Philosophy of Law

Welcome to the webpages of Philosophy of Law at Tilburg University.

Our research explores the structure and genesis of the first person plural perspective of a "we" in legislative action: collective self-legislation. We seek to systematically integrate empirical, conceptual, and normative dimensions of this broad field of inquiry. We are particularly interested in exploring how and why heteronomy plays a constitutive role in public autonomy, as captured in the expression "collective self-legislation," and how acknowledging this constitutive role of heteronomy is essential to understanding and assessing claims to rationality raised on behalf of lawmaking. Read more about our current research program Legislation & Identity II: Heteronomous Elements in Public Autonomy.

The Chair of Philosophy of Law is based in the Department of Philosophy. Its members teach both in the Department and the School of Law. The Chair's research activities take place in close collaboration with colleagues of the School of Law, in particular in the Centre for Transboundary Legal Development. We also collaborate with the Tilburg Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science (TiLPS) in the Department of Philosophy.