Silje A. Langvatn is Associate Professor in Political Philosophy at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (SVT). She has previously been a postdoctoral fellow at SVT, postdoctoral fellow at PluriCourts, University of Oslo, Law & Philosophy, Law & philosophy fellow at Yale Law School (2016), and Fulbright Visiting Fellow at Harvard Government Department (2009).

• Organizer of workshop "New Perspectives on Legitiamcy", University of Leiden, October 31st and NOv. 1st, 2024.
• Organizer of the workshop "Proportionality assessments" in cooperation with PluriCourts. Bergen, 6 and 7 July 2023
• Talk: Academic freedom imaginaries at SVT's anniversary seminar Academic freedom at 35. Bergen, 23.09.2022
• Co-organizer of and contributor to workshop: Proporsjonalitetsvurderingar - korleis og kvifor? (Proportionality assessment - how and why?) Organized in cooperation with Eirik Holmøyvik with support from PluriCourts (UiO) og Faculty of Law (UiB). Bergen, 10.05.2022
• Talk: SVT's symposium Sick Society: What makes corona measures justifiable? Bergen, 03.12.2021
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Course organizer VITHF900 Theory of Science and Ethics for PhD-candidates Faculty of Humanities

Lectures at VITSV900 

Lectures at MNF490

2007

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2007). Non-Metphysical, Metaphysically Freestanding, Post-Metaphysical pr Metaphysical? - Problems of Foundation in Political Philosophy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2007). Gud i det offentlege, eller offentleg gudløyse? Politisk liberale tilnærmingar. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2007). Normative grounding in Political Liberalism: "postmetaphysical", "non-metaphysical" or "freestanding"?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2007). Feminisme i Tangoland. (external link)

2025

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2025). Science advice for policy: enhancing the legitimacy of non-epistemic value judgments. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2025). On the importance of the distinction between justifying a practice, and justifying something within a practice.. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2025). What Is It We Disagree about When We Disagree about the Legitimacy of an Institution? A Framework for Analyzing Legitimacy’s Institutional-Context Sensitivity.. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2025). A ‘Political-Moral Approach’ to Proportionality. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2025). Security culture - a local case study. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2025). Paneldeltakelse HF-dagen. (external link)

2026

• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Cathrine Holst (2026). Science advice for policy: enhancing the legitimacy of non-epistemic value judgments through proportionality analysis. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2026). Kelsens demokratiteori - har den (politisk filosofisk) relevans i dag?. (external link)

2014

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Er sosialdemokratiet liberalt?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Public Reason and the Legitimacy of International Courts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Borgardygder i Habermas og Rawls sine demokratimodellar. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). What Does it Mean to Say That an Tnternational Court Should "Reason in Public Reason"?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Public reason and political legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Sofie A.E. Høgestøl (2014). Book Review: International Criminal Justice: Legitimacy and Coherence, edited by G. Boas, W. A. Schabas and M. P. Scharf. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Blind Spots and Complementarity in Habermas' and Rawls' Models of Deliberative Democracy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Rawls' Late Political Liberalism. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). What Does it Mean to Say that an International Court has a "Public Reason"?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). 17. Mai: Frå pølsefest til prinsippdiskusjon - kva forhold vanlege borgarar har, og kan ha, til konstitusjonen. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Rawls' Concept and Conception of Political Legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Rawls' Concept and Conception pf Legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Politisk filosofi for eit sosialdemokrati. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). Daniel Bodansky's Analysis of Legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2014). 17.mai: Frå pølsefest til prinsippdiskusjon? - Kva forhold vanlege borgarar har, og kan ha, til konstitusjonen. (external link)

2001

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2001). Distributive Justice through International Law - A Discourse Ethical Approach. (external link)

2017

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). Post public reason in an age of post-truth politics?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). ""Use of public reason" or "the public use of reason""?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). Is there a place for public reason in post-truth politics?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). What do we mean when we say that there is a legitimacy crisis for human rights?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Theresa Squatrito (2017). Conceptualizing and Measuring the Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). Conceptualizing legitimacy in discussions about international courts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Cathrine Holst (2017). Accountability of expertise? Frameworks for addressing the normative challenges of increasing reliance on experts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). The turn from justice to legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). "The exemplar of public reason- A framework for analyzing public reason in courts". (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). Rawls' political political philosophy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). Do we improve the legitimacy of international courts by making them "more accountable"?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2017). Populist backlashes against international courts - Invited comment on Erik Voeten's PluriCourts annual lecture. (external link)

