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LAURENCE D. HOULGATE
Curriculum Vitae
1. EDUCATION
Ph.D. Philosophy, University of California, Los Angeles, 1967.
Dissertation committee: Herbert Morris (chair), Joel Feinberg, A.I. Melden,
Keith Gunderson.
M.A. Philosophy, University of California, Los Angeles, 1965.
B.A. Philosophy, California State University, Los Angeles, 1960.
Areas of specialization: Philosophy of Law, Social Ethics, Ethical Theory, Ethics and
Family Policy, Medical Ethics.
Areas of competence: Political Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion,
Philosophy of Mind, Critical Thinking.
2. ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Professor Emeritus, Philosophy, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,
California.
Previous appointments:
Professor, Philosophy Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,
California, 1979-2005. Department Chair, 1990-1994.
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, George Mason University,
Virginia, 1973-79.
Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Reed College, Oregon, 1972-73.
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara,
California, 1966-72.
Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, California State University, Fullerton, California, 1964-
66.
3. GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, HONORS
Scholar of the Year, College of Liberal Arts, California Polytechnic State University, 2000.
Co-founder, Society for Philosophy and the Family
Nominee: Chair, Committee on Philosophy of Law, American Philosophical Association
Meritorious Performance Awards, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
(three times).
Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities.
Summer Stipend, National Endowment for the Humanities (twice).
Study Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies (for the study of law at the
University of Virginia.)
Fellowship, Humanities Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
4. MEMBERSHIPS, CONSULTANTSHIPS
Co-founder, Society for Philosophy and the Family
Member, Committee on Academic Careers, American Philosophical Association.
Member, Governing Council, Pacific Institute for Biomedical Education and Research.
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International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, American Section
(Membership Committee)
Consultant, Philosophy Program Review, California State University, Sacramento.
Consultant, Seminar on Religion, Culture and the Family, School of Divinity, University of
Chicago.
Consultant, Medical Ethics Committees: General Hospital, French Hospital, Sierra Vista
Hospital, Twin Cities Community Hospital, Atascadero State Hospital (all in San Luis Obispo
County, California).
Editorial consultant, Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political and Legal
Philosophy
Consultant, Family Impact Seminar, Institute for Educational Leadership, American
University, Washington, D.C.
Member, Juvenile Justice Commission, San Luis Obispo County, California 2007 - 2012.
5. PUBLICATIONS
Books:
Morals, Marriage and Parenthood: An Introduction to Family Ethics (Belmont, California:
Wadsworth Publishing Co, 1999).
Family and State: The Philosophy of Family Law (New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield,
1988).
The Child and the State: A Normative Theory of Juvenile Rights (New York and Baltimore:
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980).
Articles in Anthologies, Encyclopedias, Journals:
"John Locke on Immigration and Naturalization: Membership and Community in the
State of Nature," forthcoming in Ann Cudd, Immigration and Citizenship (Springer, 2016).
"Family Law," in Christopher B. Grey, The Philosophy of Law: an Encyclopedia (New York:
Garland, 1999), pp. 288-290.
“Three Concepts of Children's Constitutional Rights: Reflections on the Enjoyment Theory,"
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law (Vol. 2, No. 1, 1999), pp. 77-94..
"Children and Ethical Theory (revised)" in L. Becker and C. Becker, eds., Encyclopedia of
Ethics, Second Edition (New York: Garland Pub. Co., 1999).
"What is Legal Intervention in the Family? Family Law and Family Privacy," Law and
Philosophy, vol. 17, no. 2 (March,1998), pp. 141-158.
"Must the Personal be Political? Family Law and the Concept of Family," The International
Journal of Law, Policy and Family, volume 12 (1998), pp. 107-119.
"Are Juveniles Still 'Persons' Under the United States Constitution?" (with Philip Fetzer), The
International Journal of Children's Rights, vol. 5 (1997), pp. 319-339.
"The Status of Children in a Liberal Society," Law and Philosophy, vol. 5, no. 1 (September,
1996).
"Is Divorce Immoral?" in Christina Sommers and Fred Sommers, Vice and Virtue in
Everyday Life, 4th ed. (New York: Harcourt, 1997).
"Ethical Theory and the Family," in Diana T. Myers, K. Kipnis, and C. Murphy, eds.
Kindred Matters: Rethinking the Philosophy of the Family (Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1994).
"Children and Ethical Theory," in L. Becker and C. Becker, eds. Encyclopedia of Ethics
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(New York: Garland Pub. Co., 1992).
"Whose Child? In re Baby M and the Biological Preference Principle," Logos, vol. 9, 1988.
"Divorce Child Custody Disputes," Journal of Divorce, Spring/Summer, 1987, pp. 15-26.
