Dr Brian Flanagan

    Law

    Gaeilge agus fáilte

    Associate Professor

    New House
    307
    (01) 708 4774

    Biography

    Brian is a graduate of Oxford University, Université Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) and University College Dublin. He joined the Department in 2010, and spent 2012-13 at NYU School of Law as a NYU Hauser Research Scholar and a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar. Brian was Chair of the Department's successful application for an Athena SWAN Bronze Award in gender equality (2020-24).

    Brian's research focuses on the nature of institutional agency and on its implications for positive and normative social theory, and on topics in experimental jurisprudence. His work has been published in outlets including Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Studies, Journal of Moral Philosophy, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, and Oxford Journal of Legal Studies.  His most recent work on the connection between law and morality (with Ivar Hannikainen) is available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RAJSAKD4DJ3ZAWCBJUNE/full?target=10.1080/00048402.2020.1833953 

    Brian's research has been reported in The Irish Times here and here.

    https://twitter.com/BrianFl38315947 





    Book Chapters

      Year Publication
    2023 'The Natural Law Thesis Under Empirical Scrutiny'
    Ivar Hannikainen, Brian Flanagan, Karolina Prochownik (2023) 'The Natural Law Thesis Under Empirical Scrutiny' In: H. Viciana, F. Aguiar, & A. Gaitan (eds). Issues in Experimental Moral Philosophy. New York: Routledge. [Details]
    2023 'Trial by Internet: A Randomized Field Experiment on Wikipedia’s Influence on Judges’ Legal Reasoning'
    Neil Thompson, Brian Flanagan, Edana Richardson, Brian McKenzie, Xueyun Luo (2023) 'Trial by Internet: A Randomized Field Experiment on Wikipedia’s Influence on Judges’ Legal Reasoning' In: Kevin Tobia (eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Jurisprudence. New York: Cambridge University Press. [Details]
    2022 'Intentional Legislation: What makes a Text a Statute'
    Brian Flanagan (2022) 'Intentional Legislation: What makes a Text a Statute' In: Ruth Chang and Amia Srinivasan (eds). New Conversations in Philosophy, Law, & Politics. Oxford: OUP. In same volume: Prof Michael Bratman, 'Reflections on Flanagan on Intentional Legislation'. [Details]
    2021 'Legal Disagreement as Disagreement about the Collectively Intended Meaning'
    Brian Flanagan (2021) 'Legal Disagreement as Disagreement about the Collectively Intended Meaning' In: Chiara Valentini and Teresa Marques (eds). Collective Action, Philosophy and Law. Abingdon: Routledge. [Details]
    2008 'Judicial Review: Can Minority Protection Justify a Constitutionalisation of the Economy?'
    Flanagan, Brian (2008) 'Judicial Review: Can Minority Protection Justify a Constitutionalisation of the Economy?' In: Law and Rights: Global Perspectives on Constitutionalism and Governance. Lake Mary, Fla: Vandeplas. [Details]
    2008 'Scalia, Hamdan and the Principles of Subject Matter Recusal'
    Flanagan, Brian (2008) 'Scalia, Hamdan and the Principles of Subject Matter Recusal' In: Natural Justice: Expanding Horizons. Hyderabad: Icfai University Press. [Details]

