and England (Sanford N. Katz, John Eekelaar & Mavis Maclean, eds., Oxford University Press, 2000))
Practical Judging, 19 Constitutional Commentary 453 (2002) (reviewing Richard H. Fallon, Jr., Implementing the Constitution (Harvard University Press, 2001))
Book Review, 41 Philosophical Books 267 (2000) (reviewing Mark Addis, Wittgenstein: Making Sense of Other Minds (Ashgate, 1999))
Book Review, 63 Modern Law Review 945 (2000) (reviewing William Lucy, Understanding and Explaining Adjudication (Oxford University Press, 1999))
Book Review, 19 Philosophy in Review 318 (1999) (reviewing Rational Commitment and Social Justice: Essays for Gregory Kavka (Jules L. Coleman & Christopher W. Morris, eds., Cambridge University Press, 1998))
Book Review, 40 Philosophical Books 277 (1999) (reviewing Anthony Sebok, Legal Positivism in American Jurisprudence (Cambridge University Press, 1998))
Book Review, 18 Philosophy in Review 143 (1998) (reviewing James E. Penner, The Idea of Property in Law (Oxford University Press, 1997))
Book Review, 107 Ethics 394 (1997) (reviewing Richard Dien Winfield, Law in Civil Society (University Press of Kansas, 1995))
Book Review, 37 Philosophical Books 131 (1996) (reviewing Ernest Weinrib, The Idea of Private Law (Harvard University Press, 1995))
The Whirl of Paradox, 9 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 223 (1996) (reviewing Matthew Kramer, Critical Legal Theory and the Challenge of Feminism: A Philosophical Reconception (Rowman & Littlefield, 1995))
Book Review, 102 Mind 193 (1993) (reviewing Eric Rakowski, Equal Justice (Oxford University Press, 1991))
Book Review, 102 Mind 512 (1993) (reviewing Jerrold Katz, The Metaphysics of Meaning (MIT Press, 1990))
Book Review, 43 Philosophical Quarterly 569 (1993) (reviewing Stephen Guest, Ronald Dworkin (Edinburgh University Press, 1992))
Book Review, 18 Seton Hall Law Review 523 (1988) (reviewing Norman L. Cantor, Legal Frontiers of Death and Dying (Indiana University Press, 1987))
Book Review, 9 Harvard Women's Law Journal 215 (1986) (reviewing Women Against Censorship (Varda Burstyn, ed., Douglas & McIntyre, 1985))
Recent Publication, 22 Harvard Journal on Legislation 310 (1985) (reviewing Leonard Baker, Brandeis and Frankfurter: a Dual Biography (Harper & Row, 1984))
Recent Publication, 22 Harvard Journal on Legislation 620 (1985) (reviewing Michael J. Detmold, The Unity of Law and Morality: A Refutation of Legal Positivism (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984))

Entries in Reference Works

Austin, John, in Handbook of the History of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy: Volume 2: From Kant to Nietzsche (Gianfrancesco Zanetti, Mortimer Sellers & Stephan Kirste, eds., Springer, 2023)
John Austin, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (rev., 2022; earlier versions, 2001,2005, 2010, 2014, 2018), translated into Chinese, 1 Beihang Law Review 15 (2010); earlier version translated into Korean, 4 Sunmoon University Law Review (2007)
Types of Legal Theory, in Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (Mortimer Sellers & Stephan Kirste, eds., Springer, 2017)
John Austin, in International Encyclopedia of Ethics (Hugh LaFollette, ed., Blackwell, 2013)
Best Interests of the Child, in The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion 96-98 (Richard A. Shweder, editor in chief, University of Chicago Press, 2009)
Justice, Theories of, in The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (Stanley N. Katz, ed., Oxford University Press, 2009)
Civil Disobedience, in The New Oxford Companion to Law 134-135 (Peter Cane & Joanne Conaghan, eds., Oxford University Press, 2007)
Historical Jurisprudence, in The New Oxford Companion to Law 533-534 (Peter Cane & Joanne Conaghan, eds., Oxford University Press, 2007)
Legal Realism, in The New Oxford Companion to Law 720-721 (Peter Cane & Joanne Conaghan, eds., Oxford University Press, 2007)
Lon Fuller, in The New Oxford Companion to Law 486-487 (Peter Cane & Joanne Conaghan, eds., Oxford University Press, 2007)
Legal Positivism, in Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory 29-49 (Martin Golding & William A. Edmundson, eds., Blackwell, 2005)
Legal Theory-Types and Purposes, IVR Encyclopaedia of Jurisprudence, Legal Theory, and Philosophy of Law (Aleksander Peczenik, gen. ed., 2004); in Spanish (Isonomia, 2005); edited version in Russian, in Jurisprudence in Search of Identity: A Collection of Articles and Translations (Sergei Kasatkin, ed., Samara Academy of Humanities, 2010)
Law as an Autonomous Discipline, in The Oxford Handbook of Legal Studies 975-987 (Peter Cane & Mark Tushnet, eds., Oxford University Press, 2003)
Ronald Coase, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online (2001)
Joseph Raz, in The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia 719-720 (Christopher Gray, ed., Garland Publishing, 1999)
Richard Posner, in The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia 665-666 (Christopher Gray, ed., Garland Publishing, 1999)
Ronald Dworkin, in The Philosophy of Law: An Encyclopedia 233-235 (Christopher Gray, ed., Garland Publishing, 1999)

