Tag: Philosophy

Topics

Books

Human Flourishing as a Criterion of Morality: A Critique of Perry’s Naturalism

– Tulane Law Review 63:6 (June, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991).
In Morality, Politics, and Law, Michael Perry adumbrates a “naturalist” account of moral knowledge. According to Perry, such knowledge is “primarily about what sort of… More

Individual Rights, Collective Interests, Public Law, and American Politics

– Law and Philosophy 8:2 (August, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991); and as “Natural Law, the Common Good, and American Politics,” in William E. May and Kenneth D. Whitehead (eds.), The Battle for the Catholic Mind (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001).

Natural Law and Human Nature

– In Robert P. George (ed.), Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays (Oxford University Press, 1992). Reprinted in Spanish translation in Anuario de Filosofia Juridica y Social 20 (2000).

Can Sex Be Reasonable?

– Columbia Law Review 93:3 (April, 1993).
In his Introduction to Sex and Reason, Richard A. Posner says that his “ambition is to present a theory of sexuality that both explains the principal regularities in the practice of… More

Vices Here and Abroad

– Boston Review, October/November 1996.
Yael Tamir states that her purpose in “Hands Off Clitoridectomy” is “to reveal the smug, unjustified self-satisfaction lurking behind the current condemnation of… More

Marriage and the Illusion of Moral Neutrality

– In T. William Boxx and Gary Quinlivan (eds.), The Political Order and Culture: Towards the Renewal of Civilization (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Homosexuality and American Public Life (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); Kenneth D. Whitehead (ed.), Marriage and the Common Good (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001); Francis Beckwith (ed.), Do the Right Thing (Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2001); and Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, and David Orgon Coolidge (eds.), Marriage and Same Sex Unions (Praeger, 2003).

One Hundred Years of Legal Philosophy

– Notre Dame Law Review 74:5 (1999). Reprinted in Brian J. Shanley (ed.), One Hundred Years of Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2001), and as “What is Law? A Century of Arguments,” in First Things 112 (April 2001).
There is a sense in which twentieth century legal philosophy began on January 8, 1897. On that day, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,… More

A Clash of Orthodoxies: An Exchange

– First Things, June/July 2000, with Josh Dever.
I am grateful to Josh Dever for his thoughtful challenge to my essay “A Clash of Orthodoxies.” Professor Dever states candidly his religious views and moral“political commitments: he… More

Legal Positivism

– In Herbert Kritzer (ed.), Legal Systems of the World (ABC-CLIO, 2002).

Oliver Wendell Holmes on Natural Law

– Villanova Law Review 48:1 (2002). Reprinted in Regent University Law Review 15:2 (Spring 2002-2003); The Good Society 12:3 (2003); and Jean DeGroot (ed.), Nature in American Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
My dear Laski, Your remark about the “oughts” and system of values in political science leaves me rather cold. If, as I think, the values are simply generalizations emotionally… More

Judicial Usurpation and Sexual Liberation: Courts and the Abolition of Marriage

– Regent University Law Review 17:1 (Fall 2004). Reprinted as "High Courts and Misdemeanors" in Touchstone 17: 8 (October 2004), and in New Jersey Family Magazine (2005). Reprinted as "Judicial Usurpation: Perennial Temptation, Contemporary Challenge," in Bradley C. S. Watson (ed.), Ourselves and Our Posterity:  Essays in Constitutional Originalism (Lexington Books, 2009).
Judicial power can be used, and has been used, for both good and ill. In a basically just democratic republic, however, judicial power should never be exercised—even for desirable… More

Dualistic Delusions

– First Things, February 2005, with Patrick Lee.
Disputes about metaphysical issues rarely make the newspapers. The ancient argument about the nature and identity of the human person, however, turns out to be highly relevant to issues… More