    Peer Reviewed Journals

      Year Publication
    2022 'The Folk Concept of Law: Law Is Intrinsically Moral'
    Flanagan, B; Hannikainen, IR (2022) 'The Folk Concept of Law: Law Is Intrinsically Moral'. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 100 (1):165-179 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2019 'Ireland’s Call: Junior Books or Hedley Byrne? (Halftime in) Bates v Minister for Agriculture'
    Brian Flanagan (2019) 'Ireland’s Call: Junior Books or Hedley Byrne? (Halftime in) Bates v Minister for Agriculture'. Irish Supreme Court Review, 1 :139-152 [Details]
    2018 'What do Aggregation Results Really Reveal about Group Agency?'
    Brian Flanagan (2018) 'What do Aggregation Results Really Reveal about Group Agency?'. Philosophical Studies, 175 (1):261-276 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2016 '1966-2016: Legal Philosophy as Patient'
    Dr Brian Flanagan (2016) '1966-2016: Legal Philosophy as Patient'. Irish Jurist, 56 :123-138 [full-text] [Details]
    2014 'Rereading the Kripkean Intuition on Reference'
    Flanagan, B (2014) 'Rereading the Kripkean Intuition on Reference'. Metaphilosophy, 45 :87-95 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2013 'Causal Legal Semantics: A Critical Assessment'
    Flanagan, B (2013) 'Causal Legal Semantics: A Critical Assessment'. Journal of Moral Philosophy, 10 :3-24 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2013 'Analyticity and the Deviant Logician: Williamson's Argument from Disagreement'
    Flanagan B. (2013) 'Analyticity and the Deviant Logician: Williamson's Argument from Disagreement'. Acta Analytica, 28 (3):345-352 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2012 'Judicial Globalization and Perceptions of Disagreement: Two Surveys'
    Flanagan, Brian (2012) 'Judicial Globalization and Perceptions of Disagreement: Two Surveys'. NEW ZEALAND LAW REVIEW, - [full-text] [Details]
    2011 'Judicial Decision-making and Transnational Law: A Survey of Common Law Supreme Court Judges'
    Flanagan, Brian & Ahern, Sinead (2011) 'Judicial Decision-making and Transnational Law: A Survey of Common Law Supreme Court Judges'. INTERNATIONAL & COMPARATIVE LAW QUARTERLY (ICLQ), 60 :1-28 [full-text] [Details]
    2011 'A Fullerian Challenge to Legal Intentionalism?'
    Flanagan B. (2011) 'A Fullerian Challenge to Legal Intentionalism?'. Ratio juris, 24 (3):330-334 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2010 'Revisiting the Contribution of Literal Meaning to Legal Meaning'
    Flanagan, Brian (2010) 'Revisiting the Contribution of Literal Meaning to Legal Meaning'. OXFORD JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES, 30 :255-271 [full-text] [Details]
    2008 'The Effect of Minority Preferences on the White Applicant: A Misplaced Consensus?'
    Flanagan, Brian (2008) 'The Effect of Minority Preferences on the White Applicant: A Misplaced Consensus?'. OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW, 34 :445-469 [full-text] [Details]
    2007 'Scalia, Hamdan and the Principles of Subject Matter Recusal'
    Flanagan, Brian (2007) 'Scalia, Hamdan and the Principles of Subject Matter Recusal'. DENNING LAW JOURNAL, 19 :149-170 [full-text] [Details]
    2006 'Judicial Rights Talk: Defects in the Liberal Challenge to Constitutional Review'
    Flanagan, Brian (2006) 'Judicial Rights Talk: Defects in the Liberal Challenge to Constitutional Review'. SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS, 23 :173-196 [full-text] [Details]