2023

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2023). Regulating for Evidence-based Advice: Which Prescriptions for Non-epistemic Value Judgments?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2023). Kva eg snakkar om når eg snakkar om vitskapsteori. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2023). Invited speaker to roundtable on "The future of political theory and philosophy". (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2023). Regulating for evidence-based advice: Prescriptions for non-epistemic value judgments. (external link)

2020

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2020). Rewriting Academic Role Expectations in Light of Climate Change?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2020). Understanding disagreements about the legitimacy of institutions. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2020). Taking Public Reason to Court: Understanding References to Public Reason in Discussions about Courts and Adjudication. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2020). Introducing the Public Reason and Court anthology. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde (2020). Eit amerikanisert rettsvesen?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2020). Domstolar sin legitimitet og klimarettsaka. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2020). Hvordan kan forskere skape tillit til forskning?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Mattias Kumm; Wojciech Sadurski (2020). Preface to Public Reason and Courts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Mattias Kumm; Wojciech Sadurski (2020). Public Reason and Courts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde (2020). Ulike syn, eller ulike måtar å argumentere for sitt syn. (external link)

2004

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2004). A Systematic Approach to Karl-Otto Apel's Explication of the Conception of Truth. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2004). Aurdal versus Matlary og vice versa. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2004). Transcendental- pragmatic Conceptions of Truth. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2004). John Rawls: Ein teori om rettferd. (external link)

2021

• Cathrine Holst; Silje Aambø Langvatn (2021). Descriptive representation of women in international courts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Anne Elisabeth Stie (2021). Constitution Making and Deliberative Democracy: Norway country report. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2021). Legitimacy Disagreements: A Framework of Analysis. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2021). The Proportionality Test as a Test of Public reason. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2021). When are Covid measures justifiable? - or how can we assess and justify the measures in a better way-. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2021). PluriCourts Lunch Seminar: What is it we disagree about when we disagree about the legitimacy of an institution? A framework for identifying and diagnosing legitimacy disagreements. (external link)

2024

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). What is it we disagree about when we disagree about the legitimacy of an institution? A framework for analyzing legitimacy's institutional context sensitivity.. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). Presentasjon av VITHF900 kurset i vitenskapsteori og etikk. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). A framework for analyzing the institutional aspects of legitimacy judgments.. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). Forholdsmessigheitsvurderingar for helsearbeidarar i krisesituasjonar. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). Political legitimacy in Rawls’ early and late political liberalism – Two diverging interpretations. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). "Two concepts of rules" - og to måtar å snakke om legitimitet.. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). Forholdsmessigheit. Kva er det? Kvifor er det viktig? Og kvifor kan vi ikkje overlate dette til juristane?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2024). Legitimacy's insitutional context sensitivities. (external link)

2015

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Courts and Public Reason: Why International Courts May be a Special Case. (external link)
• Cathrine Holst; Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Expertise and Democratic Accountability in Courts and Public Administration. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Why some international courts should sometimes use public reason, and what that might mean in practice. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Why International Courts should use Public Reason. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). The Legitimacy of International Courts: How do we conceptualize it?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Rawls on Theoretical and Practical Reason. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Should International Courts use Public Reason?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Legitimate, but Unjust. Just, but Illegitimate.. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). Deliberative demokratimodellar. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). How much can O'Neill's justificatory approach to human rights justify? - Comment on Onora O'Neill's Grimen lecture. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2015). International Courts' Public Reason. (external link)

2010

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2010). Martha Nussbaum - i rettferdas nybrottsland. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2010). Rawls' Idea of Public Reason - Between "Public Reasons" and "Reasoning in Public". (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2010). Rawls om "offentlig fornuft" versus Habermas om "offentlig bruk av fornuften". (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2010). Private følelser og offentlig fornuft?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2010). Public Reason - Also in Private: On the importance of "Pre-public Reasoning" as part of Rawls' civic ideal. (external link)

2016

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). Rawls' Political Liberalism Reconstructed. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). Legitimate, but unjust; just, but illegitimate: Rawls on political legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). Judges as moral experts in courts. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). Et tverrfaglig problem. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Eirik Vigsnes (2016). Unge forskere sprenger grenser. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). International Courts and non-arbitrary discretionary power. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). Should International Courts Use Public Reason?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2016). Public reason - an essentially contested term? Opening address. (external link)

