"Ronald Dworkin [1931–] is a philosopher, especially noted for his contributions to legal, political, and moral philosophy. His theory of law as integrity is one of the leading contemporary views of the nature of law.

Ronald Dworkin was born...in Worcester, Massachusetts... He received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and another from Oxford University, where Dworkin was a student of Sir Rupert Cross at Magdalen College. Dworkin then attended Harvard Law School at Harvard University and subsequently clerked for Judge Learned Hand of the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit. After working at Sullivan and Cromwell, a prominent law firm in New York City, Dworkin became a Professor of Law at Yale University, where he became the holder of the Wesley N. Hohfeld Chair of Jurisprudence.

In 1969, Dworkin was appointed the Chair of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, in which position he succeeded H.L.A. Hart. After retiring from Oxford, Dworkin assumed a Chair at University College in the University of London [Quain Professor of Jurisprudence]. He [also] currently...is [Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law]...at New York University`s Law School." (from Wikipedia.com)

"A new book, Reading Dworkin Critically, describes Ronald Dworkin as 'probably the most influential figure in contemporary Anglo-American legal theory.' A scholar whose work often is called 'monumental' and 'landmark,' Dworkin is probably one of the two or three contemporary authors whom legal scholars will be reading 200 years from now. NYU School of Law students study with him today.

In Dworkin's view, every legal interpretation reflects an underlying theory about the general character of law; he assesses three such theories. One, previously influential, takes the law of a community to be only what the established conventions of that community say it is. Another, currently popular, assumes that legal practice is best understood as an instrument of society to achieve its policy goals. Dworkin opposes both views, arguing that the most fundamental purpose of law is not to report consensus or provide efficient means to social goals, but to be ethical; that is, to meet the requirement that a political community act in a coherent and principled manner toward all its members...." (from Ronald Dworkin's faculty biography)

His publications include Taking Rights Seriously (1977), A Matter of Principle (1985), Law's Empire (1986), Life's Dominion: An Argument About Abortion, Euthanasia and Individual Freedom (1993), Freedom's Law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution (1986), and Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality (2000).