Bio

 

[Versión en español]

Dr. Horacio Spector

Doctor in Legal Science, University of Buenos Aires

Founding Dean of the School of Law (1996 - 2013)

hspector@utdt.edu

 

Horacio Spector graduated as a Lawyer from the University of Buenos Aires in 1979 and in 1982 he obtained a Master's degree in Analytical Philosophy from the Argentine Society of Philosophical Analysis (SADAF). In 1989 he graduated as a Doctor of Law specialized in Philosophy of Law at the University of Buenos Aires.

He is the Founding Dean of the Law School of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (1996 - 2013). In addition, from October 1, 2001 to June 30, 2010 he was Provost of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.

He was research fellow under the supervision of Hans Albert at the University of Mannheim and Joseph Raz at the University of Oxford, with grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1985-1986). Later, he was also research fellow at the University of Heidelberg under the supervision of Bertram Kienzle (1990).

Among other distinctions, in 1993 he obtained the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation research grant, visiting Harvard University in this capacity. In 1996 he was awarded the Konex Diploma of Merit in Philosophy of Law. Likewise, he was General José de San Martín Chair Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2012) and Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute (2020).

Horacio Spector lectured at various foreign universities, such as Lund, Bologna, UNAM, California in Berkeley, Humboldt University, Collège de France, University of Aberdeen, “Magna Grecia” University of Catanzaro and University of Alicante.

He published a large number of articles in international academic journals on philosophy of law, moral and political philosophy, economic analysis of law, and intellectual property. His most recent articles include “A Pragmatic Reconstruction of Law’s Claim to Authority”, Ratio Juris, 2019; "Positive Liberty and Paternalism", in John Christman (ed.), Positive Liberty: Past, Present, and Future, Cambridge University Press, 2021, and "Constitutional Proportionality and Moral Deontology", Jurisprudence, 2021.

His books include Autonomy and Rights, The Moral Foundations of Liberalism (Oxford University Press, 1992, 1998); Analytische und Postanalytische Ethik, Untersuchungen zur Theorie moralischer Urteile (Alber, 1993) and (with Brian Bix) Rights: Concepts and Contexts (Farnham, UK, 2012).

He is currently a Plenary Research Professor at UTDT, part-time Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, and Visiting Research Professor at the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at the University of Arizona.