Professor Sean Coyle LLB, PhD

Birmingham Law School
Professor of Jurisprudence

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 414 6321
Fax
+44 (0) 121 414 3585
Email
s.coyle@bham.ac.uk
Address
Birmingham Law School
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Coyle writes and teaches on aspects of legal and political philosophy. In 2004 his work won one of the SLS Prizes for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. His next book, From Positivism to Idealism, was shortlisted for the 2008 Inner Temple Book Prize. His third book, Dimensions of Politics and English Jurisprudence, was the subject of a conference at the University of Notre Dame, USA in 2013. In addition, he is the author of a student text, Modern Jurisprudence (3rd ed 2022). He recently completed a book entitled Natural Law and Modern Society (Oxford University Press 2023) and Natural Law, Ethics and Human Vulnerability (Hart Publishing 2025).

He has lectured and spoken at universities throughout the UK and elsewhere, including Emory University, LSE, UCL, and the Universities of Antwerp, Budapest, Manchester, Miami and Minnesota.

At Birmingham, he is a member of the Jurisprudence research group, and is director of the Forum for the Study of Natural Law.

Qualifications

  • LLB(Hons) 1st Class
  • PhD

Biography

Professor of Jurisprudence 2011-present; previously Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Exeter (2009-11), Reader in Jurisprudence, University College London (2005-09), Lecturer in Laws, University College London (2003-05), and Lecturer in Law, University of Durham听

Teaching

  • Jurisprudence (LLB Y2)
  • Political and Legal Theory II (LLB Y3)
  • Advanced Political and Legal Theory (LLM)

Postgraduate supervision

All areas of legal and political philosophy.

Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University 麻豆精选.

Research

听

All areas of legal and political philosophy, centring especially on theories of natural law.

Current projects

Recent work has focused on the natural law theory and ethics of Thomas Aquinas, Hugo Grotius and Francisco Suarez. Recent work has included a book entitled Natural Law and Modern Society听(Oxford UP 2023) and one entitled Natural Law, Ethics and Human Vulnerability听(Hart Publishing 2025). Currently writing a book on Saint Augustine.

Other activities

  • Editorial Board member (and former Editor) of Jurisprudence: An International Journal of Legal and Political Thought.
  • Editorial Board member, Law and Practical Reason (monograph series, Hart Publishing)
  • Editorial Board member, Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (Elgar)

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Coyle, S 2023, . 1st edn, Oxford University Press.

Coyle, S 2013, . Cambridge University Press.

Article

Coyle, S 2025, '', New Blackfriars.

Coyle, S 2025, '', Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence.

Coyle, S 2023, '', American Journal of Jurisprudence, vol. 68, no. 1, auad004, pp. 33鈥�62.

Coyle, S 2020, '', New Blackfriars, vol. 101, no. 1091, pp. 46-66.

Coyle, S 2017, '', Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 77-96.

Coyle, S 2017, '', Jurisprudence, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 319-341.

Coyle, S 2016, '', New Blackfriars, vol. 97, no. 1071, pp. 591-609.

Coyle, S 2013, '', New Blackfriars, vol. 93, no. 1048, pp. 687-709.

Coyle, S 2013, '', Modern Law Review, vol. 76, no. 2, pp. 401.

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Coyle, S 2024, . in L Burazin, KE Himma & G Pino (eds), Jurisprudence in the Mirror: The Common Law World Meets the Civil Law World. Oxford University Press, pp. 153-167.

Coyle, S 2015, . in A Grear & LJ Kotz茅 (eds), Research handbook on human rights and the environment. Elgar. <>

Coyle, S 2015, . in A Grear & E Grant (eds), Thought, Law, Rights and Action in the Age of Environmental Crisis. Edward Elgar, pp. 96-121. <>

Chapter

Coyle, S 2013, . in T Brooks (ed.), Law and Legal Theory. Brill.

Expertise

Legal and political philosophy including jurisprudence