Speaker series

Oxford Philosophy, Law, and Politics Colloquium

The Oxford Philosophy, Law, and Politics (PLP) Colloquium is an interdisciplinary series that brings together scholars from philosophy, law, politics, and related fields to discuss works in progress by distinguished researchers.

In the 2026–27 academic year, the Colloquium will take a new direction. Reflecting the growing importance of artificial intelligence across all domains of inquiry, the series will focus on cutting-edge AI research of significance for philosophy, law, and politics. Our speakers will be drawn from Oxford and London institutions and will include leading researchers from psychology and neuroscience, philosophy, computer science, and engineering.

The series is cheekily entitled What Philosophers, Lawyers, and Political Theorists Should Know About AI Research. Its aim is to bring scholars working on the technical frontiers of AI into conversation with members of the PLP community. We invite you to come and learn about the AI research being conducted by our Oxford and London colleagues that bears directly on questions of philosophical, legal, and political importance.

Each session will consist of a 45–50 minute non-technical presentation by the invited speaker, followed by discussion and Q&A. No prior technical background or pre-reading is required.

The 2026–27 Colloquium is co-sponsored by the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI, and all talks will be held in the Schwarzman Centre. The series is co-convened by Ruth Chang, David Enoch, and Edward Harcourt.

Accompanying each Colloquium will be a seminar for students, convened by Ruth Chang, in Room 2, 12 Merton Street (access via the University College Porter’s Lodge).

Registration is not required.

For further information, please contact [email protected].

Colloquium Schedule for 2026–27

Chris Summerfield (Oxford)
New equilibria between humans and machines
Carissa Véliz (Oxford)
Philipp Koralus (Oxford)
Iason Gabriel (DeepMind, London)

Past colloquia

2025–26

Regina Rini (York, Canada)
Alone in the Light: How Enlightenment errors threaten democracy today
Student seminar14 October 2025, 3–5 p.m., University College, 12 Merton Street, Room 2. Convened by Ruth Chang.
Juliana Bidadanure (NYU)
Trashification
Student seminar2 December 2025, 3–5 p.m., University College, 12 Merton Street, Room 2. Convened by Ruth Chang.
Danielle Allen (Harvard)
The Radical Duke
Pre-read event: please focus on the prologue and chapter 2 of the paper.

2024–25

Margaret Levi (Stanford University)
Expanding the Community of Fate by Expanding the Community of Care
Lord Jonathan Mance (Former Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court)
The Judiciary and the Role of Law in a Changing World
Tea 4–5 p.m. in the Alington Room beforehand. No paper for this session.
Stuart Russell (University of California, Berkeley)
Provably Beneficial AI
Co-sponsored with the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI.
Stefan Gosepath (Free University, Berlin)
In Defense of Term Limitations on Property Rights
Elizabeth Anderson (University of Michigan)
Challenges to Creating an Egalitarian Society

2023–24

The Colloquium was on hiatus during 2023–24.

2022–23

Liam Murphy (NYU)
Why Tax Wealth?
Catharine A. MacKinnon (U Michigan / Harvard)
Exploring Transgender Politics: A Conversation
Co-sponsored with the Feminist Jurisprudence Discussion Group and the Jurisprudence Discussion Group.
Catharine A. MacKinnon (U Michigan / Harvard)
Rape Redefined
Co-sponsored with the Bonavero Centre for Human Rights.
Seth Lazar (Australian National University)
Algorithmic Governance and Political Philosophy: Governing the Algorithmic City
Cancelled due to strike action.
Jeremy Waldron (NYU)
Self Application

2021–22

Seana Shiffrin (UCLA)
Democratic Politics: Duty Delegation without Abdication
Online.
Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami and Jeremy Weinstein
System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How to Reboot (book discussion)
Online, a joint event with the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI.
Nomy Arpaly (Brown)
On Being Blameless Among One’s Contemporaries
Online.
Imani Perry (Princeton)
African American Narrative Jurisprudence
Cancelled due to speaker illness.
Sally Haslanger (MIT)
Structural Injustice: Managing Social Coordination in Complex Systems

2020–21

Miranda Fricker (CUNY)
Bernard Williams As A Philosopher of Ethical Freedom
Online.
Samuel Scheffler (NYU)
Procreation, Immigration, and the Future of Humanity
Online.
Cass Sunstein (Harvard)
Behavioural Welfare Economics
Online.
Cécile Fabre (Oxford)
Doxastic Wrongs and True Beliefs
Online.

2019–20

John Tasioulas (KCL)
Saving Human Rights from Human Rights Law
Miranda Fricker (CUNY)
Postponed due to strike action.
Imani Perry (Princeton)
Cancelled due to the pandemic.

Thanks are due to the Hewlett Foundation for the funding that makes the PLP Colloquium Series possible.