Law and Philosophy Commons^™

Confronting Founding Injustices: Reconstructive Constitutional Adjudication And Constitutional Legitimacy In Postcolonial States, Mutasim Abuzeid

International Studies (MA) Theses

Why do some postcolonial constitutions achieve higher constitutional legitimacy than others? Across the Global South, constitutions have proliferated while legitimacy remains uneven and contested. Existing scholarship explains variation in constitutional legitimacy in postcolonial states through three dominant paradigms. Institutionalist theories equate legitimacy with procedural design and endurance, presuming that stable institutions generate compliance and, over time, diffuse support. Transformative constitutionalism locates legitimacy in social justice, emphasizing judicial doctrines such as proportionality and reasonableness to advance equality and material inclusion. Transitional justice approaches, by contrast, locate moral repair largely outside constitutional law—through truth commissions, reparations, and memory projects—often leaving the constitutional …

The Case For The Exclusion Of Exclusion: Intellectual Property, Masculine Legal Reason, And The Ethics Of Care, Ragya Shoukry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that current legal ideals of objectivity and neutrality are historically gendered and inseparable from the development of capitalist property relations and imperial expansion. It traces origins that begin with early modern witch hunts and Francis Bacon’s empiricism, where a new “scientific rationality” emerges alongside intensified patriarchal violence. The thesis then examines John Locke’s labour-based justification of property and the figure of the rational individual, showing how this framework legitimizes enclosure, dispossession and colonial appropriation under the guise of improvement and development. Building on this foundation, the analysis turns to moral psychology and how its allegedly universal stage …

Is Health Deserved? Personal Autonomy, Framing, Ethical Intimidation, And The Politicization Of Healthcare In The United States V. Japan, Ava C. Azucenas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Is health deserved? Is your health owed to you? What does this mean, and whose responsibility is it? I argue that American culture’s use of  personal autonomy, “framing”, and ethical intimidation has stunted the improvement of both political and legal structures. This is evident in the politicization of the ‘for-profit’ healthcare system in the United States. American policymakers frequently weaponize moral foundations in order to coerce voters into supporting or opposing certain healthcare policies derived from the principle that some people are more "deserving" of health than others. This calculated “framing” of health concepts has deeply politicized such an ethical …

Aquinas In The Twenty-First Century: A Reconciliation With The Catholic Church’S Teaching On The Death Penalty, Diego G. T. Abele

Honors Theses

When the Catholic Church revised its paragraph in the Catechism that concerned the teaching on the death penalty, many believed that this seemed to contradict the Church’s traditional teaching on the death penalty, which has included the writings of thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas. However, after applying principles of his natural law theory, this apparent contradiction goes away, and the full Catholic teaching on the death penalty comes to light. Several key theses of Thomist natural law will be described, addressing the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical questions it seeks to answer. This will be the backbone of my paper as …

The Rise Of Realism And The Search For Justice In 19th Century Literature, Isabella R. Clark

Honors Theses

This thesis follows parallel legal and literary arcs towards “Realism.” While these two movements do not have the exact same timeline, they both characterized the 19th century. This thesis intertwines the literary shift towards writing that more closely resembles reality with the legal realist aim at a justice that more closely relates to its society. As we look at three novels from the 19th century, we will see how the change in literary form relates to a change in legal philosophy as the popular literary style and goal was later formalized by the law. In our study of each novel, …

Human Dignity In The Foundational Political Documents Of The United States, Kalista Roades

Honors Theses

Human dignity is integral to modern discussions of human rights and liberties, but this connection can be found stretching back through history to the early developments of human rights. This paper begins with modern philosophical definitions of human dignity, especially from Rosen and Kateb. Rosen discusses four “strands” of dignity- Intrinsic Dignity, Status Dignity, Manner Dignity, and Respect Dignity. This paper then uses that framework to find human dignity implicit within the founding documents of the United States including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, as well as “Common Sense” and the Magna Carta to …

A Harmonious Legal System: True Justice Through Modernized Platonic Marxism, Cian R. Batarla

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The Marxist theory of the law is underdeveloped compared to the rest of Marx and Engels works. This can be chalked up to legal systems merely being part of the superstructure, by which the ruling class use to maintain power. In this essay I push back on this notion that the rule of law can be dismissed, arguing that if Marx's true community is to be as such then the addition of a just legal system is not an issue. However, Marx's true community on its own is not enough to satisfy the inclusion of a legal system. Thus necessitating …

Navigating Radical Indeterminacy In The Struggle For A Global Collective Consciousness: The Question Of Eco-Justice And Law Or Universalize The Pluriverse: A Manifesto, More Or Less, Omar Auf