Other Publications

A Challenge to Deontic Logic, Jotwell (Nov. 2023)
Divergences between Surrogacy Law and Practice, Jotwell (Jan. 2023)
The New Formalism, Jotwell (Oct. 2022)
 Against Functional Approaches, Jotwell (Jan. 2022)
Martha Minow, 55 Family Law Quarterly 372-374 (2021-2022)
Against Jurisprudence's New Metaphysical Focus, Jotwell (Aug. 2021)
A Status Breakdown, Jotwell (Nov. 2020)
Dan Priel's Naturalism, Jotwell (Sept. 2020)
Foreword to Symposium, 66 Loyola Law Review 1 (2020) (Consentability Symposium)
Private Law and Public Purposes, Jotwell (Dec. 2019)
Family Choices, Jotwell (Nov. 2019)
Layers of Intentions, Jotwell (Jan. 2019)
Need, Dependency, and Choice, Jotwell (Nov. 2018)
The Transformation in Kelsen's Last Works, Jotwell (Mar. 2018)
Arbitration and Procedural Pluralism in Family Law, Jotwell (Nov. 2017)
Philosophy of Language and Legal Interpretation, Jotwell (May 2017)
Interview on “State of the Art and Future of Legal Philosophy” (translated into Spanish), 11 Problema 497-501 (2017)
Supporting Premarital Agreements, Jotwell, Family Law (Dec. 2016)
Alexy’s Anti-Positivism, Jotwell, Jurisprudence (May 2016)
Marriages, Contracts, and Deals, Jotwell, Family Law (Dec. 2015)
A Parent-Partner Experiment?, Concurring Opinions (Oct. 2015) (Online Sympoisum on Merle Weiner’s A Parent-Partner Status for American Family Law)
Bricolage Jurisprudence, Jotwell, Jurisprudence (Apr. 2015)
Rhetoric and Clarity, Jotwell, Family Law (Dec. 2014)
A Truly Different Understanding of Law and Morality, Jotwell, Jurisprudence (May 2014) (reviewing Mark Greenberg, The Moral Impact Theory of Law, 123 Yale Law Journal 1288 (2014))
When Law Becomes Morality: Comments on Mark Greenberg's Moral Impact Theory of Law, (2014), Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-27
Review, Notre Dame Philosophical Review (Dec. 3, 2013) (reviewing Philosophical Foundations of the Nature of Law (Wil Waluchow & Stefan Sciaraffa, eds., Oxford University Press, 2013))
The Costs of Imprisoning Nonpaying Parents, Jotwell, Family Law (Dec. 2013) (reviewing Tonya L. Brito, Fathers Behind Bars: Rethinking Child Support Policy Toward Low-Income Noncustodial Fathers and Their Families, 15 Journal of Gender, Race & Justice 617 (2012))
The Nature of Law: Essential vs. Important, Jotwell, Jurisprudence (July 2013) (reviewing Frederick Schauer, On the Nature of the Nature of Law, 98 Archiv fur Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie (ARSP) 457 (2012))
When "Best Interests" Cannot Guide, Jotwell, Family Law (Nov. 2012) (reviewing I. Glenn Cohen, Regulating Reproduction: The Problem with Best Interests, 96 Minnesota Law Review 423 (2011))
"Normative Jurisprudence" and What Law Professors Should Do, Concurring Opinions Blog (Oct. 21, 2012) (symposium on Robin West, Normative Jurisprudence: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press 2011))
Interview, Specimen Magazine, Issue 3, 8-21 (2012)
Creating Norms, Jotwell, Jurisprudence (Apr. 2011) (reviewing Jody Kraus, Personal Sovereignty and Normative Power Skepticism, 109 Columbia Law Review Sidebar 126 (2009))
Interview (on Legal Theory), Legal Theory in China, vol. 2 (2011)
State of the Art in Legal Philosophy and Perspectives on Its Future, in Legal Theory in China, vol. 1 (2011)
Methodology in Jurisprudence, Jotwell (May 2010) (reviewing Joseph Raz, Can There Be a Theory of Law?, available in Joseph Raz, Between Theory and Interpretation 17-46 (Oxford University Press, 2009); and in The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory 324-342 (Martin P. Golding & William A. Edmundson, eds., Blackwell, 2004))
Theory in a World of Legal Rules, Academic News (Sweet & Maxwell, Spring 2009)
Response to John Witte, Jr., More Than a Mere Contract: Marriage as Contract and Covenant in Law and Theology, University of Chicago Religion and Culture Web Forum (May 2008)
Physician Assisted Suicide and the American Constitution, 58 Modern Law Review 404 (1995)
Assault, Sado-Masochism and Consent, 109 Law Quarterly Review 540 (1993)
Refusal of Medical Treatment, 4 King's College Law Journal 112 (1993)
Agreement to Negotiate, 3 King's College Law Journal 131 (1992)
Case Note: R. v. Brown and others (Court of Appeal), 6 Wig & Gavel 22 (1992)