Minister of Research and Higher Education Tora Aasland's speech at the Holberg dinner

Minister of Research and Higher Education Tora Aasland's speech at the Holberg dinner 28.11.2007. Håkonshallen in Bergen.

Professor Dworkin, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

On behalf of the Norwegian government, it is a pleasure for me to host this dinner in celebration of the award of the Holberg International Memorial Prize 2007. First of all, let me congratulate this year’s Holberg Laureate, Professor Ronald Dworkin. 

The Holberg Prize is awarded annually for outstanding scientific work within the fields of the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology, or interdisciplinary work within these areas. By the award of the prize, the Norwegian government wishes to raise the status of these academic fields and to increase the awareness of the importance of research within these fields among the general public. Another important objective of the Holberg Prize is to stimulate children and young people to take an interest in the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology. The Holberg Prize School Project is part of the work to achieve this. 

Ludvig Holberg, the Norwegian-Danish scholar and playwright whom we honour through this prize, not only held the Chair of Metaphysics and Logic, Latin Rhetoric and History at the University of Copenhagen. He also made contributions within other scientific fields, including those covered by professor Dworkin’s work: law, philosophy, and social sciences. In Holberg’s time, in the 18th century, the academic world was not as specialized into different fields as it is today. Nevertheless, Holberg’s work as a scholar should be characterized as highly interdisciplinary in its approach.  

Like Holberg, professor Dworkin is known for his interdisciplinary work. For several decades professor Dworkin has made important contributions to research within the fields of jurisprudence, philosophy and the social sciences, as well as to research in the intersection between these fields. Through his scientific work, Dworkin has broken down barriers between practical law on the one side and political philosophy on the other. Dworkin’s work is also characterized by a unique ability to tie together abstract philosophical ideas and arguments about concrete everyday concerns in law, morals, and politics. As a result of his outstanding contributions, Dworkin is regarded as a leading, if not the leading, scholar within legal philosophy, and his work has influenced other researchers world wide.

The American zoologist Marston Bates once said that “Research is the process of going up alleys to see if they are blind”. Luckily, alleys are not always blind. Professor Dworkin’s openness to new perspectives and his willingness to engage at both theoretical and practical levels have resulted in pioneering scholarly work. He has developed an original legal theory grounding law in morality. Dworkin hereby provides a balanced solution to the opposition between the two major legal schools of the 20th century: legal positivism and natural law. I trust that professor Dworkin’s legal theory will be an alley which will lead other researchers to new insights.  

In questioning the accepted opinions and theories in his fields, professor Dworkin very much resembles Holberg. Holberg is known for his strong contribution to bringing the thoughts of the Enlightenment to the Nordic countries. He emphasized the importance of challenging the established truths of his time, and stated that agreement is not always a good. Agreement, he thought, may lead to idleness and ignorance. Disagreement on the other hand, can have the effect of a stormy wind, clearing the air, to use Holberg’s expression.  

The fields covered by the Holberg Prize are broad and complex, with a variety not only of subjects and methods, but also in ways of communicating results of scientific work. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to compare contributions from different traditions and researchers. But at the same time, this promotes enlightened debate. 

As I mentioned earlier, an important objective of the Holberg Prize is to raise the awareness of the importance of research within the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology among the general public. And what could be a better way of doing just that than bringing results of such research into the public debate? 

Dworkin, I understand, is a true “public intellectual”. He participates extensively in public debate on contemporary political and legal issues, such as the freedom of speech, using his research to support his arguments. In this way, he contributes to broad critical awareness of current issues.  

Furthermore, Dworkin is known to be a passionate and inspiring teacher. With reference to our homely debate about recruitment of the best students to research and academia, I believe that the motivation and encouragement provided by outstanding researchers such as Dworkin are of great importance.  

Holberg seems to have recognized the importance of being passionate in intellectual pursuits, as he stated that “Passions are as useful for the health of the mind as the blood circulation is for the health of the body”. Dworkin certainly appears to have a passion for his field of research, and if Holberg was right, this is perhaps one factor underlying his impressive achievements. 

Dworkin has made remarkable contributions to broadening the debate within the field of legal philosophy itself. Literally speaking, there used to be an uncrossable ocean between Anglo-American and Continental European legal philosophers, representing two different legal traditions. Dworkin has opened the debate on philosophy of law across the Atlantic Ocean, hereby opening new possibilities of fruitful cooperation. 

“The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.” This point was made by the 18th century French moralist and essayist Joseph Joubert. I think his words are still of value today. But Joubert’s words are also valid for research – academic discussions, especially within the fields covered by the Holberg Prize, should lead to progress in the sense of new knowledge, and not to the victory of one opinion or tradition over the other.  

I am glad to see that Dworkin, at an age when most people have retired, is still busy contributing to progress in research and to the public debate, serving as an inspiration to fellow and coming researchers world wide. 

Please join me in a toast in the honour of this year’s Holberg Laureate, Professor Ronald Dworkin!