Theses and Dissertations

The processes of interpretation, communication, and re-interpretation leads to the emergence of an approximated collective consciousness, for which it may be struggled and contested by hegemonic. The dominant forces of this contest, capitalism and nationalism, lead to an interdivided world: one that possesses the tools to empathize with each other but is instead leading people to keep their heads down and focus on surviving their own contexts, perceived as existing within different historical times on the same timeline. This leads to legal and justice systems that fail their claim to universality and/or impartiality. Incorporating an ecological lens to justice within …

Plea Bargaining And The Destruction Of Procedural Justice: A Theoretical And Empirical Critique Of Fairness In The U.S. Legal Sphere, Emma Scillitani

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the legal process of plea bargaining as it currently operates within the criminal justice system in the United States. Through both an empirical and theoretical evaluation of this procedure, it analyzes how plea bargaining exists in practice and whether it can be considered a fair mechanism of case resolution. This project investigates the practice on a molecular level through its presence at a county-level court jurisdiction, which represents broader structural implications of the national legal system. Furthermore, it identifies three central factors that drive the overutilization of plea bargaining: power asymmetry, information, asymmetry, and case processing time. …

Goods, Practices, Excellence, And The Law: Steps To An Internal Theory Of Value, Rowan Gray

CMC Senior Theses

Practices are the coherent and complex social activities we spend much of our lives engaging in. This category encompasses everything from figure skating to wine-tasting to friend relationships. We gain immense value from participating in practices, and philosophers have articulated a number of accounts for where the value emerges from and how we can best experience it. Many of these theories are ‘externalist’, because they posit that value is incidental to practices and emerges from outside of them.

In contrast, this thesis will argue that the value in practices is internal to each practice. The value comes from each practice’s …

From Governed To Subjected: The Supreme Court And The Collapse Of Rule-Of-Law Adjudication, Katherine E. Schwab

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis argues that the Supreme Court is producing a structural crisis in rule-of-law adjudication through three converging mechanisms: the expanded use of the shadow docket, the cynical appropriation of precedent, and the dominance of strict originalism. Each independently undermines the conditions that distinguish legitimate governance from the mere exercise of coercive power. Together, they replace the general, stable, publicly intelligible norms the rule of law requires with the successive pronouncements of whoever currently holds interpretive power.

The thesis develops its argument in three stages. First, drawing on Antonin Scalia's account of rule-like precedent and Jeremy Waldron's layered theory of …

Empathy On Trial: The Role Of Neuroscience And Communication In Sexual Violence Jurisprudence, Samantha M. Gonzales

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Sexual violence remains a contentious public safety and legal challenge, which has become further complicated by the tension between supporting victim-survivors and safeguarding the falsely accused. False accusations, though still well below the numbers of rightly accused, are experiencing a rise in popularity given recent (past ten years) political climates. This thesis examines how communication theory, neuroscience, and law intersect in molding perceptions of truth, culpability, and justice in sexual violence cases; while also examining the intersectionality of those fields in addressing the candor of allegations, the rate of recidivism, and quality of public health and safety. The most prominent …

Fichte’S Conception Of Law And Its Foundations, Mahmoud Saraya

Theses and Dissertations

The question concerning the true nature of law has frequently arisen throughout the history of philosophy, and many different answers have been given to it. This thesis examines Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s Foundations of Natural Right (1796–1797), which exemplifies an approach to understanding the nature of law by inquiring into its metaphysical foundations. Fichte provides a conception of law founded upon the possibility of the existence of an external world, individuality, and intersubjectivity. Law, as a moment of human self-consciousness, becomes a necessity, a condition of self-consciousness, and the ultimate foundation of human existence. Fichte’s theory shows the preconditions for establishing …

Tradition, Critque, And The Modern Moral Lingua Franca: A Lutheran Articulation Of Human Rights Language, Christian B. Dollar

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The language of subjective, individual rights has become the primary way of speaking about the rights and wrongs of human life together. Since the end of World War II, one subset of this language—that of human rights—has achieved a global influence. The various Christian traditions of the west have, in large part, adopted this language of human rights to articulate and supplement their assorted social teachings. Yet, the adoption of human rights language has been contested by a dedicated cadre of Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians concerned about the potentially anti-Christian implications inherent in the grammar of rights. Christian rights …

A Tragedy Of Incommensurability: Indigenous Rights And The Limits Of Human Rights Law, Zeina Ali

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the tragedy of incommensurability between indigenous rights and international human rights law. Despite the emergence of frameworks like the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), indigenous calls for sovereignty remain fundamentally unintelligible within a liberal order structured to preserve settler-state legitimacy. Tracing the historical and theoretical evolution of indigenous advocacy, this study critiques the strategic shift from demands for self-determination to claims of cultural rights. It argues that this shift offers no real alternative: self-determination and cultural rights are functionally equivalent, as both are ultimately filtered through legal and political frameworks that cannot …