The Moral Status of the Human Embryo

– Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48:2 (Spring 2005), with Alfonso Gómez-Lobo. First published as "Statement of Professor George" in Leon R. Kass (ed.), Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council On Bioethics (Public Affairs, 2002), pp. 294-306; and Human Cloning and Human Dignity:  An Ethical Inquiry (The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2002).
The subject matter of Human Cloning and Human Dignity (President’s Council 2002) is the production of a human embryo by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or similar… More

The Clash of Orthodoxies

– Manhattan Forum Lecture at the St. Anthony of Padua Institute, August 25, 2010, YouTube.
In this lecture, the eighth in the Manhattan Forum series, Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, tackles the issues at the heart of the… More

What is Marriage? A Philosophic-Juridical Dialogue

– Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, November 20, 2014, YouTube.
How can one describe marriage from the philosophic and juridical point of view? What differentiates other types of unions? The two scholars respond briefly to these questions — Robert… More

Essays

Human Flourishing as a Criterion of Morality: A Critique of Perry’s Naturalism

– Tulane Law Review 63:6 (June, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991).
In Morality, Politics, and Law, Michael Perry adumbrates a “naturalist” account of moral knowledge. According to Perry, such knowledge is “primarily about what sort of… More

Individual Rights, Collective Interests, Public Law, and American Politics

– Law and Philosophy 8:2 (August, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991); and as “Natural Law, the Common Good, and American Politics,” in William E. May and Kenneth D. Whitehead (eds.), The Battle for the Catholic Mind (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001).

Natural Law and Human Nature

– In Robert P. George (ed.), Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays (Oxford University Press, 1992). Reprinted in Spanish translation in Anuario de Filosofia Juridica y Social 20 (2000).

Can Sex Be Reasonable?

– Columbia Law Review 93:3 (April, 1993).
In his Introduction to Sex and Reason, Richard A. Posner says that his “ambition is to present a theory of sexuality that both explains the principal regularities in the practice of… More

Vices Here and Abroad

– Boston Review, October/November 1996.
Yael Tamir states that her purpose in “Hands Off Clitoridectomy” is “to reveal the smug, unjustified self-satisfaction lurking behind the current condemnation of… More

Marriage and the Illusion of Moral Neutrality

– In T. William Boxx and Gary Quinlivan (eds.), The Political Order and Culture: Towards the Renewal of Civilization (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Homosexuality and American Public Life (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); Kenneth D. Whitehead (ed.), Marriage and the Common Good (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001); Francis Beckwith (ed.), Do the Right Thing (Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2001); and Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, and David Orgon Coolidge (eds.), Marriage and Same Sex Unions (Praeger, 2003).

One Hundred Years of Legal Philosophy

– Notre Dame Law Review 74:5 (1999). Reprinted in Brian J. Shanley (ed.), One Hundred Years of Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2001), and as “What is Law? A Century of Arguments,” in First Things 112 (April 2001).
There is a sense in which twentieth century legal philosophy began on January 8, 1897. On that day, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,… More

A Clash of Orthodoxies: An Exchange

– First Things, June/July 2000, with Josh Dever.
I am grateful to Josh Dever for his thoughtful challenge to my essay “A Clash of Orthodoxies.” Professor Dever states candidly his religious views and moral“political commitments: he… More

Legal Positivism

– In Herbert Kritzer (ed.), Legal Systems of the World (ABC-CLIO, 2002).

Oliver Wendell Holmes on Natural Law

– Villanova Law Review 48:1 (2002). Reprinted in Regent University Law Review 15:2 (Spring 2002-2003); The Good Society 12:3 (2003); and Jean DeGroot (ed.), Nature in American Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
My dear Laski, Your remark about the “oughts” and system of values in political science leaves me rather cold. If, as I think, the values are simply generalizations emotionally… More

