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Articles

The Man on the Clapham Omnibus Revisited

Who is this semi-mythical figure, and what does he really think? Tim Madigan decided that there was only one way to find out…

“A conscientious legislator who is told a moral consensus exists must test the credentials of that consensus. He cannot, of course, examine the beliefs or behavior of individual citizens; he cannot hold hearings on the Clapham Omnibus. That is not the point.”

Ronald Dworkin, “Lord Devlin and the Enforcement of Morals”, Yale Law Journal 76 (1966)

Is Ronald Dworkin is correct that one cannot hold hearings on the Clapham Omnibus? As a strict empiricist, I determined to find out. This particular challenge was sparked by the curious fact that the editors of Philosophy Now, Rick Lewis and Anja Steinbauer, reside in the Clapham district of London.

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