"PMS, Mental Abnormality and Legal Responsibility," in B.E. Ginsburg and B.F. Carter,
eds. Premenstrual Syndrome: Ethical and Legal Implications in a Biomedical Perspective
(New York: Plenum Press, 1987).
"Review: Wringe's Children's Rights: A Philosophical Study, Canadian Philosophical
Reviews, vol. 3, 1983, pp. 253-54.
"Review: Grisso's Juveniles Waiver of Rights, Ethics, vol. 94, 1982, pp. 336-37.
"Children, Paternalism and Rights to Liberty," in Onora O'Neill and W.Ruddick, eds. Having
Children: Philosophical and Legal Reflections on Parenthood (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1982).
Reprinted in: David A.J. Richards, ed. Readings on Justice and Society, 3rd Edition
(Aspen, Colorado: Aspen Institute, 1987).
"The Child as a Person: Recent Supreme Court Decisions," in W. Aiken and H. LaFollette,
eds. Whose Child? Children's Rights, Parental Authority and State Power (New Jersey:
Littlefield, Adams, 1980).
"Medical Research Involving Children," Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social
Philosophy, vol. 12, 1979, pp. 123-28. Reprinted in: Glasgow House Quarterly, vol. 1, pp.
27-38.
"Rights, Health, and Mental Disease," Wayne Law Review, vol. 22, 976, pp. 87-95.
"Excuses and the Criminal Law," Southern Journal of Philosophy, vol. 13, 1975, pp. 187-95.
"Virtue is Knowledge," The Monist, vol. 54, 1970, pp. 142-53.
"The Platonic Minos and the Classical Theory of Natural Law," (with R.F. Hathaway),
American Journal of Jurisprudence, vol.14, 1969, pp. 105-24.
"Knowledge and Responsibility," American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 5, 1968, pp. 109-
110.
"Malcolm on Mind and the Human Form," Mind, vol. 77, 1968, pp. 584-77.
"Ignorantia Juris: A Plea for Justice,", Ethics, vol. 78, 1967, pp. 32-42.
"Mistake in Performance," Mind, vol. 75, 1966, pp. 257-61.
"Causation, Recipes and Theory," Theoria, vol. 29, 1963, pp. 265-76.
"The Paradigm-Case Argument and 'Possible Doubt'," Inquiry, vol. 5, 1962, pp. 318-24.
Other Media:
"The Family," an 80-page manuscript for the audio tape series Morality in our Age: the Audio
Classics Series (Knoxville: Knowledge Products, 1995). Narrated by Cliff Robertson. Two
cassettes, total playing time 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
6. INVITED ADDRESSES (abbreviated list for years 1988-2007)
“Do Children Have Constitutional Rights?” Law and Society Program, University of
California, Santa Barbara, December 5, 2007
“The Ethics of Adultery,” University of South Florida, October 11, 2007
“Adultery, Divorce and Family Values,” California State Polytechnic University, Pomona,
April 19, 2007.
“Do Children Have Constitutional Rights?” Presidential Colloquium, Clemson University,
March 19, 2006.
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“Adultery, Divorce and Family Values,” Ethics Series, Chautauqua Institution, August, 2005.
"Justice and Utility in Frozen Embryo Custody Disputes," Liberal Arts Scholars Award
Presentation, California Polytechnic State University, 2001.
"Contracts and Consequences: The Ethics of Adultery," American Philosophical Association,
Pacific Division, Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 6, 2000.
"Three Concepts of Children's Constitutional Rights: Reflections on the Enjoyment Theory,"
Symposium on the Rights of Children, sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Journal
of Constitutional Law , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 5-6, 1999.
"Children and the Ethics of Divorce," Society for Philosophy and the Family, annual meeting,
San Francisco, Calif., 1995.
"Personal Relationships and Particularity," American Philosophical Association, Pacific
Division, San Francisco, 1995; and Conference on Persons, St. Mary's College, Notre Dame,
Indiana, 1993.
"Liberalism, Religion, and the Limits of Social Intervention in the Family," University of
Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii, 1993.”
"Reproductive Freedom and Harm to the Unconceived," conference on U.A.W. v. Johnson
Controls, sponsored by the Committee on the Status of Women and the Committee on
Philosophy and Law, American Philosophical Association, annual meetings, New York,
1991.
"Who Owns the Child?" Humanities Present: Current Ethical Issues in Debate, Portland State
University (Oregon Committee for the Humanities), 1989.
"The Idea of the Family," Sierra Family Institute, California Council on Family Relations,
1989.
"Ethical Theory and Family Relationships," Conference on the Family, International
Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (American Section), White Plains,
New York, 1988.
"Ethics and Family Law: a Response to My Critics," Author Meets Critics Symposium on
L.D. Houlgate's Family and State: The Philosophy of Family Law, American Philosophical
Association, annual meetings, Pacific Division, Portland, Oregon, 1988.
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