Rowan Cruft

Rowan Cruft
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
Academic work
DisciplinePhilosophy
Sub-discipline
Human Rights
InstitutionsUniversity of Stirling

Rowan Cruft is a British philosopher and a Professor in the Division of Law and Philosophy at the University of Stirling. His research focusses on moral, political, and legal philosophy, particularly the nature and justification of rights and duties.

Career

Cruft joined the University of Stirling in 2002 after completing a PhD on the justification of property rights at the University of Cambridge. Between 2022 and 2025 he served as the Head of the Division of Law and Philosophy at Stirling.

He has published variously on different types of rights, including human rights and property rights, jurisprudence, and the philosophy of journalism. His 2019 book Human Rights, Ownership, and the Individual, which offers an "Addressive" account of the nature of rights, was praised by reviewers as "a valuable and original contribution to the recent philosophical literature on rights and human rights" and as "required reading for anyone doing serious work on rights and human rights."

Cruft has also spoken in Scottish Parliament and participated as an expert witness for the drafting of the Leveson Inquiry into the ethics and culture of the British press.

Selected works

Books

  • Cruft, Rowan; Kramer, Matthew H.; Reiff, Mark R., eds. (2011). Crime, Punishment, and Responsibility: The Jurisprudence of Anthony Duff. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199592814.
  • Cruft, Rowan; Liao, S. Matthew; Renzo, Massimo, eds. (2015). Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199688623.
  • Cruft, Rowan (2019). Human Rights, Ownership, and the Individual. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198793366.

Journal articles

  • "Rethinking the Post-Truth Polarisation Narrative: Social Roles and Hinge Commitments in the Plural Public Sphere." Co-written with Natalie Alana Ashton. The Political Quarterly, 4(92), 2021: 598–605
  • "Journalism and Press Freedom as Human Rights." Journal of Applied Philosophy, 39(3), 2021: 359–376
  • "XI–Why is it Disrespectful to Violate Rights?" Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 113(2), 2013: 201–224.
  • "On the Non-instrumental Value of Basic Rights." Journal of Moral Philosophy, 7(4), 2010: 441–461.
  • "Why Aren't Duties Rights?" The Philosophical Quarterly, 56(223), 2006: 175–192.
  • "Against individualistic justifications of property rights." Utilitas, 18(2), 2006: 154–172.
  • "Human Rights and Positive Duties." Ethics and International Affairs, 19(1), 2005: 29–37.

References

  1. ↑ "Rowan Cruft". Political Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2026-04-20. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  2. ↑ "Rowan Cruft – The Aristotelian Society". Archived from the original on 2026-07-13. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  3. ↑ "Professor Rowan Cruft | University of Stirling". www.stir.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2026-05-14. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  4. ↑ Inquiry, The Forum for the Study of Jurisprudence and Value. "The Forum for the Study of Jurisprudence and Value Inquiry in the Non-Western World (JVI)". jurisprudenceandvalueinquiry.org. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  5. ↑ Herzog, Lisa (2021-03-01). "An interview with Rowan Cruft (Beyond the Ivory Tower Series)". Justice Everywhere. Archived from the original on 2026-04-18. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  6. ↑ Buchanan, Allen; Sreenivasan, Gopal (2021). "Cruft, Rowan. Human Rights, Ownership, and the Individual. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. 304. $70.00 (cloth)". Ethics. 131 (2): 383–390. doi:10.1086/711216.
  7. ↑ Time for Reflection | Scottish Parliament TV. Retrieved 2026-07-11 – via www.scottishparliament.tv.
  8. ↑ "Leveson Inquiry". www.discoverleveson.com. Archived from the original on 2026-07-12. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  9. ↑ "REF Case study search". impact.ref.ac.uk. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  10. ↑ Wandall, Rasmus H (December 2014). "Rowan Cruft, Matthew H Kramer and Mark R Reiff (eds), Crime, Punishment, and Responsibility: The Jurisprudence of Antony Duff". Punishment & Society. 16 (5): 620–622. doi:10.1177/1462474514528846. ISSN 1462-4745.
  11. ↑ Lefebvre, Stéphane (May 2013). "Book Review: General Politics: Crime, Punishment and Responsibility: The Jurisprudence of Antony Duff". Political Studies Review. 11 (2): 270–271. doi:10.1111/1478-9302.12016_70. ISSN 1478-9299.
  12. ↑ Valentini, Laura (2017). "Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights Rowan Cruft, S. Matthew Liao & Massimo Renzo (eds), 2015 Oxford, Oxford University Press, xiii 720 pp., £39.99 (pb)". Journal of Applied Philosophy. 34 (3): 443–445. doi:10.1111/japp.12191. ISSN 1468-5930.
  13. ↑ Simpson, Robert Mark (2019-08-23). "Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights, edited by R. Cruft, S. M. Liao, and M. Renzo". Journal of Moral Philosophy. 16 (4): 517–520. doi:10.1163/17455243-01604003. ISSN 1740-4681. Archived from the original on 2024-08-07. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  14. ↑ Fornaroli, Giulio (2021-04-15). "Rowan Cruft, Human Rights, Ownership, and the Individual". Journal of Moral Philosophy. 18 (2): 186–189. doi:10.1163/17455243-18020003. ISSN 1740-4681. Archived from the original on 2025-05-06. Retrieved 2026-08-10.