Tag: Justice

Topics

Books

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).

Social Cohesion and the Legal Enforcement of Morality

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 35:1 (1990).
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1957, THE COMMITTEE on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, chaired by Sir John Wolfenden, issued its Report recommending to the British Parliament that “homosexual… More

Rule by Law

– National Review, February 26, 1996, with Ramesh Ponnuru.

Natural Law and Liberal Public Reason

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 42:1 (January 1997), with Christopher Wolfe.
As the century winds to a close, John Rawls remains a–perhaps the–central figure in Anglo-American political philosophy. In his 1993 book, Political Liberalism, Rawls… More

Justice, Legitimacy, and Allegiance

– Loyola Law Review 44:1 (1998). Reprinted in Mitchell Muncy (ed.) The End of Democracy II:  A Crisis of Legitimacy (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); and in Sotirios Barber and Robert P. George (eds.) Constitutional Politics:  Essays on Constitution Making, Maintenance, and Change (Princeton University Press, 2001).

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

Natural Law and Public Reason

– In Robert P. George and Christopher Wolfe (eds.), Natural Law and Public Reason (Georgetown University Press, 2000), with Christopher Wolfe.
Stephen Macedo, in his Liberal Virtues and in a number of separately published articles, has defended a liberal doctrine of public reason, one which he considers to be in line with John… More

Reason, Freedom, and the Rule of Law

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 46 (2001). Reprinted in the American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 1:1 (Fall 2001), Regent University Law Review 15:2 (2002-2003), Charles W. Dunn (ed.), Faith, Freedom, and the Future:  Religion in American Political Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), The Clarion Review 2 (2004), and Michael  A. Scaperlanda and Teresa Stanton Collet (eds.), Recovering Self-Evident Truths:  Catholic Perspectives on American Law (Catholic University of America Press, 2007).
The idea of law and the ideal of the rule of law are central to the natural law tradition of thought about public (or “political”) order. St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to… More

Responding Justly to Terrorism

– Crisis Magazine, November 1, 2001.
There is no question that our nation will respond with force to the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What will our response look like if it is shaped by the Catholic… More

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

Would a War in Iraq be Ethically Justified?

– The Daily Princetonian, September 19, 2002.
How can we decide if an attack on Iraq in ethically justified? Although the early architects of “just war theory” held that punishing past aggression is among the legitimate… More

The Unorthodox Liberalism of Joseph Raz

– Revised and expanded in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Liberalism at the Crossroads, 2nd Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003). Original version published in The Review of Politics 53:4 (Fall 1991). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe and John Hittinger (eds.), Liberalism at the Crossroads (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994).
Abstract (from The Review of Politics): In The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz has challenged the anti-perfectionism of orthodox liberal political theory and proposed an alternative form of… More

Law and Moral Purpose

– First Things, January 2008.
The obligations and purposes of law and government are to protect public health, safety, and morals, and to advance the general welfare” including, preeminently, protecting people’s… More

Natural Law

– In Keith Whittington, R. Daniel Kelemen, and Gregory A. Caldeira (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008).
Abstract: Theories of natural law propose to identify fundamental aspects of human well-being and fulfillment (“basic human goods”), and norms of conduct entailed by their integral… More

Plough Interviews Robert P. George on Biblical Justice

– Plough Publishing, published October 8, 2014, YouTube.
Raised in West Virginia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners, Robert P. George is now McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. All the same, his renown as a public… More

Five Pillars of a Decent and Dynamic Society

– In James R. Stoner, Jr. and Harold James (eds.), The Thriving Society: On The Social Conditions of Human Flourishing (The Witherspoon Institute, 2015). First presented as the keynote address at John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum, Sydney, August 2012; Lecture in the Loyola University’s Centennial Celebration, March 2013; Keynote address at Sutherland Institute's 2013 Annual Dinner, April 2013; Lecture at Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, September 2013.

Essays

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).

