Stephen R. Munzer

Distinguished Research Professor of Law

  • B.A. Kansas, 1966
  • B.Phil. Oxford, 1969
  • J.D. Yale, 1972
  • UCLA Faculty Since 1982

Stephen Munzer teaches Contracts, Property, and courses and seminars in legal philosophy and biotechnology. The American Philosophical Association awarded him the David Baumgardt Memorial Fellowship for 1997-98, and the Berger Prize in the Philosophy of Law in 1999. He received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in 1991. In 2018 he was awarded the Oliver C. Schroeder, Jr. Prize.

Professor Munzer studied philosophy at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He graduated from Yale Law School and was an associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Thereafter, he taught in the philosophy department of Rutgers University before entering law teaching. His interests include Christian theology and sports.

Professor Munzer's current research interests include auditory perception, the philosophy of religion, and moral and political philosophy. He is the author of A Theory of Property (1990), and editor of New Essays in the Legal and Political Theory of Property (2001).  In 2009 the American Philosophical Association published a tribute to his work on legal philosophy and biotechnology.

Bibliography

  • Books
    • New Essays in the Legal and Political Theory of Property (edited by Stephen R. Munzer). Cambridge University Press (2001). Reprinted by China University of Political Science and Law Press (2004).
    • A Theory of Property. Cambridge University Press (1990).
    • Legal Validity. Martinus Nijhoff (1972).
  • Articles And Chapters
    • A Framework for Managing Disputes Over Intellectual Property Rights in Traditional Knowledge, 29 Mich. J. Race & L. 31 (2024). Full Text
    • Temptation, Sinlessness, and Impeccability, 63 International Philosophical Quarterly 91 (2023). Full Text
    • Property Theory and Contemporary Marxism, 32 S. Cal. Interdisc. L.J. 277 (2023). Full Text
    • Silence as a Christian Experience and Practice, 62 Studia Monastica 253 (2020). Full Text
    • Questioning Bonhoeffer on Temptation, 85 Irish Theological Quarterly 265 (2020). Full Text
    • Economic Inequality Across Traditions, in Economic Inequality and Morality: Diverse Ethical Perspectives, 261-88 (edited by Richard Madsen and William M. Sullivan, Brookings Institution Press, 2019).
    • Dam(n) Displacement: Compensation, Resettlement, and Indigeneity, 51 Cornell International Law Journal 823 (2019). Full Text
    • Examining Nontherapeutic Circumcision, 28 Health Matrix 1 (2018). Full Text | SSRN
    • The German Circumcision Controversy—And Beyond, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law Online (2017).  SSRN.
    • Kierkegaard on Purity of Heart, 56 International Philosophical Quarterly 315-36 (2016).
    • Secularization, Anti-Minority Sentiment, and Cultural Norms in the German Circumcision Controversy, 37 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 503-81 (2015). Full Text
    • Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Remedies in Complex Situations, 7 (1) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Journal 73-83 (2015). Full Text
    • Property and Disagreement, in Philosophical Foundations of Property Law, pp. 289-319 (edited by James Penner and Henry E. Smith, Oxford Univ. Press, 2013). Full Text
    • Research Biobanks Meet Synthetic Biology: Autonomy and Ownership, in Comparative Issues in the Governance of Research Biobanks: Property, Privacy, Intellectual Property, and the Role of Technology, pp. 11-39 (edited by Giovanni Pascuzzi, Umberto Izzo, and Matteo Macilotti, Springer, 2013). Full Text
    • How to Integrate Administrative Law and Tort Law: The Regulation of Stem Cell Products, 64 Administrative Law Review 743-92 (2012). Full Text
    • Corrective Justice and Intellectual Property Rights in Traditional Knowledge, in New Frontiers in the Philosophy of Intellectual Property, 58-87 (edited by Annabelle Lever, Cambridge University Press, 2012). Full Text
    • Innocence, 29 Faith and Philosophy 125-43 (2012).
    • Risk and Reward in Stem Cell Products: A New Model For Stem Cell Product Liability, 18 Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law 102-49 (2012). Full Text
    • Cosmetic Surgery, Racial Identity, and Aesthetics, 19 Configurations, A Journal of Literature, Science and Technology 243-86 (2012). Full Text
    • A Bundle Theorist Holds on to His Collection of Sticks, 8 (3) Econ Journal Watch (Sept. 2011). Econ Journal Watch Full Text
    • Bodily Inscriptions as Signs in Medieval Christian Piety and Aztec Rituals, 25 (2) Journal of Ritual Studies (2011). Full Text
    • Purity of Heart, 50 (2) The Way (April 2011).
    • What Is Stemness? (with Yan Leychkis and Jessica L. Richardson), in 40 Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 312-20 (2009). Full Text
    • Moral, Political, and Legal Thinking: Property and Bioethics, 8 (2) American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law (Spring 2009). Full Text
    • Territory, Plants, and Land-Use Rights Among the San of Southern Africa: A Case Study in Regional Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge, and Intellectual Property (with Phyllis Chen Simon), 17 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 831-94 (2009). Full Text
    • The Uneasy Case for Intellectual Property Rights in Traditional Knowledge (Kal Raustiala), 27 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 37-97 (2009). Full Text
    • Commons, Anticommons, and Community in Biotechnological Assets, 10 Theoretical Inquiries in Law 271-98 (2009). Full Text
    • Plants, Torts, and Intellectual Property, in Tortious Liability: Emerging Trends, 53-93 (edited by M.N. Bhavani, Amicus Books/Icfai University Press, 2008).
