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December 20, 2019|John Locke, Toleration

Divided Loyalty? Liberal Toleration in the New Locke Manuscript

by Cole Simmons|

Pages from the manuscript, “Reasons for tolerateing Papists equally with others,” by John Locke. Image: St. John’s College.
The new manuscript will not solve any of the Lockean paradoxes, it does provide us with a glimpse into his reasoning about Catholics in politics.

July 12, 2019|D.C. Schindler, disestablishment, John Locke, Liberalism, Patrick Deneen

The Dogmatic Rivalry at the Heart of America

by James M. Patterson|

Protest outside U.S. Courthouse in Pensacola, Florida, September 17, 2009 (Cheryl Casey / Shutterstock.com).
Liberalism has never had a prefabricated essence ascertained all at once or implemented with a coherent plan.

July 5, 2019|Clint Eastwood, Declaration of Independence, Jacques Maritain, John Locke, Michael Zuckert, Natural Rights, Thomas Hobbes, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

When Exactly Did the Idea of Rights Go Off the Rails?

by Peter C. Myers|

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sep 20, 2016 (Drop of Light/Shutterstock.com).
The present deformation of rights was not fated from the beginning, as some prominent conservatives have claimed.

May 20, 2019|Classical Liberalism, John Locke, New Testament, Old Testament, Political Hebraism, Yechiel Leiter

John Locke and Political Hebraism

by David Conway|

Locke published the Two Treatises as a moral justification of violent resistance against tyranny—and the Hebrew Bible was vital to this endeavor.

March 22, 2019|alienable, Declaration of Independence, inalienable, John Locke, primogeniture, rights, Robert Nozick

What Use Is an “Inalienable” Right?

by James R. Rogers|

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA (Sean Pavone/Shutterstock.com).
If the right to liberty is alienable, whether despotic rule is just or unjust depends on the actual set of agreements between the people and their ruler.

February 14, 2019|Adam Smith, covetousness, Equality, inequality, John Locke, status offenses

Covetousness and Inequality

by James R. Rogers|

Image: Frankie's/Shutterstock.com
Once we indulge the taste to take away simply because others have, there is no end but desolation.

November 20, 2018|David Hume, despotism, James Wilson, John Locke, Natural Law, Republicanism, Thomas Hobbes

Natural Law and Democracy: The Philosophy of James Wilson

by Roberta Bayer|

Engraving by J.B. Longacre after "miniature in possession of Mrs. Hollingsworth." Published in John Sanderson, Biog. of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, 1823. (Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com)
Thoroughgoing philosophical skepticism undermines liberty by denying that law can be reasonable, and that justice can be known.

October 24, 2018|Aristotle, Harry M. Clor, John Locke

An Aristotelian in Lockeland: Harry Clor

by Lauren Weiner|

Political philosopher Harry M. Clor
Harry M. Clor (1929-2018) was a humble political philosopher and a great teacher.

August 28, 2018|civility, Desiderius Erasmus, John Locke, Roger Williams, speech codes, Teresa Bejan, Thomas Hobbes, Toleration

“All Must Be Tolerated”: Teresa Bejan’s Mere Civility, Part II

by M. Anthony Mills|

Statue of Roger Williams in Prospect Terrace Park, Providence, Rhode Island (Richard Cavallieri/Shutterstock.com).
Modern calls for civility often hearken to a golden age of liberal free speech, but this is a mistake.

August 27, 2018|civility, Desiderius Erasmus, John Locke, Roger Williams, speech codes, Teresa Bejan, Thomas Hobbes, Toleration

“All Must Be Tolerated”: Teresa Bejan’s Mere Civility, Part I

by M. Anthony Mills|

Statue of Roger Williams in Prospect Terrace Park, Providence, Rhode Island (Richard Cavallieri/Shutterstock.com).
Hobbes and Locke offer echoes of standard liberal approaches to civility, but Roger Williams may offer a better sort of civility.
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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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