    Conference Contributions

      Year Publication
    2021 Morality Rules: How Rule Application is Shaped by Moral Evaluation.
    Brian Flanagan (2021) Morality Rules: How Rule Application is Shaped by Moral Evaluation. [Invited Lecture], Experimental Philosophy Group, Yale University Cognitive Science Program, Virtual [Details]
    2020 The Folk Concept of Law: Law is Intrinsically Moral.
    Brian Flanagan and Ivar R. Hannikainen (2020) The Folk Concept of Law: Law is Intrinsically Moral. [International Refereed Conference], European Online XPhi Conference, Online [Details]
    2019 Deflating the Problem of the Democratic Deficit by Reconceptualizing the Agential Role of the Demos.
    Brian Flanagan (2019) Deflating the Problem of the Democratic Deficit by Reconceptualizing the Agential Role of the Demos. [International Refereed Conference], IVR World Congress, University of Lucerne, Switzerland [Details]
    2019 Deflating the Problem of Democratic Deficit by Reconceptualising the Agential Role of the Demos.
    Brian Flanagan (2019) Deflating the Problem of Democratic Deficit by Reconceptualising the Agential Role of the Demos. [International Refereed Conference], General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research, University of Wrocław, Poland [Details]
    2019 The Discursive Dilemma in Legal Contexts.
    Brian Flanagan (2019) The Discursive Dilemma in Legal Contexts. [Invited Oral Presentation], Trinity College Dublin School of Law Seminar Series, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
    2018 Intuitions about Group Minds: Public Evidence.
    Brian Flanagan (2018) Intuitions about Group Minds: Public Evidence. [International Refereed Conference], Social Ontology 2018, Tufts University, Boston [Details]
    2018 Ireland’s Call: Junior Books or Hedley Byrne? (Halftime in) Bates v. Minister for Agriculture.
    Brian Flanagan (2018) Ireland’s Call: Junior Books or Hedley Byrne? (Halftime in) Bates v. Minister for Agriculture. [Invited Oral Presentation], Irish Supreme Court Review 2018, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
    2017 Evaluating Theories of Group Agency: Preliminary Experimental Data.
    Brian Flanagan (2017) Evaluating Theories of Group Agency: Preliminary Experimental Data. [International Refereed Conference], Mancept Political Theory Workshops, University of Manchester [Details]
    2017 Quasi-exogenous Voting Rules.
    Brian Flanagan (2017) Quasi-exogenous Voting Rules. [International Refereed Conference], European Political Science Association Annual Conference, Palazzo delle Stelline, Milan [Details]
    2017 Evaluating Theories of Group Agency: Preliminary Experimental Data.
    Brian Flanagan (2017) Evaluating Theories of Group Agency: Preliminary Experimental Data. [International Refereed Conference], Buffalo Annual Experimental Philosophy Conference, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo [Details]
    2017 Predicting Statutes.
    Brian Flanagan (2017) Predicting Statutes. [International Refereed Conference], UK & Ireland Society of Legal Scholars Conference, University College Dublin [Details]
    2017 Evaluating Theories of Group Agency: Preliminary Experimental Data.
    Brian Flanagan (2017) Evaluating Theories of Group Agency: Preliminary Experimental Data. [International Refereed Conference], European Network on Social Ontology Conference V (ENSO V), University of Lund [Details]
    2016 The Unified Rational Model of Individual and Group Agency.
    Brian Flanagan (2016) The Unified Rational Model of Individual and Group Agency. [International Refereed Conference], Collective Action and the Law, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona [Details]
    2016 Wanted: A Concept of Group Will for Use in Political Science.
    Brian Flanagan (2016) Wanted: A Concept of Group Will for Use in Political Science. [International Refereed Conference], Collective Intentionality X, The Hague, The Netherlands [Details]
    2015 Group Powers.
    Brian Flanagan (2015) Group Powers. [Invited Oral Presentation], Legal and Political Theory Workshop Series, National University of Ireland, Galway [Details]
    2015 Dancing to Legislating: A Theory of Non-Cooperative Action.
    Brian Flanagan (2015) Dancing to Legislating: A Theory of Non-Cooperative Action. [Oral Presentation], Department of Law Colloquium Series, Maynooth University [Details]
    2014 Collective Action under Disagreement.
    Dr Brian Flanagan (2014) Collective Action under Disagreement. [International Refereed Conference], Collective Intentionality IX, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA [Details]
    2013 Horse Trading and Collective Choice.
    Dr Brian Flanagan (2013) Horse Trading and Collective Choice. [International Refereed Conference], Global Fellows Forum, NYU School of Law, USA [Details]
    2013 Why Count Votes?.
    Dr Brian Flanagan (2013) Why Count Votes?. [Oral Presentation], Irish Jurisprudence Society Workshop, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
    2012 Dissolving a Dilemma in the Theory of Legislative Choice.
    Dr Brian Flanagan (2012) Dissolving a Dilemma in the Theory of Legislative Choice. [International Refereed Conference], Global Fellows Forum, NYU School of Law, USA [Details]
    2012 The Legislative Author and Legal Meaning.
    Dr Brian Flanagan (2012) The Legislative Author and Legal Meaning. [Invited Oral Presentation], Invited Speakers Seminar, Department of Philosophy, Maynooth University [Details]
    2011 Facing Up to the Semantic Sting.
    Flanagan, Brian (2011) Facing Up to the Semantic Sting. [Invited Oral Presentation], New Zealand Society for Legal & Social Philosophy Workshop, University of Auckland School of Law, New Zealand [Details]
    2011 Descriptivism and Kripke’s Argument from Ignorance.
    Flanagan, Brian (2011) Descriptivism and Kripke’s Argument from Ignorance. [Oral Presentation], Aporo Workshop with Michael Devitt, UCD [Details]
    2011 Judicial Globalization and the Theory of Law: A Survey of the New Zealand Supreme Court.
    Flanagan, Brian (2011) Judicial Globalization and the Theory of Law: A Survey of the New Zealand Supreme Court. [Keynote Address], International Law in Domestic Law Colloquium, University of Auckland School of Law, New Zealand [Details]
    2010 Lon Fuller’s Puzzle for Legal Intentionalism.
    Flanagan, Brian (2010) Lon Fuller’s Puzzle for Legal Intentionalism. [Oral Presentation], Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, University College Dublin [Details]
    2009 Abstract Legislative Intentions and the Concept of American Law.
    Flanagan, Brian (2009) Abstract Legislative Intentions and the Concept of American Law. [Oral Presentation], Irish Jurisprudence Society Workshop, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
    2009 Moral Scepticism and Companions in Guilt.
    Flanagan, Brian (2009) Moral Scepticism and Companions in Guilt. [Oral Presentation], Graduate Philosophy Conference on Scepticism, University of Southampton, UK [Details]
    2009 Revisiting Kripke's Modal Argument: A Counter-example.
    Flanagan, Brian (2009) Revisiting Kripke's Modal Argument: A Counter-example. [Oral Presentation], Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia [Details]
    2008 Revisiting the Contribution of Literal Meaning to Legal Meaning.
    Flanagan, Brian (2008) Revisiting the Contribution of Literal Meaning to Legal Meaning. [Oral Presentation], Irish Jurisprudence Society Workshop, Trinity College Dublin [Details]
    2007 Bound Judicial-lawmaking.
    Flanagan, Brian (2007) Bound Judicial-lawmaking. [Oral Presentation], Law & Philosophy Postgraduate Workshop, University of Stirling, UK [Details]
    2005 Defects in the Liberal Challenge to Constitutional Review.
    Flanagan, Brian (2005) Defects in the Liberal Challenge to Constitutional Review. [International Refereed Conference], Comparative Constitutionalism Colloquium, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa [full-text] [Details]

