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| Ronald Dworkin: a modern-day Mill | Ronald Dworkin: a modern-day Mill |
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| Regarded by peers as the platonic ideal of a philosophy don, Ronald Dworkin used to turn up at Tony Honoré's discussion group at All Souls, Oxford, and listen with absolute concentration to each eminent speaker, before producing a perfect precis of their contribution and – inevitably – going on to develop it. The itch to understand often fades with the years, and scholarship becomes just another job. But Dworkin's restless need to examine, interrogate and argue were undimmed until his death this week. | Regarded by peers as the platonic ideal of a philosophy don, Ronald Dworkin used to turn up at Tony Honoré's discussion group at All Souls, Oxford, and listen with absolute concentration to each eminent speaker, before producing a perfect precis of their contribution and – inevitably – going on to develop it. The itch to understand often fades with the years, and scholarship becomes just another job. But Dworkin's restless need to examine, interrogate and argue were undimmed until his death this week. |
| For all his achievements within the academy, his rarest talents emerged through writing that reached beyond it. Rights were his preoccupation, and his metaphors brought them to life. Rights, he said, were like trumps in bridge; they could compete with one another, but any right must override a card of any value played from the suit of mere interest. | For all his achievements within the academy, his rarest talents emerged through writing that reached beyond it. Rights were his preoccupation, and his metaphors brought them to life. Rights, he said, were like trumps in bridge; they could compete with one another, but any right must override a card of any value played from the suit of mere interest. |
| Apt as the game image was to his political theory, Dworkin was ranged against those who conceive the judge as neutral referee with a rulebook – tasked with mechanically imposing the law. The problem with so-called black-letter law is that there are not enough letters to deal with the complexities that statute must govern. | Apt as the game image was to his political theory, Dworkin was ranged against those who conceive the judge as neutral referee with a rulebook – tasked with mechanically imposing the law. The problem with so-called black-letter law is that there are not enough letters to deal with the complexities that statute must govern. |
| America's judicial conservatives seek to resolve ambiguities by imagining their way into the constitutional convention of 1787, but in presuming to know what Madison or Hamilton might have thought about stemcell research or internet regulation, they afford as much leeway to their own whims as any activist judge. Dworkin's twist on the argument is that laws are bound up with moral ideas; we can't hope to make sense of 18th-century notions of liberty or cruelly unusual punishments without moral interpretation. | America's judicial conservatives seek to resolve ambiguities by imagining their way into the constitutional convention of 1787, but in presuming to know what Madison or Hamilton might have thought about stemcell research or internet regulation, they afford as much leeway to their own whims as any activist judge. Dworkin's twist on the argument is that laws are bound up with moral ideas; we can't hope to make sense of 18th-century notions of liberty or cruelly unusual punishments without moral interpretation. |
| Thomas Nagel has likened him to JS Mill, and the comparison is not daft. Unlike the great Victorian he did not stand for election, but while Mill used a Commons seat to advance women's suffrage, Dworkin found other ways to intervene in the issues of his day. Ahead of the supreme court's ruling on Obamacare, he published a sparkling essay making the case for its legality, which put particular emphasis on the past rulings of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who he fancied might have the casting vote. | Thomas Nagel has likened him to JS Mill, and the comparison is not daft. Unlike the great Victorian he did not stand for election, but while Mill used a Commons seat to advance women's suffrage, Dworkin found other ways to intervene in the issues of his day. Ahead of the supreme court's ruling on Obamacare, he published a sparkling essay making the case for its legality, which put particular emphasis on the past rulings of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who he fancied might have the casting vote. |
| Just as Mill humanised the desiccated utilitarianism of his father and Bentham, Dworkin grew out of – and kicked against – the dry, analytic philosophy of the mid-20th century which dismissed moral statements as grunts of disapproval. | Just as Mill humanised the desiccated utilitarianism of his father and Bentham, Dworkin grew out of – and kicked against – the dry, analytic philosophy of the mid-20th century which dismissed moral statements as grunts of disapproval. |
| His final book was, pretty much, about the meaning of life. Dworkin explored the connections between morality, character and fulfilment – connections that concerned Aristotle, which are often neglected today. He argued that rising to great challenges was part of the good life – an aspect that he very much lived. | His final book was, pretty much, about the meaning of life. Dworkin explored the connections between morality, character and fulfilment – connections that concerned Aristotle, which are often neglected today. He argued that rising to great challenges was part of the good life – an aspect that he very much lived. |
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