Val Whittington

University of Sussex, School of Law, Politics and Sociology, Tutor

University of Sussex, MAH (Formerly HAHP) Philosophy Department, Alumnus

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- BA Hons (1st class) University of Sussex 1987, English Literature (with Comparative Epistemologies) in the School of African and Asian Studies.
- Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Award Dist.), University of the West of England, 1999.
- MA (Dist.) University of Sussex 2013, Social and Political Thought.
- PhD in Social and Political Thought, Department of History, Art History and Philosophy (now MAH), University of Sussex, 2021.
Teaching qualifications and experience:
- PCET Cert ed. in post compulsory education, 2008
- Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy, UK, 2020
- Doctoral Tutor, University of Sussex, 'Society State & Humanity’ (V7064) ‘Paradox & Argument' (V7079), 'Philosophy, Politics and the Middle East' (V7091), between 2017-2020.
- Currently teaching at the University of Sussex Law School
- Trained in and practised in Law between (1992 - 2001)
- Law, Politics and Criminology teacher (students aged 16 - 18) 2005 - 2022.
Awards:
- Law Society Prize - UWE Legal Practice Course, 1999
- Gillian Rose Prize in Social and Political Thought, 2013
Supervisors: Professor Darrow Schecter and Professor Sarah Sawyer
Address: United Kingdom

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SSPT24 Whittington The role of the common law jury

Studies in Social and Political Thought , 2014

The concept of legitimacy is examined (I) through a reading of Habermas’s work on communicative a... more The concept of legitimacy is examined (I) through a reading of Habermas’s work on communicative action, and through a reading of the opening chapters of Between Facts and Norms. The claim that legal juries function in a manner similar to a ‘parliament’ is rejected in favour of a claim that they exercise a decentred ‘particle’ of popular sovereignty. (II) An analysis of the jury’s lifeworld origins is undertaken and, (III) the essay then considers the democratic function of the operation of ‘jury equity’ whereby juries may produce ‘perverse’ decisions, or as described in the USA – jury ‘nullification’ whereby juries bring in verdicts that go against overwhelming evidence.

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Walter Benjamin’s Zur Kritik der Gewalt (‘On the Critique of Violence’): reception, relevance, and a mis-diagnosis?

Studies in Social and Political Thought, 2018

Walter Benjamin’s early essay Zur Kritik der Gewalt [Zur Kritik] first published in 1921 is a not... more Walter Benjamin’s early essay Zur Kritik der Gewalt [Zur Kritik] first published in 1921 is a notoriously difficult text, but its relevance to contemporary politics makes it a text to which theorists repeatedly return. This reading takes issue with those critics, notably Axel Honneth, who see Benjamin’s project in Zur Kritik as fatally, dangerously flawed. It is suggested here that Benjamin’s text, despite the difficulties, still posits the possibility of a ‘lookout point’ - not prescriptive per se but in keeping with his abiding interest in literature, metaphorical and exegetical. There is no ground on which to stand that does not in effect constitute the lookout point of the place and times of the lookout, but this reading suggests that the Benjaminian lookout point is the lookout which is never fixed because it is not ‘looking out’ on but towards others, and is not merely addressing and prescribing, but talking with itself and others. That Benjamin embraces religious language to effect this move, perhaps suggesting, a lookout in judgment from a fixed point, from some ‘higher’ (transcendental) ground, certainly might be troubling for some, but it will be suggested these anxieties are misplaced.

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SSPT24 Whittington The role of the common law jury

Studies in Social and Political Thought , 2014

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Walter Benjamin’s Zur Kritik der Gewalt (‘On the Critique of Violence’): reception, relevance, and a mis-diagnosis?

Studies in Social and Political Thought, 2018

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