The James Wilson Foundation on Natural Rights and the American Founding

We share with you Prof. Arkes’s latest piece in the May 2017 print edition of First Things titled, “The Moral Turn.” The argument in the piece is largely drawn from an ongoing topic of discussion in one of our JWI programs, our biannual Senior Seminar. A year ago, our core attendees of judges and law professors contrasted the dissent from conservative justices Rehnquist […]

On May 20th, 2017, Professor Arkes was honored by the Institute of World Politics, and delivered the Commencement address to IWP’s Graduating Class of 2017. IWP is a stand-alone Graduate School which was “founded to fill a major national need: to supply professional education in statecraft, national security, and international affairs.” For Professor Arkes, Commencements […]

In the past, we have called your attention to noteworthy advancements in the careers of some of the alumni of our James Wilson Fellowship program. We are deeply pleased to share the news—and a certain excitement—that 2016 Fellow Catherine Glenn Foster has been named President & CEO of Americans United for Life.  Photo Courtesy of AUL In […]

In a piece for The Catholic Thing, entitled “Of Satanism and Religious Freedom,” Gunnar Gundersen discusses the nature of religious liberty and whether the protection of this natural right extends to Satanism and “irreligion”. Gundersen is an affiliated scholar of the James Wilson Institute. Some excerpts: “Do our laws require that Satanism be protected as a religion? The short answer is […]

We are happy to share the latest publication by one of our 2016 James Wilson Fellows, Kevin LeRoy.  In his piece, “Are the Human-Animal Hybrids Scientists make Human, Beast, or in Between?” Mr. LeRoy explores the substantial of the bioethical questions that recent experiments with human and animal cells have posed.  Mr. LeRoy works as […]

In his piece, “The Ninth Circuit’s Astounding Reasoning,” Garrett Snedeker discusses the complicated state of affairs as the Ninth Circuit has challenged the authority of President Trump’s executive order to temporarily restrict entry of immigrants from certain high-risk countries.  Mr. Snedeker analyzes this controversy in light of two different SCOTUS opinions written by Justice George […]

After taking a brief hiatus to teach his final class at Amherst, Prof. Arkes returns to The Catholic Thing with his piece, “New Prospects on the 44th March for Life.”  He takes this moment to give attention to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which was introduced in the Senate three days ago. Some excerpts: […]

In National Review Online, Ethan Davis (Amherst ’05) co-authored a tribute to Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain upon the judge assuming “senior status” in late 2016.  Ethan Davis is a former student of Hadley Arkes’s, and Judge O’Scannlain has been a long-term friend of JWI. Davis, who clerked for O’Scannlain in 2008-09, wrote the piece with another former clerk […]

Writing in The Federalist with a piece titled, “Yes, Americans Could Live Without Government-Defined Health Insurance,” Prof. Arkes notes the simple truth that Americans are indeed intelligent enough to make provisions for their medical needs without the government mandating health insurance. Some excerpts: “Why do we assume that the American people will be thrown into […]