2013

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Public Reason and Political Legitimacy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Frå "De Stummes Lejr" til "idealet om offentlig fornuft". (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Rawls' shift in focus from "political justice" to "political legitimacy": What difference does it make?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Eit rom fullt av elefantar (Om ICC sitt statspartsmøte i Haag 2013). (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Skuggeskrivarane. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Ferdamann med stein i skoen. (Svar til Arild Pedersen sitt "Ferdaminne frå Skjervheimen" i Dag og Tid, 27.10.2013). (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). The Idea of an European Science and Technology Value Atlas. (external link)
• Kjersti Lohne; Silje Aambø Langvatn; Sofie A.E. Høgestøl (2013). Reflections on the ICC-ASP Conference and International Criminal Justice. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Rawls' røyst. (external link)
• Knut Melvær; Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Grunnlov tatt for gitt? Demokrati og offentlig begrunnelse. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). The Idea and Ideal of Public Reason – John Rawls’ Attempt to Conceptualize a Well-ordered Constitutional Democracy. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2013). Meir enn Stemmerett. (external link)

2022

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2022). Academic Freedom Imaginaries. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2022). Forholdsmessig styring. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2022). Kva snakkar vi om når vi snakkar om at inngripande tiltak må vere proporsjonale?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Cathrine Holst (2022). Expert accountability: what does it mean, why is it challenging - and is it what we need?. (external link)

2009

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2009). Grounding Political Morality- In Mediis Rebus. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2009). Can a liberal state support basic research? A Political Liberal Approach. (external link)

2018

• Cathrine Holst; Silje Aambø Langvatn (2018). Accountability of experts: What does it mean, why is it challenging - and is it what we need?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2018). What is it we disagree about, when we disagree about the legitimacy?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2018). Institutional legitimacy. (external link)
• Cathrine Holst; Silje Aambø Langvatn (2018). Accountability of experts - is it what we need?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2018). Analyzing institutional legitimacy. (external link)

2012

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2012). Kva er det norske? Kronikk. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2012). Kortfilm som presenterer Prosjektet Value Isobars og The European S&T Value Atlas. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2012). Intervju om prosjektet Value Isobars og The European Science &Technology Value Atlas. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2012). Kvinna - Den tause borgaren. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2012). Suggestions for a Value-based Governance: The Idea of a ”European Science and Technology Value Atlas”. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2012). Rawls on Legitimacy. (external link)

2011

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Rawls on "Public reason", Habermas on "Public use of Reason". (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Reconstructing Rawls' Political Liberalism. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Hemmelig val og offentlig fornuft. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Superborgaren. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Superborgaren. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Practice dependence and political constructivism in Rawls' Political Liberalism. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). What Rawls asks of the individual. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Presentation of the idea of an European Science and Technology Value Atlas (ESTVA). (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2011). Eit nytt offentlegheitsideale?. (external link)

2005

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2005). Martha Nussbaums universalistiske feminisme. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2005). Når sant må seiast Ein diskusjon av Karl-Otto Apels transcendentalpragmatiske sanningskonsepsjon. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2005). Menn om Menn. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2005). Eit muslimsk, feministisk dilemma. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2005). Argumentativ reformasjon. (external link)

2006

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2006). Religion i det offentlege, eller offentleg religion. (external link)

2008

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2008). Kan ein liberal stat støtte grunnforskning?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2008). Kan og bør ein liberal stat støtte grunnforskning?. (external link)

2019

• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2019). International Courts as Exemplars of Global Public Reason. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2019). Hva er Demokrati?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn (2019). What is it we disagree about, when we disagree about the legitimacy of an institution?. (external link)
• Silje Aambø Langvatn; Jeffrey L. Dunoff; Martin Westergren (2019). Introduction to the Symposium: Political and Legal Theory on the Legitimacy of International Courts. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Recent publications

Langvatn, S.A. (2024) "Political legitimacy in Rawls’ early and late political liberalism – Two diverging interpretations". Philosophy & Social Criticism.

Langvatn, S.A. & Holst, C. (2022) Expert accountability: What does it mean, why is it challenging—and is it what we need? Constellations 00, 1– 16

When mistakes are made in political life, a standard remedy is to find someone to hold to account. But when experts who take part in governance make mistakes, they are seldom the ones who are held to account. So, is the solution to make these «unaccountable experts» more accountable? Not so quick, we argue. Case: The severe expert mistakes made in the preparation of the impact assessment report for opening the South Eastern Barents Sea for petroleum activity.

Holst, C., & Langvatn, S. A. (2021). Descriptive representation of women in international courts. Journal of Social Philosophy, 00, 1– 18

"Should Blacks Represent Blacks, and Women Represent Women? A Contingent "Yes" (Jane Mansbridge 1999). In a new article, Cathrine Holst and I revisit Mansbridge's article, which presented a systematic framework for evaluating the costs and benefits of such descriptive representation. Mansbridge developed her framework with elected assemblies in mind.

We look at how the calculus changes when the question is descriptive representation of women in international courts. For this type of institution, we argue, some of the costs of descriptive representation become costlier, and some of the benefits become weaker.

Publication overview in Cristin