Judicial Usurpation and Sexual Liberation: Courts and the Abolition of Marriage

– Regent University Law Review 17:1 (Fall 2004). Reprinted as "High Courts and Misdemeanors" in Touchstone 17: 8 (October 2004), and in New Jersey Family Magazine (2005). Reprinted as "Judicial Usurpation: Perennial Temptation, Contemporary Challenge," in Bradley C. S. Watson (ed.), Ourselves and Our Posterity:  Essays in Constitutional Originalism (Lexington Books, 2009).
Judicial power can be used, and has been used, for both good and ill. In a basically just democratic republic, however, judicial power should never be exercised—even for desirable… More

Dualistic Delusions

– First Things, February 2005, with Patrick Lee.
Disputes about metaphysical issues rarely make the newspapers. The ancient argument about the nature and identity of the human person, however, turns out to be highly relevant to issues… More

The Moral Status of the Human Embryo

– Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48:2 (Spring 2005), with Alfonso Gómez-Lobo. First published as "Statement of Professor George" in Leon R. Kass (ed.), Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council On Bioethics (Public Affairs, 2002), pp. 294-306; and Human Cloning and Human Dignity:  An Ethical Inquiry (The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2002).
The subject matter of Human Cloning and Human Dignity (President’s Council 2002) is the production of a human embryo by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or similar… More

The Clash of Orthodoxies

– Manhattan Forum Lecture at the St. Anthony of Padua Institute, August 25, 2010, YouTube.
In this lecture, the eighth in the Manhattan Forum series, Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, tackles the issues at the heart of the… More

What is Marriage? A Philosophic-Juridical Dialogue

– Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, November 20, 2014, YouTube.
How can one describe marriage from the philosophic and juridical point of view? What differentiates other types of unions? The two scholars respond briefly to these questions — Robert… More

Commentary

Human Flourishing as a Criterion of Morality: A Critique of Perry’s Naturalism

– Tulane Law Review 63:6 (June, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991).
In Morality, Politics, and Law, Michael Perry adumbrates a “naturalist” account of moral knowledge. According to Perry, such knowledge is “primarily about what sort of… More

Individual Rights, Collective Interests, Public Law, and American Politics

– Law and Philosophy 8:2 (August, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991); and as “Natural Law, the Common Good, and American Politics,” in William E. May and Kenneth D. Whitehead (eds.), The Battle for the Catholic Mind (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001).

Natural Law and Human Nature

– In Robert P. George (ed.), Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays (Oxford University Press, 1992). Reprinted in Spanish translation in Anuario de Filosofia Juridica y Social 20 (2000).

Can Sex Be Reasonable?

– Columbia Law Review 93:3 (April, 1993).
In his Introduction to Sex and Reason, Richard A. Posner says that his “ambition is to present a theory of sexuality that both explains the principal regularities in the practice of… More

Vices Here and Abroad

– Boston Review, October/November 1996.
Yael Tamir states that her purpose in “Hands Off Clitoridectomy” is “to reveal the smug, unjustified self-satisfaction lurking behind the current condemnation of… More

Marriage and the Illusion of Moral Neutrality

– In T. William Boxx and Gary Quinlivan (eds.), The Political Order and Culture: Towards the Renewal of Civilization (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Homosexuality and American Public Life (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); Kenneth D. Whitehead (ed.), Marriage and the Common Good (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001); Francis Beckwith (ed.), Do the Right Thing (Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2001); and Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, and David Orgon Coolidge (eds.), Marriage and Same Sex Unions (Praeger, 2003).

One Hundred Years of Legal Philosophy

– Notre Dame Law Review 74:5 (1999). Reprinted in Brian J. Shanley (ed.), One Hundred Years of Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2001), and as “What is Law? A Century of Arguments,” in First Things 112 (April 2001).
There is a sense in which twentieth century legal philosophy began on January 8, 1897. On that day, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,… More

A Clash of Orthodoxies: An Exchange

– First Things, June/July 2000, with Josh Dever.
I am grateful to Josh Dever for his thoughtful challenge to my essay “A Clash of Orthodoxies.” Professor Dever states candidly his religious views and moral“political commitments: he… More

Legal Positivism

– In Herbert Kritzer (ed.), Legal Systems of the World (ABC-CLIO, 2002).

