Philosophy
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“Mere Natural Law” – Hadley Arkes on the Acton Line Podcast
JWI Founder & Director Hadley Arkes appeared on the Acton Line Podcast with Dan Hugger, Librarian and Research Fellow of the Acton Institute. They discussed Prof. Arkes’s new book Mere Natural Law in a wide-ranging interview. You’re invited to listen! -
My Warm Up for Judge Duncan—and What Next for Stanford?–Hadley Arkes in Anchoring Truths
I supplied a rehearsal, or perhaps merely, a gesture of foreplay, for the spectacle that was loosed upon my friend Kyle Duncan recently at the law school at Stanford. I was invited to do a lecture there four years ago by the Federalist Society. And of course a campaign was launched by the Left to cancel […] -
“Conservative Affirmation” – Anchoring Truths Podcast with Dan McCarthy
In this episode of the Anchoring Truths podcast, Garrett Snedeker and JWI Intern Jacob Shields sit down with scholar and journalist Daniel McCarthy to discuss his foreword for the recently republished edition of populist-friendly political philosopher Willmoore Kendall’s The Conservative Affirmation. They discuss Kendall’s ideology, scholarship, and relevance to modern political debates. You can listen to […] -
“Liberty To Do What?” — Hadley Arkes at The Human Life Review
On June 1, 2022, James Wilson Institute Founder and Director Hadley Arkes joined First Things editor Rusty Reno and City College of New York’s George McKenna for a panel hosted by The Human Life Review. They first discussed the potential conflict between liberty and freedom as written in McKenna’s essay, “The Odd Couple: Freedom and […] -
“A Jurisprudential Red Pill: Part I” — Evelyn Blacklock
Evelyn Blacklock reviews Prof. Adrian Vermeule's "Common Good Constitutionalism," which argues that both originalism and living constitutionalism have abandoned the classical legal tradition. -
“The Conservative Legal Movement Sputters” — Josh Hammer in the Spectator World
Taking an honest look at today’s conservative jurisprudence, Josh Hammer calls for a return to the Bible, natural law, and the substantive precepts underpinning our constitutional order. Some excerpts: “A sober, empirical assessment of the past four decades paints an ambiguous picture of substantive conservative success in US courthouses. It is simply not obvious how […] -
“‘It’s Good (Not) to be the King’: Qualified Praise for Michael McConnell” — Garrett Snedeker
Anchoring Truths co-founder Garrett Snedeker offers qualified praise for Prof. Michael McConnell’s recent book on executive power under the Constitution. While McConnell argues convincingly for public meaning originalism, he implicitly reaffirms judicial supremacy over interpretive disputes between the legislative and the executive branches. “McConnell’s most significant contribution to the scholarly literature is his thorough evaluation of Article II with a […] -
“Once More Unto the Breach” — Hadley Arkes
In a response to Ed Whelan’s critique of “On Overturning Roe,” Prof. Arkes insists that the moral argument against Roe is the only logical one for judges who believe in the deep wrong of abortion. The pro-life cause rests on objective moral truths, not on value judgments, and as a result does not require judges […] -
“Breaking the Sotomayor Mold” — Kody W. Cooper
Kody Cooper argues that a new justice in the mold of Sotomayor would fail to pass the “test of truth” when it comes to abortion, religious liberty, and takings. Some excerpts: “In the wake of Justice Breyer’s retirement announcement, Democrats are divided over whether President Biden should appoint a more conciliatory ‘bridge-builder’ who will look for opportunities […] -
“Originalism Is Not Enough” — Hadley Arkes in Claremont Review of Books
In a review of Drakeman’s The Hollow Core of Constitutional Theory: Why We Need the Framers, Prof. Hadley Arkes contends that, when debating moral issues such as abortion and freedom of religion, judges should look beyond the text of the Constitution to the principles underpinning it. The Framers themselves disagreed on constitutional interpretation, and it’s […]