Joseph Raz (born 1939) is an influential legal, moral and political philosopher. He is one of the most prominent living advocates of legal positivism. Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy and jurisprudence which studies basic questions about law and legal systems, such as what is the law?, what are the criteria for legal validity?, what is the relationship between law and morality?, and many other similar questions. ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Legal positivism is a school of thought in jurisprudence and the philosophy of law. ...

He has spent most of his career as Professor of Philosophy of Law and a Fellow of Balliol College at Oxford University, and simultaneously as Professor of Law at Columbia University Law School. Several of Raz's students have become important legal and moral philosophers. They include Julie Dickson (Oxford), Dori Kimel (Oxford), Timothy Endicott (Oxford), John Gardner, the current Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford (and successor to Dworkin), Leslie Green (York & Texas, and soon to take up the Professorship in the Philosophy of Law at Oxford), Timothy Macklem (King's College London), Robert P. George (Princeton) and Scott Shapiro (Michigan). The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy and jurisprudence which studies basic questions about law and legal systems, such as what is the law?, what are the criteria for legal validity?, what is the relationship between law and morality?, and many other similar questions. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Full name Balliol College Motto - Named after John de Balliol Previous names - Established 1263 Sister College St Johns College, Cambridge Master Andrew Graham (academic) Location Broad Street Undergraduates 403 Graduates 228 Homepage Boatclub Balliol College, founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford... Jerome L. Greene Hall, home of the Arthur W. Diamond Library. ... John Gardner, (born 1965) is Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Oxford and Fellow of University College, Oxford, and Visiting Professor, Yale Law School, Yale University. ... Ronald Dworkin (born 1931) is an American legal philosopher, and currently professor of Jurisprudence at University College London and the New York University School of Law. ... Leslie Green is a leading analytical philosopher of law and jurisprudence. ... Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he leads courses on constitutional interpretation and civil liberties. ...

Biography

Born in Israel, he studied law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and graduated with a Magister Juris in 1963. He met Hart at a conference in Israel. Hart says that at this meeting, Raz pointed out a flaw in his reasoning that had previously eluded him. Hart encouraged him to go to Oxford for further study.

Raz studied at Balliol College, Oxford and was awarded the DPhil in 1967 by the shortest route possible, skipping the usual sequence of BCL, MPhil and then the DPhil.

He was appointed Fellow at Balliol. Raz's presence has now made it a magnet for legal scholars.

Work

A pupil of H.L.A. Hart, Raz has been important in continuing Hart's arguments of legal positivism since Hart's death. This included editing a second edition of Hart's 'The Concept of Law', with an additional section including Hart's responses to other philosophers' criticisms of his work. His most recent work deals less with legal theory and more with political philosophy and practical reasoning. In political philosophy Raz is a proponent of a Perfectionist Liberalism. In moral theory Raz defends value pluralism and the idea that various values are incommensurable. H. L. A. Hart (Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart) (1907-1992) is considered one of the most important legal philosophers of the twentieth century. ... Perfectionism can refer to: perfectionism (philosophy) perfectionism (psychology) perfectionist movement a utopian societal movement in the late 19th, early 20th century United States from which hails Oneida Society and which is historically related to the Modern Spiritualist movement. ... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... Value-pluralism is the idea that two or more moral values may be equally ultimate (true), yet in conflict. ... In ethics, two values, norms, etc. ...

He is most quoted for his eight principles for the rule of law: -All laws should be prospective, open and clear. -Laws should be relatively stable. -The making of particular laws should be guided by open, stable and clear rules. -The independance of the judiciary must be guaranteed. -The principles of natural justice must be observed. -The courts should have review powers. -The courts should be easily accessible. -The discretion of crime prevention agencies should not be allowed to pervert the law.

Publications

By Raz:

• The Authority of Law (1979)
• The Concept of a Legal System (2nd ed., 1980)
• The Morality of Freedom (1986)
• Practical Reason and Norms (2nd ed., 1990)
• Ethics in the Public Domain (revised paperback edition, 1995)
• Engaging Reason (1999)
• Value, Respect and Attachment (2001)
• The Practice of Value (2003)

The Morality of Freedom won the W.J.M. Mackenzie Book Prize from the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom and The Elaine and David Spitz Book Prize from the conference for the Study of Political Thought, NY.

On Raz's Work:

• Lukas H. Meyer et al. (eds.), Rights, Culture and the Law: Themes from the Legal and Political Philosophy of Joseph Raz, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003.
• R. Jay Wallace et al. (eds.), Reason and Value: Themes from the Moral Philosophy of Joseph Raz, Clarendon, Oxford, 2004.

External links

• Oxford page
• Columbia page
• Personal