Oliver Wendell Holmes on Natural Law

– Villanova Law Review 48:1 (2002). Reprinted in Regent University Law Review 15:2 (Spring 2002-2003); The Good Society 12:3 (2003); and Jean DeGroot (ed.), Nature in American Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
My dear Laski, Your remark about the “oughts” and system of values in political science leaves me rather cold. If, as I think, the values are simply generalizations emotionally… More

Judicial Usurpation and Sexual Liberation: Courts and the Abolition of Marriage

– Regent University Law Review 17:1 (Fall 2004). Reprinted as "High Courts and Misdemeanors" in Touchstone 17: 8 (October 2004), and in New Jersey Family Magazine (2005). Reprinted as "Judicial Usurpation: Perennial Temptation, Contemporary Challenge," in Bradley C. S. Watson (ed.), Ourselves and Our Posterity:  Essays in Constitutional Originalism (Lexington Books, 2009).
Judicial power can be used, and has been used, for both good and ill. In a basically just democratic republic, however, judicial power should never be exercised—even for desirable… More

Dualistic Delusions

– First Things, February 2005, with Patrick Lee.
Disputes about metaphysical issues rarely make the newspapers. The ancient argument about the nature and identity of the human person, however, turns out to be highly relevant to issues… More

The Moral Status of the Human Embryo

– Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48:2 (Spring 2005), with Alfonso Gómez-Lobo. First published as "Statement of Professor George" in Leon R. Kass (ed.), Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council On Bioethics (Public Affairs, 2002), pp. 294-306; and Human Cloning and Human Dignity:  An Ethical Inquiry (The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2002).
The subject matter of Human Cloning and Human Dignity (President’s Council 2002) is the production of a human embryo by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or similar… More

The Clash of Orthodoxies

– Manhattan Forum Lecture at the St. Anthony of Padua Institute, August 25, 2010, YouTube.
In this lecture, the eighth in the Manhattan Forum series, Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, tackles the issues at the heart of the… More

What is Marriage? A Philosophic-Juridical Dialogue

– Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, November 20, 2014, YouTube.
How can one describe marriage from the philosophic and juridical point of view? What differentiates other types of unions? The two scholars respond briefly to these questions — Robert… More

Multimedia

Human Flourishing as a Criterion of Morality: A Critique of Perry’s Naturalism

– Tulane Law Review 63:6 (June, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991).
In Morality, Politics, and Law, Michael Perry adumbrates a “naturalist” account of moral knowledge. According to Perry, such knowledge is “primarily about what sort of… More

Individual Rights, Collective Interests, Public Law, and American Politics

– Law and Philosophy 8:2 (August, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991); and as “Natural Law, the Common Good, and American Politics,” in William E. May and Kenneth D. Whitehead (eds.), The Battle for the Catholic Mind (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001).

Natural Law and Human Nature

– In Robert P. George (ed.), Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays (Oxford University Press, 1992). Reprinted in Spanish translation in Anuario de Filosofia Juridica y Social 20 (2000).

Can Sex Be Reasonable?

– Columbia Law Review 93:3 (April, 1993).
In his Introduction to Sex and Reason, Richard A. Posner says that his “ambition is to present a theory of sexuality that both explains the principal regularities in the practice of… More

Vices Here and Abroad

– Boston Review, October/November 1996.
Yael Tamir states that her purpose in “Hands Off Clitoridectomy” is “to reveal the smug, unjustified self-satisfaction lurking behind the current condemnation of… More

Marriage and the Illusion of Moral Neutrality

– In T. William Boxx and Gary Quinlivan (eds.), The Political Order and Culture: Towards the Renewal of Civilization (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Homosexuality and American Public Life (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); Kenneth D. Whitehead (ed.), Marriage and the Common Good (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001); Francis Beckwith (ed.), Do the Right Thing (Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2001); and Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, and David Orgon Coolidge (eds.), Marriage and Same Sex Unions (Praeger, 2003).

