This set of video lectures focuses on the relationship between law and practical rationality, examining how obligations guide reasoning, decision-making, and action. Addressing foundational questions in moral and legal philosophy, the lessons explore the nature of obligation, its binding force, and the role obligations play in structuring practical reasoning beyond specific legal or moral contexts. Further contributions to follow, these video lessons aim to deepen the understanding of how normativity operates within law and practical reasoning. The videos are developed within Task 5.8 (Law and Practical Rationality) as part of Work Package 5 of the ALF project.
Ambrose Lee – The Nature of Obligation and its bindingness
Speaker: Ambrose Lee
Institution: University of Surrey Faculty of Law
In this lecture, Ambrose Lee delves into the philosophical underpinnings of obligation, exploring its nature and the nature of its bindingness. Focusing not on specific legal or moral obligations but on the idea of obligations more generally, Lee identifies two broad approaches in the literature to the nature of obligation and what it is to have an obligation. He explains some of the major views in each of these two approaches and some of the motivations behind each of them. Through clear examples and rigorous analysis, he addresses how individuals can rightfully feel bound by obligations and the role that obligations are supposed to play in our reasoning and everyday lives, offering valuable insights for anyone interested in practical ethics and in moral and legal philosophy.