Social Cohesion and the Legal Enforcement of Morality

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 35:1 (1990).
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1957, THE COMMITTEE on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, chaired by Sir John Wolfenden, issued its Report recommending to the British Parliament that “homosexual… More

Rule by Law

– National Review, February 26, 1996, with Ramesh Ponnuru.

Natural Law and Liberal Public Reason

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 42:1 (January 1997), with Christopher Wolfe.
As the century winds to a close, John Rawls remains a–perhaps the–central figure in Anglo-American political philosophy. In his 1993 book, Political Liberalism, Rawls… More

Justice, Legitimacy, and Allegiance

– Loyola Law Review 44:1 (1998). Reprinted in Mitchell Muncy (ed.) The End of Democracy II:  A Crisis of Legitimacy (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); and in Sotirios Barber and Robert P. George (eds.) Constitutional Politics:  Essays on Constitution Making, Maintenance, and Change (Princeton University Press, 2001).

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

Natural Law and Public Reason

– In Robert P. George and Christopher Wolfe (eds.), Natural Law and Public Reason (Georgetown University Press, 2000), with Christopher Wolfe.
Stephen Macedo, in his Liberal Virtues and in a number of separately published articles, has defended a liberal doctrine of public reason, one which he considers to be in line with John… More

Reason, Freedom, and the Rule of Law

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 46 (2001). Reprinted in the American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 1:1 (Fall 2001), Regent University Law Review 15:2 (2002-2003), Charles W. Dunn (ed.), Faith, Freedom, and the Future:  Religion in American Political Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), The Clarion Review 2 (2004), and Michael  A. Scaperlanda and Teresa Stanton Collet (eds.), Recovering Self-Evident Truths:  Catholic Perspectives on American Law (Catholic University of America Press, 2007).
The idea of law and the ideal of the rule of law are central to the natural law tradition of thought about public (or “political”) order. St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to… More

Responding Justly to Terrorism

– Crisis Magazine, November 1, 2001.
There is no question that our nation will respond with force to the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What will our response look like if it is shaped by the Catholic… More

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

Would a War in Iraq be Ethically Justified?

– The Daily Princetonian, September 19, 2002.
How can we decide if an attack on Iraq in ethically justified? Although the early architects of “just war theory” held that punishing past aggression is among the legitimate… More

The Unorthodox Liberalism of Joseph Raz

– Revised and expanded in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Liberalism at the Crossroads, 2nd Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003). Original version published in The Review of Politics 53:4 (Fall 1991). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe and John Hittinger (eds.), Liberalism at the Crossroads (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994).
Abstract (from The Review of Politics): In The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz has challenged the anti-perfectionism of orthodox liberal political theory and proposed an alternative form of… More

Law and Moral Purpose

– First Things, January 2008.
The obligations and purposes of law and government are to protect public health, safety, and morals, and to advance the general welfare” including, preeminently, protecting people’s… More

Natural Law

– In Keith Whittington, R. Daniel Kelemen, and Gregory A. Caldeira (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008).
Abstract: Theories of natural law propose to identify fundamental aspects of human well-being and fulfillment (“basic human goods”), and norms of conduct entailed by their integral… More

Plough Interviews Robert P. George on Biblical Justice

– Plough Publishing, published October 8, 2014, YouTube.
Raised in West Virginia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners, Robert P. George is now McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. All the same, his renown as a public… More

Five Pillars of a Decent and Dynamic Society

– In James R. Stoner, Jr. and Harold James (eds.), The Thriving Society: On The Social Conditions of Human Flourishing (The Witherspoon Institute, 2015). First presented as the keynote address at John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum, Sydney, August 2012; Lecture in the Loyola University’s Centennial Celebration, March 2013; Keynote address at Sutherland Institute's 2013 Annual Dinner, April 2013; Lecture at Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, September 2013.

Commentary

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).

Social Cohesion and the Legal Enforcement of Morality

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 35:1 (1990).
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1957, THE COMMITTEE on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, chaired by Sir John Wolfenden, issued its Report recommending to the British Parliament that “homosexual… More

Rule by Law

– National Review, February 26, 1996, with Ramesh Ponnuru.