One Hundred Years of Legal Philosophy

– Notre Dame Law Review 74:5 (1999). Reprinted in Brian J. Shanley (ed.), One Hundred Years of Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2001), and as “What is Law? A Century of Arguments,” in First Things 112 (April 2001).
There is a sense in which twentieth century legal philosophy began on January 8, 1897. On that day, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,… More

A Clash of Orthodoxies: An Exchange

– First Things, June/July 2000, with Josh Dever.
I am grateful to Josh Dever for his thoughtful challenge to my essay “A Clash of Orthodoxies.” Professor Dever states candidly his religious views and moral“political commitments: he… More

Legal Positivism

– In Herbert Kritzer (ed.), Legal Systems of the World (ABC-CLIO, 2002).

Oliver Wendell Holmes on Natural Law

– Villanova Law Review 48:1 (2002). Reprinted in Regent University Law Review 15:2 (Spring 2002-2003); The Good Society 12:3 (2003); and Jean DeGroot (ed.), Nature in American Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
My dear Laski, Your remark about the “oughts” and system of values in political science leaves me rather cold. If, as I think, the values are simply generalizations emotionally… More

Judicial Usurpation and Sexual Liberation: Courts and the Abolition of Marriage

– Regent University Law Review 17:1 (Fall 2004). Reprinted as "High Courts and Misdemeanors" in Touchstone 17: 8 (October 2004), and in New Jersey Family Magazine (2005). Reprinted as "Judicial Usurpation: Perennial Temptation, Contemporary Challenge," in Bradley C. S. Watson (ed.), Ourselves and Our Posterity:  Essays in Constitutional Originalism (Lexington Books, 2009).
Judicial power can be used, and has been used, for both good and ill. In a basically just democratic republic, however, judicial power should never be exercised—even for desirable… More

Dualistic Delusions

– First Things, February 2005, with Patrick Lee.
Disputes about metaphysical issues rarely make the newspapers. The ancient argument about the nature and identity of the human person, however, turns out to be highly relevant to issues… More

The Moral Status of the Human Embryo

– Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48:2 (Spring 2005), with Alfonso Gómez-Lobo. First published as "Statement of Professor George" in Leon R. Kass (ed.), Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council On Bioethics (Public Affairs, 2002), pp. 294-306; and Human Cloning and Human Dignity:  An Ethical Inquiry (The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2002).
The subject matter of Human Cloning and Human Dignity (President’s Council 2002) is the production of a human embryo by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or similar… More

The Clash of Orthodoxies

– Manhattan Forum Lecture at the St. Anthony of Padua Institute, August 25, 2010, YouTube.
In this lecture, the eighth in the Manhattan Forum series, Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, tackles the issues at the heart of the… More

What is Marriage? A Philosophic-Juridical Dialogue

– Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, November 20, 2014, YouTube.
How can one describe marriage from the philosophic and juridical point of view? What differentiates other types of unions? The two scholars respond briefly to these questions — Robert… More

Teaching

Human Flourishing as a Criterion of Morality: A Critique of Perry’s Naturalism

– Tulane Law Review 63:6 (June, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991).
In Morality, Politics, and Law, Michael Perry adumbrates a “naturalist” account of moral knowledge. According to Perry, such knowledge is “primarily about what sort of… More

Individual Rights, Collective Interests, Public Law, and American Politics

– Law and Philosophy 8:2 (August, 1989). Reprinted in Tom Campbell (ed.), International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory (Dartmouth Publishing Co. and NYU Press, 1991); and as “Natural Law, the Common Good, and American Politics,” in William E. May and Kenneth D. Whitehead (eds.), The Battle for the Catholic Mind (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001).

Natural Law and Human Nature

– In Robert P. George (ed.), Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays (Oxford University Press, 1992). Reprinted in Spanish translation in Anuario de Filosofia Juridica y Social 20 (2000).

Can Sex Be Reasonable?

