Sophia Moreau brings together law and philosophy to counter systemic discrimination.
Sophia Moreau, who joins NYU Law as Samuel Tilden Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy this fall, works both on philosophical problems about moral obligations under conditions of injustice and also on legal work that assists governments, courts, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in understanding the situation of marginalized social groups. “I believe that philosophical work on injustice and subordination can make a difference to the law,” she says, “and that philosophy, in turn, needs to be informed by a knowledge of the real legal barriers encountered by subordinated groups.”
Much of Moreau’s current work spans this divide between philosophy and legal practice. She spearheads the Tort Law & Social Equality Project, an international effort that brings together academics and lawyers to examine ways in which tort law inadvertently disadvantages marginalized social groups. She is working on several projects on systemic discrimination, both in connection with women’s rights in international law and also within her home country, Canada. In addition, she is writing a book on moral philosophy, Objectionable Obligations, on individuals’ obligations within unjust institutions.
Moreau’s past work in discrimination theory also brought together law and philosophy. Her book Faces of Inequality: A Theory of Wrongful Discrimination (Oxford University Press, 2020) received the 2022 Canadian Philosophical Association Book Prize. “What makes Sophia’s work so special is that she not only combines a deep knowledge of the law with philosophical sophistication, but she takes very seriously people’s lived experience,” says Deborah Hellman, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and director of its Center for Law and Philosophy. Hellman and Moreau co-edited Philosophical Foundations of Discrimination Law, a seminal volume in the field.
Moreau comes to NYU Law from the University of Toronto, where she was professor of law and philosophy. She has also been a Weinstein Fellow at Berkeley Law, an HLA Hart Fellow at the University of Oxford, and a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Harvard University, and she clerked for Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada. Moreau earned her BPhil from Oxford, her PhD in philosophy from Harvard, and her JD from Toronto.
In addition to her academic work, Moreau has contributed to legal advocacy for marginalized groups. She has worked with NGOs on amicus briefs in appellate litigation with a particular impact on lower-income women, written a commissioned report for the Canadian government on gender identity as a protected ground of discrimination, and presented her work at such legal forums as the Mexican Supreme Court’s Seminario Permanente Sobre Igualdad and the Australian Anti-Discrimination Law Roundtable. Her scholarship has been cited by the European Court of Human Rights and also by Canada’s Supreme Court in many of their equality rights decisions. “I think that [Moreau] is one of the most outstanding scholars of her generation,” says Justice Rosalie Abella, who recently retired from Canada’s Supreme Court. “Her scholarship has helped to develop equality jurisprudence in Canada.”
Moreau first came to NYU Law as a visiting faculty member in 2022. “NYU feels like my intellectual home,” she says. “It is such a privilege for me to be here, working with some of the best legal philosophers in the world and with so many faculty and students who, though they take other approaches, nevertheless care deeply about engaging in philosophical conversations.”
One of the places where such conversations happen is NYU Law’s Colloquium in Legal, Political and Social Philosophy. “I am very excited that Sophia Moreau will be a convener of the colloquium in the near future,” says Liam Murphy, Herbert Peterfreund Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy. “I can’t imagine a better person to carry this important intellectual institution forward, and I very much look forward to working with her.” Moreau will also teach discrimination theory, torts, and moral and political philosophy.
In New York City, Moreau says she is keen to explore the arts and to get back to attending concerts with her NYU Law colleagues; her partner, Stephen, a litigator; and their daughter, Emma, who has a passion for opera. The family are also avid kayakers and are excited to try out rivers and lakes in New York State.
Posted September 10, 2024. Photo: Indigo Events