Ronald
Dworkin
By: Alicja, Caterina, and
Stephanie
Biography
• Ronald Dworkin was born on December 11th, 1931 in
Providence, Rhode Island.
• He studied at Harvard University and Oxford where he was
a Rhodes Scholar.
• He then attended Harvard University for Law School.
• After working at a prominent law firm in New York City, he
became a Professor of Law at Yale University.
Professional Positions
• Dworkin became a holder of Wesley N.
Hohfeld Chair of Jurisprudence.
• In 1969, Dworkin was appointed the Chair of
Jurisprudence at Oxford.
• After retiring from Oxford, Dworkin became
the Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at
University College London where he
consequently became the Bentham
Professor of Jurisprudence.
• Dworkin is currently Frank Henry Sommer
Professor of Philosophy at New York
University School of Law
Ronald Dworkin
“Moral principle is the
foundation of law.”- Ronald
Dworkin
Theory of Law
• Dworkin’s model visualizes a
community governed by a
shared vision of social justice,
instead of individual interests.
• “We will struggle in politics,
but we will march forward
towards a finer sense of
fairness, towards the
realization of the conditions
for the flourishing of individual
lives”.
• Under Dworkin’s model,
judges should “implicate these
grand questions if political
vision”.
“Integrity is the key to
understanding legal practice.
Law's empire is defined by
attitude, not territory or power
or process.”
- Ronald Dworkin
Ronald Dworkin’s Philosophy
• His views represent a reconstruction of traditional natural law
theory.
• Believes in the moral content of law.
• Dworkin feels law is (or should be) the union of widely held,
consistency political decisions or judgments.
• Law must be viewed as a political concept and more particularly, as
representing political integrity.
• This concept is infused with political morality since it requires
consistency in the moral choices it represents.
Ronald Dworkin
• Dworkin argues that moral principles that people believe are often
wrong. It can even to the extent that certain crimes can be deemed
acceptable if your principles and beliefs are skewed.
• This is what makes Dworkin's theory interpretive. He believes that
every situation where people’s legal rights are in question, the issue
is controversial.
• Dworkin believed legal reasoning is an interpretive exercise- to
make political and moral sense out of a difficult situation or case.
Textbook Questions and Answers
• Why does Dworkin favour social justice over individual in his political integrity
model?
• Dworkin viewed legal reasoning as an interpretive exercise. This makes
political moral sense out of a difficult situation or case. Therefore, law is seen
as a political concept representing political integrity
Quiz
1. Which school does Dworkin currently teach at
a) Yale University
b) Harvard University
c) New York University
d) Oxford University
Quiz
c) New York University
Quiz
2. Which was said by Ronald Dworkin?
a) “Moral principle is the foundation of law.”
b) “Law is the mind and reason of intelligent man”
c) “Life is nasty, brutish, and short”
d) “The mischief's inflicted by a bad government are less than the
mischief's of anarchy”
Quiz
a) “Moral principle is the foundation of law.”
Quiz
What does Dworkin’s political model visualize?
a) a community governed by a shared vision of political and
individual interests
b) a community governed by a shared vision of social justice, instead of
individual interests
c) a community governed by the importance of individual interests, instead of
social justice
d) a community governed by the people
Quiz
b) a community governed by a shared
vision of social justice, instead of
individual interests
Ronald Dworkin
“We play with fire and take
the consequences, because
the alternative is cowardice
in the face of the unknown."