Jeffrey Helmreich

Picture of Jeffrey Helmreich
Associate Professor, Philosophy and Law
School of Humanities
Director of Humanities and Law Minor
Co-Director (with Ken Simons), Center for Legal Philosophy
Ph.D., UCLA
J.D., Georgetown
B.A., Columbia
Fax: (949) 824-6520
Email: jhelmrei@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
71 Humanities Instructional Building
Mail Code: 4555
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Ethics, Action, Jurisprudence
Websites
Appointments
Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation (2011-13)
Research Abstract
I work in ethics and legal philosophy. Some recent areas of focus include moral psychology, speech acts, moral and legal remedy, and the philosophy of torts and evidence.
Publications
BOOKS (edited):

The Palgrave Handbook on the Philosophy of Rights, co-edited with Margaret Gilbert and Gopal Sreenivasan (forthcoming)

ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS:
"Does 'Sorry' Incriminate? Evidence, Harm and the Protection of Apology" Cornell JLPP Link
"Putting Down: Expressive Subordination and Equal Protection," UCLA Law Rev. Disc.
"Reasonable Doubts or Doubtable Reasons? The Case for an Objective Standard" BJALS Link
"The Apologetic Stance" Phil.&Pub.Aff. Link
"Overcoming Luck: Two Trends in Legal Philosophy" Analysis Link
"Taking a Stance: an Account for Persons and Institutions" Springer Link
"A Jurisprudential Puzzle as Old as the Talmud" OUP Link
"The Bounds of Morality: Gilbert on Promissory Obligation" ProtoSociology Vol. Link
"Accepting Forgiveness" J.Ethics Link
"Against the Odds: the Case for a Modal Understanding of Due Care," with Duncan Pritchard, in The Social Epistemology of Legal Trials (Routledge 2020) .
"Advertising as Guaranteeing: a Defense of Strict Liability," in Problema: an International Journal of Jurisprudence.
"Legal Rights and Joint Commitment," for Philosophy & Phenomenological Research, special edition (on Margaret Gilbert's Rights and Demands: a Foundational Inquiry) PPR Link.
"Which Wrongs Make a Right? Goldberg and Zipursky on Torts," in Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies.
"Against Harm: Keating on the Soul of Tort Law," Journal of Tort Law 17:1 (2024): 33-43.
"Rights to Redress," The Palgrave Handbook on the Philosophy of Rights (Margaret Gilbert, Jeffrey Helmreich and Gopal Sreenivasan, eds.), forthcoming.
Under Review:

Guarantees and Propositional Promises

The Give in Forgiveness
Works in Progress:

Is there a Duty to Cooperate with an Unjust Penal System?

A Defense of Agent Regret: the Argument from Sincerity

Beyond Intention: Sincerity in Promising and Committing

Tort Repair and Moral Repair: Closer than You Think
Last updated
03/23/2026