
Professor Massimo Renzo
Professor of Politics, Philosophy & Law
Research interests
- Law
Contact details
Biography
Massimo Renzo is Professor of Politics, Philosophy & Law at King’s. He has held visiting appointments at the Australian National University, the universities of Virginia and Arizona, the Murphy Institute, the National University of Singapore and the Nathanson Centre for Transnational Human Rights, Crime & Security. He is an affiliated researcher at the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War & Peace and the Honorary Secretary of the Society for Applied Philosophy.
He is also one of the editors of the journal Criminal Law & Philosophy. He works primarily in legal and political philosophy. His main research interests are in the problems of political authority, international justice and the philosophical foundations of the criminal law.
Research interests
Professor Renzo works primarily in legal and political philosophy. His main research interests are in four areas:
- Political authority, with a focus on the questions of what justifies the right of states to create and enforce moral obligations; the question of the relationship between political authority and practical reasoning.
- Just war, with a focus on the question of what justifies lability to be killed in war; the question of whether there can be a duty to obey an order to fight an unjust war; the question of the justification of humanitarian intervention and of wars fought in order to protect political goods.
- Philosophy of the criminal law, with a focus on questions of agency and responsibility; the question of the authority of international criminal law.
- Human Rights, with a focus on the questions of how we should conceptualize human rights and of what justifies their existence.
Research

King's Cybersecurity Centre
King's Cybersecurity Centre is an EPSRC-NCSC Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR). It provides expertise on most areas of cyber security, it has a critical mass of researchers working on three main research themes and their interrelationship.
Status not setNews
Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law appoints new Chair and Director
Professor Massimo Renzo appointed to lead the prestigious Yeoh Tiong Lay (YTL) Centre for Politics, Philosophy & Law.

Professor Massimo Renzo awarded Irvine Prize in Political Philosophy
Professor Massimo Renzo has been awarded the prestigious Gregory Kavka/University of California, Irvine Prize in Political Philosophy for his essay “Political...

'Why Colonialism is Wrong' article published in journal
Professor Massimo Renzo's article 'Why Colonialism is Wrong' has been published in the Current Legal Problems (CLP) journal.

Article on "Revolution and Intervention" published in Noûs
Professor Massimo Renzo's paper has has recently appeared in Noûs, a notable philosophy journal.

Professor Massimo Renzo on Political Self-Determination and Wars of National Defense
A paper by Professor Massimo Renzo has has recently appeared in the Journal of Moral Philosophy.

Fellowship success for The Dickson Poon School of Law
The Law School is pleased to announce news of three fellowship awards: one for the BA/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship scheme and two for the Leverhulme...

The YTL Centre's Law & Justice Forum on 'Technology and Manipulation'
The YTL Centre hosted its second Law and Justice forum for 2019, this time on the topic of ‘Technology and Manipulation’.

Events

KJuris: Larissa Katz 'Property Within Borders'
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Katz to deliver the fourth event in the 2023-24 KJuris Series

KJuris: George Pavlakos 'The Possibility of Radical non-Positivism and Kantian Independence'
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Pavlakos to deliver the third event in the 2023-24 KJuris Series

Carolina Sartorio: A Simple but Powerful Idea
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Sartorio to deliver the second event in the 2023-24 Lectures in Practical Agency Series
Please note: this event has passed.

Twin Conferences in Tribute to the Philosophy of Joseph Raz
The Twin Conferences in Tribute to the Philosophy of esteemed colleague, Professor Raz, are hosted by King's College London and Columbia Law School, New York.
Please note: this event has passed.

KJuris: Mark Schroeder 'Tipping Points: Abuse & Transformative Self-Discovery'
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Schroeder to deliver the first event in the 2023-24 KJuris Series
Please note: this event has passed.

Workshop on Ethics and Epistemology
The event will bring together experts in epistemology, legal and political philosophy to discuss a number of questions at the intersection of practical...
Please note: this event has passed.

Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Lecture 2023
This is the Annual Lecture of the Society for Applied Philosophy 2003 with Professor Michael E Bratman (Stanford University).
Please note: this event has passed.