The Gilded Approach: A Critique Of Constitutional Originalism, Banks T. Eidson

Honors College Theses

The method from which we approach Constitutional interpretation would obviously hold a great deal of significance in our government structure, yet the modern judiciary is plagued by a constant debate between Living Constitutionalism and Originalism. The latter of these ideas has become rather prominent amongst the justices, with six of the nine current Supreme Court justices being self-proclaimed practitioners of originalism. An idea which portrays itself as the only logical way to approach a Constitution, this thesis seeks to prove that despite its popularity, originalism is little more than a tool to expand conservative policies within the courts in precisely …

From Civic Duties To Democratic Mandates: The Theoretical Framework Of Mill And Tocqueville On Compulsory Voting In The U.S., Olivia Claire Luttrell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the treatment of jury duty and voting in the United States through the philosophical framework of John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville. While jury duty is legally mandated, voting remains optional, despite both civic responsibilities being foundational to democratic participation. This research explores the historical, theoretical, and practical implications of voting becoming compulsory in the United States, as it is in other democratic nations. The analysis includes a comparative case study of the impact of Australia’s mandatory voting to evaluate whether it could become compulsory in the U.S. Both philosophers offer insightful knowledge on the role …

Perceptions And Treatment Decisions For A Drug Offender Based On Social Class, Cocaine Type, Personal Characteristics, And Compassionate Love: A Vignette Study, Yasmin A. Odeh

Theses and Dissertations

Problem: The shift from a focus on rehabilitation to the more punitive, “tough on crime” approach to illegal behavior in the U.S. has been enacted in no small way by policies connected to the use and abuse of drugs. The disparities between crack and powder cocaine—two chemically similar substances—have headlined this shift (Vagins and McCurdy 2006). However, research is scarce on laypeople’s approval of deterrence approaches for drug offenses, including as a function of types (e.g., powder vs. cocaine possession). This study examined people’s perceptions of prosecutorial decisions for drug offenders—whether they are punished, rehabilitated, or both—and whether people perceived …

An In-Depth Review Of Euthanasia-Related Practices, Arguments For/Against Them, And Proposed Solutions For Their Most Glaring Legal/Ethical Problems, Macon Plecha

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper’s goal is to cover the topic of euthanasia-related practices at great length. Terminology, history, and current programs around the world are discussed first, with the last point covering a wide geographical range: Colombia, Japan, Israel, and Africa, to name a few outside of the Western world standard. Arguments for and against euthanasia-related practices are explored. Within these arguments, several pressing legal and ethical issues arise, and the most severe of these are expanded on through the offering of potential solutions: how to handle stand-alone psychiatric cases, how to improve advanced directives and poor reporting rates, and how to …

A Wise Latina Or A Wise Judge?: Exploring How Social Identity Shapes Knowledge Acquisition, Maribella Munoz-Jimenez

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the intersection of epistemology and social identity through the contrasting arguments of Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor. Justice O’Connor’s claim that wisdom is universally accessible contrasts with Justice Sotomayor’s argument that social identities offer unique insights to decision-making. The analysis begins by defining traditional and contrasting it to standpoint epistemology, highlighting how social identity influences knowledge acquisition and supporting Justice Sotomayor’s argument (Chapter 1). It then critiques the potential pitfalls of standpoint epistemology, such as blind deference, through Dror’s weak inversion thesis and Táíwò’s perspective on how we often highlight a subsegment of marginalized voices …

Paraconsistency In Legal Systems: Why Not To Evaluate The Law With Classical Logic, Sydney Coddington

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The following paper puts forth an argument for the analysis of legal systems via paraconsistent logics instead of classical logic due to the existence of legal dialetheia - true contradictions born from the law. Given that contradictions lead to absurdity in classical logic, a paraconsistent perspective becomes the clear choice once the existence of legal dialetheia is established. The first half of this argument, therefore, aims to support the work of Graham Priest in establishing legal dialetheia by explaining his view and combatting his opponent, J.C. Beall, who finds such dialetheia to fail beyond the limited scope of a legal …

Killers That Once Were Humans: Reading The Role Of Modern Law Via Instrumental Rationality, Momen Abdelbari Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

For Max Weber, the process of modernization is the process of rationalization in which it includes every realm in our modern life, such as the economy, science, organization, education, and law. However, this kind of rationalization has created coercive and inhumane conditions because rationalization has converted to being instrumental (value-free) without regard to any transcendental or moral values. The inhumane paradigm has become the only fate of our world. The vision needs rational domination to be achieved through formal rational law. Modern law, along with bureaucratization, has paved the road to rational political domination. This kind of domination captures human …

