OXFORD, Miss. – University of Texas at Austin law professor
Brian Leiter plans to examine the Realist theory of
adjudication in a Thursday (March 27) lecture set to take
place in the Lamar Law Center on campus.
Leiter, Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law
and professor of philosophy, is the author of two books and
the editor of six others. His lecture, “In Praise of
Realism (And Against ‘Nonsense’ Jurisprudence),” is part of
the UM School of Law’s ongoing Dunbar Lecture series. It is
set for 4 p.m. in the William N. Ethridge Jr. Moot
Courtroom.
“Who better to give this lecture than Professor Leiter?”
said UM law school Dean Samuel M. Davis. “He holds a joint
appointment both in law and philosophy at Texas, and he is
uniquely equipped to talk about the relationship between
the two disciplines. We look forward to his lecture on our
campus and his sharing with us his perspectives on the
Realist school of thought, including the ideas of the very
first Dunbar lecturer, Professor Ronald Dworkin.”
Dworkin has recently taken critical aim at an approach to
how courts should decide cases that he associates most
prominently with Judge Richard Posner. Dworkin dubs the
approach “a Chicago School of anti-theoretical,
non-nonsense jurisprudence,” Leiter said.
Leiter plans to argue that the dispute between Dworkin and
Posner “is not one illuminated by the contrast between
theory and practice.”
“It is rather a dispute about the kind of law that is
relevant and illuminating when it comes to law and
adjudication,” he said.
Leiter has taught at the University of Texas at Austin
since 1995 and has been a visiting professor at Yale Law
School, University College London and the University of
Chicago Law School.
The Dunbar Lecture series was established in 1987 by Jack
Dunbar and Wylene Dunbar to stimulate creative and
analytical thinking concerning the law’s role in society.
The lecture series is a cooperative effort between the
Department of Philosophy and the School of Law.
For assistance related to a disability, contact Connie Lamb
at 662-915-6900 or clamb@olemiss.edu. To learn more about
the UM law school, visit