About Gideon
Gideon Yaffe arrived at Yale Law School in 2019 as the Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence and Professor of Philosophy & Psychology. He stepped into a role that sits squarely at the intersection of legal theory and the cognitive sciences. The title signals a career that moves between departments and disciplines. His presence there has been notable for bridging philosophical analysis and questions that matter to law students and scholars alike.
He built his academic foundation at Harvard University, where he earned an A.B. in 1992. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Stanford University in 1998. Soon after finishing his doctorate he took a position as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. Those early years in academic teaching set the pattern for a career that alternates rigorous philosophical argument with classroom work.
In 2010 he joined the University of Southern California as Professor of Philosophy and Law, splitting his appointment between the Department of Philosophy and the School of Law. That role underscored his interest in cross-disciplinary questions and gave him a platform to teach students from both programs. Over the next decade he continued to write and teach on topics that traverse moral theory, psychology, and legal concepts.
Colleagues and students describe his approach as analytical and careful. He tends to favor close argumentation and an attention to how philosophical distinctions map onto legal doctrines. His scholarly activity engages questions about jurisprudence and moral psychology, and he regularly draws connections between philosophical arguments about responsibility and the kinds of judgments lawyers and judges confront. He has moved comfortably between philosophy departments and law schools, shaping courses that reflect that range.
At Yale Law School he teaches and advises students across law and philosophy. He holds an endowed chair named for Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld, a nod to a long line of inquiry into legal concepts and rights. He continues to publish and lecture on topics that connect philosophical inquiry to legal practice. He focuses on teaching and research in jurisprudence and the intersections of philosophy and psychology at Yale Law School.
