Preparing for IVR 2015

The XXVII World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR) will take place 27-31 July 2015 at Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC. This year’s theme — “Law, Reason, and Emotion” — focuses on the nature and function of law.

Whether they exist in harmony or contention, law, reason, and emotion always play a role in legal discourse. IVR will explore the legal system’s balance between reason and justice with recognition of society’s emotional basis. The conference’s four days of plenary lectures, working groups, and special workshops will examine this relationship.

Plenary lectures will be held each morning at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. András Sajó kicks off the first day of the conference, Monday 27 July, with “The Constitutional Domestication of Emotions” at 11:30 a.m. Sajó, one of the editors of The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, will discuss how early liberal constitutions and the consolidation of the institutions of constitutionalism show that emotions cannot be separated from reason and law. If you want to brush up on comparative constitutional law before the conference, read the introduction of Sajó’s Handbook, freely available on Oxford Handbooks Online.

Special Workshops, which take place every day from 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., will be another conference highlight. These discussion forums are based on collections of papers and feature insight from many key contributors to the field. Over 25 individuals will participate in “Bulygin’s Philosophy of Law” on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, a presentation of the recently published edited volume of Eugenio Bulygin’s Essays in Legal Philosophy. You can prepare for the session by reading the introduction of the book, which is available in English for the first time. All the conference’s Special Workshops are sure to incite discussion among conference attendees. Working groups, also held daily, will be opportunities to present papers not included in the Special Workshops.

With its variety of lectures and workshops, IVR promises to be an engaging and insightful four days, but don’t forget to take some time to explore some of the city’s many attractions. The conference’s location puts you in close proximity to the famous National Mall and Memorial Parks, but if you’re looking for something different, we suggest:

• The National Postal Museum is located in the historic City Post Office Building, just blocks from Georgetown University Law Center. The museum was constructed in 1914 and acted as Washington DC’s post office from 1914 to 1986. There is a 6,000-square-foot research library, as well as five exhibit galleries that tell the story of postal history in America. The National Postal Museum contains one of the world’s largest collections of stamps and philatelic materials, in addition to postal history material that pre-dates stamps, vehicles used to transport the mail, mailboxes and mailbags, postal uniforms and equipment.
• The Upper and Lower Senate Park is located between Constitution Avenue, NW, and D Street, NE, and 1st Street and Louisiana Ave, NW. The lower section contains a rectangular reflecting pool bordered by pathways and fountains, and is surrounded by two sets of steps. The upper section is situated on a large fountain and plaza and a tree-lined lawn panel joining the Senate and Capitol grounds.
• The National Guard Memorial Museum is located at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue NW and N. Capitol Street. This is the only national museum devoted to telling the story of the citizen-soldier and the National Guard. Five exhibit areas and various theatres show the history of the National Guard from the 17^th century to today.

If you’re joining us at IVR, don’t forget to stop by the Oxford booth to take advantage of the 20% conference discount on our collection of books and browse our online products. You can also pick up a free copy of one of our law journals. The American Journal of Jurisprudence may be of particular interest to conference attendees. It explores current and historical issues in ethics, philosophy of law, and legal theory. The editors have selected articles from the journal’s archive and made them freely available for your perusal.

To stay up to date with IVR, like Oxford International Law on Facebook and follow @OUPIntlLaw on Twitter. See you in DC!

Featured image: Georgetown. CC0 via Pixabay.