LEGAL THEORY WORKSHOP
presents
Nico Cornell
University of Michigan Law School
What Do We Remedy?
Friday, March 29, 2019
12:30 - 2:00
Room FL219 (John Willis Classroom)
Flavelle House
78 Queen's Park
This paper argues that the nature of a wrong is not determined by the right that was violated. In both corrective justice theory and normative ethics, many contemporary writers assume that rights and wrongs are necessarily tied to one another, reciprocal perspectives on the same normative bond. This paper presents an argument for thinking that wrongs are not connected to rights in this straightforward way. The argument proceeds through an investigation of remedies. Remedies offer us a window into the nature of wrongs because they constitute what we consider the appropriate repair for the wrong. This paper argues that—contrary to traditional corrective justice theory—remedies do not simply reflect the right that was violated. For any rights violation, the appropriate remedy will remain open until at least three other dimensions are taken into account. Thus, wrongs—as viewed through the lens of what it would take to compensate appropriately for them—involve elements beyond rights.
Nicolas Cornell is Assistant Professor of law and the University of Michigan Law School. He teaches and writes in the areas of contract law, moral philosophy, and private law theory. His work seeks to connect issues in normative ethics with questions about the foundations of private law doctrine. His writing has appeared both in peer-reviewed philosophy journals — including “The Possibility of Preemptive Forgiving” (Philosophical Review, 2017) and “Wrongs, Rights, and Third Parties” (Philosophy & Public Affairs, 2015) — and in top law reviews — including “A Complainant-Oriented Approach to Unconscionability and Contract Law” (University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2016) and “A Third Theory of Paternalism” (Michigan Law Review, 2015).
Prior to joining the faculty at Michigan, he was an assistant professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as a law clerk to Justice John Dooley of the Vermont Supreme Court. Professor Cornell holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University, and an A.B. in philosophy from Harvard College. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar.
To be added to the paper distribution list, please email events.law@utoronto.ca. For further information, please contact Professor Larissa Katz (larissa.katz@utoronto.ca) and Professor Sophia Moreau (sr.moreau@utoronto.ca).
