Introduction to the Philosophy of Law

Brian Palmiter is a Civil Discourse Fellow at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. His research interests span a range of topics in political ethics and democratic theory. His current book project explores the challenges posed to American constitutional practice by the use of legal-but-norm-violating political tactics. It asks whether some uses of rules—specifically, exploiting loopholes, playing hardball, or otherwise gaming the system—might be procedurally unjust or institutionally illegitimate despite technically complying with the rules. The project develops both a code of applied ethics for political actors who value winning with democratic legitimacy, as well as a set of maxims for institutional designers to make their practices more robust against exploitation by opportunistic actors. At Harvard, Palmiter has taught courses in ethics, constitutional law, the history of political thought, and democratic theory. In addition, he runs the Fellowship in Values Engagement at the Ethics Center and coaches the Harvard Ethics Bowl team. Previously, he worked in science policy and professional ethics in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program in Washington, DC, and taught high school English in Memphis, Tennessee, with Teach for America. He holds a PhD in government from Harvard and a BA in political theory and constitutional democracy from James Madison College at Michigan State University.