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A Republic Formed from Reflection and Choice
The Constitution that emerged from the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787 meant nothing. But after a period of mature reflection and calm consideration, the American people, through their...
View ArticleSaving Originalism’s Soul
What shall it profit originalism, to gain academic adherents but lose its soul? As Steven Smith tells it, the “new originalism” has made a disastrous Faustian bargain, with Jack Balkin playing...
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Did Liberalism Fail? A Conversation with Patrick Deneen
Patrick Deneen argues that “Liberalism has failed—not because it fell short—but because it was true to itself.”
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Jonah Goldberg’s Soulless Case for Liberty
PlusOne/Shutterstock.comJonah Goldberg’s Suicide of the West introduces us to a (mostly) soulless rhetoric of liberty.
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The Rivalry and Friendship of Jefferson and Adams: A Conversation with Gordon...
Gordon Wood discusses his book Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
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Our “Great American Middle” and Aristotle’s Golden Mean
The principles drawn upon to create the American republic were true in the time of Aristotle, in the time of the Founders, and in our own time.
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The Conservative Mind at 60: Russell Kirk’s Unwritten Constitutionalism
In his great work, The American Republic, written in 1866, the American Catholic political writer Orestes Brownson – who ranks with Calhoun and John Adams as among the finest political minds America...
View ArticleThe Right against America
Image: Coffeemill/Shutterstock.comRobert Nisbet was certainly a conservative theorist of some prominence, as Mike Rappaport indicates. Mike was picking up on Steve Hayward’s post, which called to task...
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Oakeshott and the American Founding
Many American conservatives view Michael Oakeshott with puzzlement. Although he is recognized around the world as a conservative thinker, a careful reading of his work yields the conclusion that he...
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The Constitution Created an Expansive, not a Strictly Limited Federal Government
In response to: The Constitution’s Structural Limitations on Power Should Be the Focus of the Bill of Rights The revolution of 1787-1791 overthrew a constitution that strictly limited the federal...
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The Extinction of American Liberty? Ted McAllister responds:
In response to: The Institutions of American Liberty Lamentably, I find myself in general agreement with the thoughtful commentaries on my essay by the three respondents, C. Bradley Thompson, Steven...
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How to Throttle Aristotle
Aristotle’s Politics has undergone at least nine English translations in the last few decades.[1] Over the centuries, its advocates have included those who enslaved American Indians and those who...
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A Republic Formed from Reflection and Choice
The Constitution that emerged from the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787 meant nothing. But after a period of mature reflection and calm consideration, the American people, through their...
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Saving Originalism’s Soul
In response to: Meanings or Decisions? Getting Originalism Back on Track What shall it profit originalism, to gain academic adherents but lose its soul? As Steven Smith tells it, the “new originalism”...
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An Eternal Introduction
When I read the preface, I thought: What a great story awaits the reader. The authors of The Constitution: An Introduction, Michael Stokes Paulsen and Luke Paulsen, father and son, spent nine summer...
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The Wrath of Cons
David Brooks is in an angry and spiteful mood. Perhaps he’s even getting to be a bit unhinged, as history is putting his vision of American conservatism onto its rubbish heap. As Ben Shapiro recently...
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The Conservative Imagination of Russell Kirk: A Conversation with Brad Birzer
Brad Birzer comes to Liberty Law Talk to discuss his upcoming biography of Russell Kirk entitled Russell Kirk: American Conservative. Our discussion focuses on the nature of Kirk’s conservatism and his...
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Freedom and the Natural Law: A Conversation with John Lawrence Hill
Is the natural law necessary for any enduring consideration of freedom and responsibility? Answering in the affirmative is John Lawrence Hill who joins us in this edition of Liberty Law Talk to discuss...
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Rebuilding the Liberty Narrative: A Conversation with Gordon Lloyd
There is nothing more arduous than the apprenticeship of liberty, Tocqueville informs. While equality in modern democratic society is a natural tendency—one that grows without much effort—it is liberty...
View ArticleThe United States Must Not Become a “Normal Country”
Image: Coffeemill/Shutterstock.comPeter Thiel gave an interesting speech endorsing Donald Trump. Many people are very unhappy about the endorsement. I am ambivalent about this aspect, because it is...
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