John Gardner was one of the most prolific, widely read, and influential scholars working in philosophy of law. This book celebrates, explores, and develops themes of his work during his sixteen years as Professor of Jurisprudence at University of Oxford.

Written by a team of contributors whose own work has been influenced by Gardner's and with whom he has worked closely, this book engages with many of the concepts, themes, and issues that were central to his philosophical work and outlook. It expands on his arguments, offers original rebuttals to some, and draws connections with parallel and emerging fields that have been influenced by his work. This is the first book-length treatment covering the entire range of his scholarship, and will serve as a handbook of sorts, for those scholars seeking to engage Gardner's work and make connections across the wide range of topics on which he has written.

In particular, the volume comprises discussions of duties to try and succeed in relation to Hume's maxim that 'ought implies can'; the role of continuity, conservatism, and corrective justice in private law, the interrelations between wrongdoing, blame, punishment, and the justification of criminal law, justifications, excuses, and responsibility, the distinctiveness of the wrongs of rape and discrimination, as well as general jurisprudence and how it may, or may not, illuminate the questions of normativity and the nature of constitutions. The volume also engages with further concepts and questions addressed through the prism of Gardner's work, include Indigenous rights and law, Equity, corporate responsibility and the possibility of state crimes, and the nature, structure, and phenomenology of virtue.

Together, the papers collected in this volume pay homage to the breadth of John Gardner's legal philosophy. The conversations begun, or continued, in this volume will continue to inform the contributors' future work, and thus increase the likelihood that John's body of work will have an ever greater influence on the future of legal philosophy.

Michelle Madden Dempsey's profile page

Francois Tanguay-Renaud's profile page

Michelle Madden Dempsey is the Harold Reuschlein Scholar Chair and Professor of Law at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Previously, she was a CUF Lecturer at University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at Worcester College and Brasenose College, where she taught Jurisprudence and Criminal Law. A former criminal prosecutor, her book, Prosecuting Domestic Violence: A Philosophical Analysis (OUP), was awarded second prize in the UK's Society of Legal Scholars Peter Birks Award for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. Her scholarly interests focus on the state's response to violence against women, as explored through the intersections of law and philosophy. She received her D. Phil. (Ph.D.) from the University of Oxford, her LL.M. from the London School of Economics, J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and her B.A. from the University of Illinois. Francois Tanguay-Renaud is Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, in Toronto. He is also a Member of the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Philosophy at York University, and an Associate Member of the Department of Philosophy at McMaster University. Previously, he was a Stipendiary Lecturer in Law at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, and a law clerk for the Supreme Court of Canada. For a decade, he was also the Director of York University's Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security. His scholarly interests focus on the theory of criminal law, criminal procedure, public law, and emergency law. He received his B.C.L., M.Phil, and D. Phil from the University of Oxford, and his LL.B. and B.C.L. from McGill University.