Philosophy 290-4

This course is a workshop for discussing work in progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The workshop creates a space for students to engage directly with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions, with the goal of fostering critical thinking about concepts of value and developing analytical thinking and writing skills. Another aim is to bring together people from different disciplines and perspectives who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues philosophers and theorists should know something about.

The theme for the Fall 2025 workshop is “Expression: Its Value and its Norms.” We’ll look at new and recent work on free speech in a range of contexts, including political speech, artistic expression, online speech, campus protest, and academic freedom. Presenters are Eugene Volokh (Hoover), Erwin Chemerinsky (Berkeley), Jacob Mchangama (Vanderbilt), Rae Langton (Cambridge), David Cole (Georgetown), Seana Shiffrin (UCLA), Sarah Song (Berkeley), Mary Anne Franks (George Washington), Daphne Keller (Stanford), Adrienne Stone (Melbourne), Erin Miller (USC), Lea Ypi (LSE), and Ben Eidelson (Harvard).

The workshop will be co-taught by Joshua Cohen and R. Jay Wallace.

The format of workshop meetings is as follows. A designated student commentator will lead off with a 15-minute comment on the paper. The presenter will have 5-10 minutes to respond and then we will open up the discussion to all in attendance, including both enrolled and non-enrolled students, faculty, and visitors. After a short break at 2:00 p.m., discussion will continue with enrolled students for the final 50 minutes.

The first meeting of the Workshop will be on Friday, August 22, 2025.

For updated details during the semester, please consult the Kadish Workshop website.