Language, Legitimacy, And The Law: The Social Roots Of Legal Obligation, Joshua Keton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In a recent turn, both legal scholarship and judicial practice in the United States have converged on the idea that the content of the law is grounded on moral facts—especially facts about democracy. Leveraging insights from the philosophy of language, especially the underdetermination of meaning by syntax and semantics, I argue that textualism can only be reconstructed as a small part of a complete theory of legal interpretation. I then consider a more serious claim to the necessity of moral facts in metaphysically grounding the content of the law. As Mark Greenberg’s anti-positivist theory would have it, the content of …

Egypt’S Legal Modernism: Challenging The National Discourse, Mohamed A. El-Deeb

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt’s legal modernity is the story of the modern Egyptian state itself. Reforming the country’s judiciary in the late nineteenth century was meant to achieve ambitious aims beyond the functionality of a justice system. The utmost goal was the country’s independence from the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. The judicial reforms modernized the Egyptian state and built a judiciary and legal community like no other place. Egypt achieved its independent judiciary before gaining its political independence. That was a remarkable achievement of the judicial reform. That rich part of Egypt’s modern history is negated and disregarded from public awareness. Not …

Spectre Of Justice: Russian Reform In The Courtrooms Of Dostoevsky And Tolstoy, Abby Moore

Senior Theses

The Great Reforms of Alexander II are regarded as transformative policies in the history of Tsarist Russia, drastically changing the empire’s social and political fabric. The judicial reforms of 1864 in particular addressed longstanding issues within the existing criminal justice system, yet they also liberalized the institution at large. Following in the West’s footsteps, the reforms introduced an unprecedented level of democracy into Russia’s courtroom. Among the critics of these changes were renowned authors Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy, both of whom used the realm of fiction to explore their respective concerns with reformed Russian jurisprudence. Both authors bring distinct …

A Philosophical Look Into The Morality And Legality Of Abortion, Alexis J. Agnew

Honors College Theses

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Greek philosopher Aristotle posits an understanding of ethics and how human life is characterized by the “good.” Aristotle argues that (I) ethics involve humans possessing a rational capacity and specific function; (II) ethics are habitual, and the “doctrine of the mean” is used to gauge proper action; and (III) justice is linked to virtue. A moral issue that can be analyzed through Aristotle’s Ethics, as well as works of contemporary philosophers, is abortion. Abortion has been a controversial topic and has been brought before the Supreme Court to determine its morality and legality. Using …

Morality Vs. Mortality: The Ethics Of Physician-Assisted Death In The United States, Ashley Price

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

According to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, physician-assisted death is defined as a physician providing, at the patient’s request, a prescription for a lethal dose of medication that the patient can self-administer by ingestion, with the explicit intention of ending life. This paper will examine the different perspectives on the prevalent issue revolving around the ethics and criminality of physician-assisted death and euthanasia in the medical field – a heavily debated topic since the concept was conceived. It will explore the history and controversy revolving around the practice using ethical, faith-based, and scientific perspectives relating respectively to …

Creating A Just System Of Civil Recourse – Articulating The Controlled Instrumentalist Approach For Marginalized People, Rukmini Banerjee

CMC Senior Theses

A system of civil recourse is a precondition for a just society. In this paper, I outline the ideal version of a system of civil recourse and analyze the accounts of various liberal philosophers to explain how a non-instrumental and mutual accountability theory of civil recourse best encapsulates its stated purpose. I analyze the American system of civil recourse, specifically tort law, and argue that it bypasses the threshold of tolerable injustice for marginalized people in the United States. Using Tommie Shelby’s framework in Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform, I argue that marginalized people are not obligated by …

The Unreasonableness Of The Reasonable Woman Standard: Evaluating And Reforming Sexual Harassment Jurisprudence, Richa Parikh

CMC Senior Theses

The “Reasonable Woman Standard” was first used in the 1991 case of Ellison v. Brady and has been central in shaping legal responses to sexual harassment. However, as societal norms and understandings of gender dynamics continue to evolve, as we experienced with the #MeToo movement, this “Reasonable Woman” often fails to grow with the times. I argue that this “Reasonable Woman” fails to encapsulate the complexities of sexual harassment experiences across different genders and cultural backgrounds. In this thesis, I deconstruct the historical development of the “Reasonable Woman Standard,” analyzing its roots in the “Reasonable Person Standard.” Through a combination …

Preservation Through Transformation: An Interpretive Analysis Of Title Vii’S Failure To Secure Remedy For The Wrongs Of Workplace Sexual Harassment, Halle Rudman

CMC Senior Theses

The establishment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as federal law was a pivotal moment in the pursuit of workplace equality and eradication of discrimination. Unfortunately, the application of Title VII in sexual harassment cases has fallen short of the statute’s noble intentions. In this paper, I argue that the judicial treatment of Title VII has been disloyal to its original purpose, perpetuating systemic inequalities and hindering progress towards gender equality in the workplace. I first establish a framework for the reasonable construction of a statute, drawing on work from various legal theorists to establish three …