    Published Reports

      Year Publication
    2006 Amicus curiae brief to the US Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557.
    Binyam Mohamed (2006) Amicus curiae brief to the US Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557. Reprieve et al, USA. [Details]

    Article

      Year Publication
    2018 The Strange Case of Brexit and British Sovereignty RTE Brainstorm Long Read.
    Brian Flanagan (2018) The Strange Case of Brexit and British Sovereignty RTE Brainstorm Long Read. https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0301/944407-the-strange-case-of-brexit-and-british-sovereign: Article [Details]

    Book Review

      Year Publication
    2016 Review of Eoin Daly and Tom Hickey, The Political Theory of the Irish Constitution – Republicanism and the Basic Law (Manchester University Press, 2015) Irish Jurist.
    Brian Flanagan (2016) Review of Eoin Daly and Tom Hickey, The Political Theory of the Irish Constitution – Republicanism and the Basic Law (Manchester University Press, 2015) Irish Jurist. Book Review [Details]

    Magazine Article

      Year Publication
    2006 'Free Speech and the Jyllands-Posten Cartoons' Oxford Forum.
    Brian Flanagan (2006) 'Free Speech and the Jyllands-Posten Cartoons' Oxford Forum. Magazine Article [Details]

    Magazine Article

      Year Publication
    2002 'European Union – the Birth of a Salesman?' UCD Literary and Historical Society Journal.
    Brian Flanagan (2002) 'European Union – the Birth of a Salesman?' UCD Literary and Historical Society Journal. Magazine Article [Details]

    Newspaper Articles

      Year Publication
    2011 'Judges look to foreign counterparts for guidance, survey shows' Irish Times.
    Flanagan, Brian (2011) 'Judges look to foreign counterparts for guidance, survey shows' Irish Times. Newspaper Articles [full-text] [Details]