• About
  • Contact
  • Staff
  • Home
  • Essays
  • Forum
  • Podcasts
  • Book Reviews
  • Liberty Classics

December 17, 2019|Aristotle, John Finnis, Natural Law, Originalism's Promise

Originalism as a Model of Political Communication

by Mark Pulliam|

The Faulkner murals of the Declaration and Constitution, on display in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom at the National Archives.
Strang’s exploration of natural law as a justification of originalism is provocative and could move the debate in a new direction.

November 8, 2019|Justice, market, Natural Law, Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas versus the Economists

by Samuel Gregg|

The lunette of one of the side doors depicting St. Thomas Aquinas, detail of the facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy (Zvonimir Atletic / Shutterstock.com).
Rather than seeking to submerge economics into Thomistic inquiry, present-day dissatisfaction with economics might be better taken in another direction.

October 29, 2019|Dred Scott v. Sandford, Lon Fuller, Natural Law, Natural Rights, Originalism, Philip Hamburger, Russell Kirk

Originalism Is Beside the Point

by Bruce P. Frohnen|

US Supreme Court (shutterstock.com)
Most lawyers today seem to believe that they must make new law because the one they inherited was in fact fundamentally unjust.

September 9, 2019|Alasdair MacIntyre, John Finnis, Natural Law, Natural Rights

How to Defend Limited Government and the Common Good

by Nathan W. Schlueter|

A Vindication of Politics helps us remember that there are as many kinds of common goods as there are kinds of human association.

August 16, 2019|Aquinas, Aristotle, Christianity, Enlightenment, Judaism, Logos, Natural Law, Postmodernism, Sam Gregg, Western Civilization

The Logos of Western Civilization: A Conversation with Sam Gregg

by Samuel Gregg|

Sam Gregg explores how the West is built on the union of the God of the Philosophers and the God of the Bible.

April 1, 2019|Divine Law, H.L.A. Hart, Harold Berman, John Finnis, jurisprudence, Natural Law, Thomas Aquinas

Ordered Liberty and the Demands of Law

by Adam J. MacLeod|

Self-governing people make—design, craft, and promulgate—law to govern their own and others’ choices and actions.

February 14, 2019|Christianity, Natural Law, Paganism, Pagans & Christians in the City, Rome

Born-Again Paganism: A Conversation with Steven Smith

by Steven D. Smith|

Steven Smith talks with Richard Reinsch about his provocative thesis that a modern form of paganism is becoming public orthodoxy.

December 19, 2018|Conservatism, David Hume, Edmund Burke, Natural Law, Peter Stanlis, skepticism

Edmund Burke: Natural Lawyer

by Samuel Gregg|

Statue of Edmund Burke, Trinity College, Dublin (deadlyphoto.com / Alamy Stock Photo).
A conservative politics faithful to its Burkean heritage must be rooted in more than an emphasis on prudence or skepticism: it needs natural law.

November 26, 2018|Anglo-American tradition, Edmund Burke, Friedrich Hayek, Isiah Berlin, João Carlos Espada, Leo Strauss, Michael Oakeshott, Natural Law, Winston Churchill

To Sustain the Anglo-American Tradition, Conversation Is Not Enough

by Brian A. Smith|

Statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square Garden in London, U.K. (Pajor Pawel / Shutterstock.com).
Why is it that the English-speaking peoples historically combined a deep love of liberty with a passionate devotion to their political duties? Can it last?

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.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

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

Read More

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.

Read More

Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

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

Read More

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.

Read More

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.
  • Home
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Archive

© 2021 Liberty Fund, Inc.

This site uses local and third-party cookies to analyze traffic. If you want to know more, click here.
By closing this banner or clicking any link in this page, you agree with this practice.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Necessary Always Enabled

Subscribe
Get Law and Liberty's latest content delivered to you daily
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Close