– Columbia Law Review 93:3 (April, 1993).
In his Introduction to Sex and Reason, Richard A. Posner says that his “ambition is to present a theory of sexuality that both explains the principal regularities in the practice of… More

Vices Here and Abroad

– Boston Review, October/November 1996.
Yael Tamir states that her purpose in “Hands Off Clitoridectomy” is “to reveal the smug, unjustified self-satisfaction lurking behind the current condemnation of… More

Marriage and the Illusion of Moral Neutrality

– In T. William Boxx and Gary Quinlivan (eds.), The Political Order and Culture: Towards the Renewal of Civilization (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Homosexuality and American Public Life (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); Kenneth D. Whitehead (ed.), Marriage and the Common Good (St. Augustine’s Press, 2001); Francis Beckwith (ed.), Do the Right Thing (Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2001); and Lynn D. Wardle, Mark Strasser, and David Orgon Coolidge (eds.), Marriage and Same Sex Unions (Praeger, 2003).

One Hundred Years of Legal Philosophy

– Notre Dame Law Review 74:5 (1999). Reprinted in Brian J. Shanley (ed.), One Hundred Years of Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2001), and as “What is Law? A Century of Arguments,” in First Things 112 (April 2001).
There is a sense in which twentieth century legal philosophy began on January 8, 1897. On that day, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,… More

A Clash of Orthodoxies: An Exchange

– First Things, June/July 2000, with Josh Dever.
I am grateful to Josh Dever for his thoughtful challenge to my essay “A Clash of Orthodoxies.” Professor Dever states candidly his religious views and moral“political commitments: he… More

Legal Positivism

– In Herbert Kritzer (ed.), Legal Systems of the World (ABC-CLIO, 2002).

Oliver Wendell Holmes on Natural Law

– Villanova Law Review 48:1 (2002). Reprinted in Regent University Law Review 15:2 (Spring 2002-2003); The Good Society 12:3 (2003); and Jean DeGroot (ed.), Nature in American Philosophy (Catholic University of America Press, 2004).
My dear Laski, Your remark about the “oughts” and system of values in political science leaves me rather cold. If, as I think, the values are simply generalizations emotionally… More

Judicial Usurpation and Sexual Liberation: Courts and the Abolition of Marriage

– Regent University Law Review 17:1 (Fall 2004). Reprinted as "High Courts and Misdemeanors" in Touchstone 17: 8 (October 2004), and in New Jersey Family Magazine (2005). Reprinted as "Judicial Usurpation: Perennial Temptation, Contemporary Challenge," in Bradley C. S. Watson (ed.), Ourselves and Our Posterity:  Essays in Constitutional Originalism (Lexington Books, 2009).
Judicial power can be used, and has been used, for both good and ill. In a basically just democratic republic, however, judicial power should never be exercised—even for desirable… More

Dualistic Delusions

– First Things, February 2005, with Patrick Lee.
Disputes about metaphysical issues rarely make the newspapers. The ancient argument about the nature and identity of the human person, however, turns out to be highly relevant to issues… More

The Moral Status of the Human Embryo

– Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48:2 (Spring 2005), with Alfonso Gómez-Lobo. First published as "Statement of Professor George" in Leon R. Kass (ed.), Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council On Bioethics (Public Affairs, 2002), pp. 294-306; and Human Cloning and Human Dignity:  An Ethical Inquiry (The President’s Council on Bioethics, 2002).
The subject matter of Human Cloning and Human Dignity (President’s Council 2002) is the production of a human embryo by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or similar… More

The Clash of Orthodoxies

– Manhattan Forum Lecture at the St. Anthony of Padua Institute, August 25, 2010, YouTube.
In this lecture, the eighth in the Manhattan Forum series, Dr. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, tackles the issues at the heart of the… More

What is Marriage? A Philosophic-Juridical Dialogue

– Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, November 20, 2014, YouTube.
How can one describe marriage from the philosophic and juridical point of view? What differentiates other types of unions? The two scholars respond briefly to these questions — Robert… More