The YTL Annual Lecture: Prof Susan Wolf (UNC) Humble Apologies
The Annual Lecture of The YTL Centre with Susan Wolf (UNC) speaking.
Please note: this event has passed.

Paul Russell: 'Morality' and Responsibility Skepticism
The Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law welcomes Prof. Paul Russell (Lund) to King's next month to deliver the closing lecture of the...
Please note: this event has passed.

Michael Smith: Two Conceptions of Ideal Agents
Professor Michael Smith (Princeton) delivers the forthcoming lecture of the 2022/23 Series in Practical Agency, hosted by the Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for...
Please note: this event has passed.
Research

King's Cybersecurity Centre
King's Cybersecurity Centre is an EPSRC-NCSC Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR). It provides expertise on most areas of cyber security, it has a critical mass of researchers working on three main research themes and their interrelationship.
Status not setNews
Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law appoints new Chair and Director
Professor Massimo Renzo appointed to lead the prestigious Yeoh Tiong Lay (YTL) Centre for Politics, Philosophy & Law.

Professor Massimo Renzo awarded Irvine Prize in Political Philosophy
Professor Massimo Renzo has been awarded the prestigious Gregory Kavka/University of California, Irvine Prize in Political Philosophy for his essay “Political...

'Why Colonialism is Wrong' article published in journal
Professor Massimo Renzo's article 'Why Colonialism is Wrong' has been published in the Current Legal Problems (CLP) journal.

Article on "Revolution and Intervention" published in Noûs
Professor Massimo Renzo's paper has has recently appeared in Noûs, a notable philosophy journal.

Professor Massimo Renzo on Political Self-Determination and Wars of National Defense
A paper by Professor Massimo Renzo has has recently appeared in the Journal of Moral Philosophy.

Fellowship success for The Dickson Poon School of Law
The Law School is pleased to announce news of three fellowship awards: one for the BA/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship scheme and two for the Leverhulme...

The YTL Centre's Law & Justice Forum on 'Technology and Manipulation'
The YTL Centre hosted its second Law and Justice forum for 2019, this time on the topic of ‘Technology and Manipulation’.

Events

KJuris: Larissa Katz 'Property Within Borders'
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Katz to deliver the fourth event in the 2023-24 KJuris Series

KJuris: George Pavlakos 'The Possibility of Radical non-Positivism and Kantian Independence'
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Pavlakos to deliver the third event in the 2023-24 KJuris Series

Carolina Sartorio: A Simple but Powerful Idea
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Sartorio to deliver the second event in the 2023-24 Lectures in Practical Agency Series
Please note: this event has passed.

Twin Conferences in Tribute to the Philosophy of Joseph Raz
The Twin Conferences in Tribute to the Philosophy of esteemed colleague, Professor Raz, are hosted by King's College London and Columbia Law School, New York.
Please note: this event has passed.

KJuris: Mark Schroeder 'Tipping Points: Abuse & Transformative Self-Discovery'
The YTL Centre is delighted to welcome Prof. Schroeder to deliver the first event in the 2023-24 KJuris Series
Please note: this event has passed.

Workshop on Ethics and Epistemology
The event will bring together experts in epistemology, legal and political philosophy to discuss a number of questions at the intersection of practical...
Please note: this event has passed.

Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Lecture 2023
This is the Annual Lecture of the Society for Applied Philosophy 2003 with Professor Michael E Bratman (Stanford University).
Please note: this event has passed.

The YTL Annual Lecture: Prof Susan Wolf (UNC) Humble Apologies
The Annual Lecture of The YTL Centre with Susan Wolf (UNC) speaking.
Please note: this event has passed.

Paul Russell: 'Morality' and Responsibility Skepticism
The Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law welcomes Prof. Paul Russell (Lund) to King's next month to deliver the closing lecture of the...
Please note: this event has passed.

Michael Smith: Two Conceptions of Ideal Agents
Professor Michael Smith (Princeton) delivers the forthcoming lecture of the 2022/23 Series in Practical Agency, hosted by the Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for...
Please note: this event has passed.