    • Human-Nonhuman Chimeras in Embryonic Stem Cell Research, 21 Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 123-78 (2007). Full Text
    • Stem Cell Patents (with Russell Korobkin), in Stem Cell Century: Law and Policy for a Breakthrough Technology, (by Russell Korobkin, Yale University Press, 2007).
    • The Global Struggle Over Geographic Indications (with Kal Raustiala), 18 European Journal of International Law 337-65 (2007). Full Text
    • Plants, Torts, and Intellectual Property, in Properties of Law: Essays in Honor of Jim Harris, (edited by Timothy Endicott, Joshua Getzler and Edwin Peel, Oxford University Press, 2006). Full Text
    • Self-Abandonment and Self-Denial: Quietism, Calvinism, and the Prospect of Hell, 33 Journal of Religious Ethics 747-81 (2005).
    • Property, in The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 858-61 (edited by Edward Craig, Routledge, 2007).
    • Cái Chan Shè Huì Lùn [Property as Social Relations], 2 Si Fa [Private Law Review] 112-54 (Dec. 2005). Translated by Hao Peng and Wei Gao. Published by Peking University Press.
    • The Commons and the Anticommons in the Law and Theory of Property, in The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory, 148-62 (edited by Martin P. Golding and William A. Edmundson, Blackwell Publishing, 2005). Full Text
    • Childlikeness and Simplicity, 427 The Downside Review 135-52 (2004).
    • Conditional Intention and Abortion, 41 (3) The Pelican Record 58-68 (Dec. 2002).
    • Property, Patents, and Genetic Material, in A Companion to Genethics, 438-54 (edited by Justine Burley and John Harris, Blackwell Publishers, 2002).
    • Introduction, in New Essays in the Legal and Political Theory of Property, 1-9 (edited by Stephen R. Munzer, Cambridge University Press, 2001).
    • Property as Social Relations, in New Essays in the Legal and Political Theory of Property, 36-75 (edited by Stephen R. Munzer, Cambridge University Press, 2001).
    • Limited Property Rights in Umbilical Cord Blood for Transportation and Research (with Franklin O. Smith), 23 (4) Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology 203-07 (2001).
    • Heroism, Spiritual Development, and Triadic Bonds in Jain and Christian Mendicancy and Almsgiving, 48 NUMEN: International Journal of the History of Religions 47-80 (2001).
    • Intellectual Property Rights in Genes and Gene Fragments: A Registration Solution for Expressed Sequence Tags (Molly A. Holman), 85 Iowa Law Review 735-848 (2000). Abstract
    • Property, in Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 717-18 (Routledge, 2000).
    • Poverty, Virtue, and Ideal, 76 Angelicum 411-49, 627-28 (1999).
    • The Special Case of Property Rights in Umbilical Cord Blood for Transplantation, 51 Rutgers Law Review 493-568 (1999).
    • Beggars of God: The Christian Ideal of Mendicancy, 27 Journal of Religious Ethics 305-30 (1999).
    • Property, in 7 Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 757-61 (edited by Edward Craig, Routledge, 1998).
    • Human Dignity and Property Rights in Body Parts, in Property Problems: From Genes to Pension Funds, (edited by J.W. Harris, Kluwer Law International, 1997).
    • Ellickson on “Chronic Misconduct” in Urban Spaces: Of Panhandlers, Bench Squatters, and Day Laborers, 32 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 1-48 (1997).
    • Transplantation, Chemical Inheritance, and the Identity of Organs, 45 British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 555-70 (1994).
    • An Uneasy Case Against Property Rights in Body Parts, 11 Social Philosophy & Policy 259-86 (1994). Reprinted in Property Rights (edited by Ellen F. Paul, et al., Cambridge University Press, 1994).
    • Aristotle’s Biology and the Transplantation of Organs, 26 Journal of the History of Biology 109-29 (1993).
    • Kant and Property Rights in Body Parts, 6 Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 319-41 (1993).
    • The Acquisition of Property Rights, 66 Notre Dame Law Review 661-86 (1991).
    • Compensation and Government Takings of Private Property, in NOMOS XXXIII: Compensatory Justice, 195-222 (edited by John W. Chapman, NYU Press, 1991).
    • Property, Incorporation, and Projection, 23 Noûs 291-306 (1989).
    • Realistic Limits on Realist Interpretation, 58 Southern California Law Review 459-75 (1985).
    • Review Essay: Intuition and Security in Moral Philosophy, 82 Michigan Law Review 740-54 (1984). Reviewing Moral Thinking: Its Levels, Method, and Point, by R.M. Hare.
    • A Theory of Retroactive Legislation, 61 Texas Law Review 428-80 (1982).
    • Review Essay, 63 Minnesota Law Review 531-43 (1979). Reviewing Property Rights: Philosophic Foundations, by Lawrence C. Becker.
    • Review Essay: Persons and Consequences: Observations on Fried’s Right and Wrong, Michigan Law Review 421-45 (1977). Reviewing Right and Wrong, by C. Fried.
    • Review Essay, 31 Rutgers Law Review 153-65 (1978). Reviewing The Moral Criticism of Law, by David A. J. Richards.
    • Does the Constitution Mean What It Always Meant? (with James W. Nickel), 77 Columbia Law Review 1029-62 (1977).
    • Retroactive Law, 6 Journal of Legal Studies 373-97 (1977).
    • Right Answers, Preexisting Rights, and Fairness, 11 Georgia Law Review 1055-68 (1977).
    • Review Essay, 18 William & Mary Law Review 461-73 (1976). Reviewing By What Right? A Commentary on the Supreme Court's Power to Revise the Constitution, by Louis Lusky.
    • Book Review, 7 Theory and Decision 331-34 (1976). Reviewing Affirmative Discrimination, by Nathan Glazer.
    • Validity and Legal Conflicts, 82 Yale Law Journal 1140-74 (1973).
    • Causation and Liability in Private Actions for Proxy Violations, 80 Yale Law Journal 107-38 (1970).
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