Natural Law and Liberal Public Reason

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 42:1 (January 1997), with Christopher Wolfe.
As the century winds to a close, John Rawls remains a–perhaps the–central figure in Anglo-American political philosophy. In his 1993 book, Political Liberalism, Rawls… More

Justice, Legitimacy, and Allegiance

– Loyola Law Review 44:1 (1998). Reprinted in Mitchell Muncy (ed.) The End of Democracy II:  A Crisis of Legitimacy (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); and in Sotirios Barber and Robert P. George (eds.) Constitutional Politics:  Essays on Constitution Making, Maintenance, and Change (Princeton University Press, 2001).

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

Natural Law and Public Reason

– In Robert P. George and Christopher Wolfe (eds.), Natural Law and Public Reason (Georgetown University Press, 2000), with Christopher Wolfe.
Stephen Macedo, in his Liberal Virtues and in a number of separately published articles, has defended a liberal doctrine of public reason, one which he considers to be in line with John… More

Reason, Freedom, and the Rule of Law

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 46 (2001). Reprinted in the American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 1:1 (Fall 2001), Regent University Law Review 15:2 (2002-2003), Charles W. Dunn (ed.), Faith, Freedom, and the Future:  Religion in American Political Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), The Clarion Review 2 (2004), and Michael  A. Scaperlanda and Teresa Stanton Collet (eds.), Recovering Self-Evident Truths:  Catholic Perspectives on American Law (Catholic University of America Press, 2007).
The idea of law and the ideal of the rule of law are central to the natural law tradition of thought about public (or “political”) order. St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to… More

Responding Justly to Terrorism

– Crisis Magazine, November 1, 2001.
There is no question that our nation will respond with force to the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What will our response look like if it is shaped by the Catholic… More

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

Would a War in Iraq be Ethically Justified?

– The Daily Princetonian, September 19, 2002.
How can we decide if an attack on Iraq in ethically justified? Although the early architects of “just war theory” held that punishing past aggression is among the legitimate… More

The Unorthodox Liberalism of Joseph Raz

– Revised and expanded in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Liberalism at the Crossroads, 2nd Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003). Original version published in The Review of Politics 53:4 (Fall 1991). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe and John Hittinger (eds.), Liberalism at the Crossroads (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994).
Abstract (from The Review of Politics): In The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz has challenged the anti-perfectionism of orthodox liberal political theory and proposed an alternative form of… More

Law and Moral Purpose

– First Things, January 2008.
The obligations and purposes of law and government are to protect public health, safety, and morals, and to advance the general welfare” including, preeminently, protecting people’s… More

Natural Law

– In Keith Whittington, R. Daniel Kelemen, and Gregory A. Caldeira (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008).
Abstract: Theories of natural law propose to identify fundamental aspects of human well-being and fulfillment (“basic human goods”), and norms of conduct entailed by their integral… More

Plough Interviews Robert P. George on Biblical Justice

– Plough Publishing, published October 8, 2014, YouTube.
Raised in West Virginia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners, Robert P. George is now McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. All the same, his renown as a public… More

Five Pillars of a Decent and Dynamic Society

– In James R. Stoner, Jr. and Harold James (eds.), The Thriving Society: On The Social Conditions of Human Flourishing (The Witherspoon Institute, 2015). First presented as the keynote address at John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum, Sydney, August 2012; Lecture in the Loyola University’s Centennial Celebration, March 2013; Keynote address at Sutherland Institute's 2013 Annual Dinner, April 2013; Lecture at Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, September 2013.

Multimedia

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).

Social Cohesion and the Legal Enforcement of Morality

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 35:1 (1990).
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1957, THE COMMITTEE on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, chaired by Sir John Wolfenden, issued its Report recommending to the British Parliament that “homosexual… More

Rule by Law

– National Review, February 26, 1996, with Ramesh Ponnuru.

Natural Law and Liberal Public Reason

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 42:1 (January 1997), with Christopher Wolfe.
As the century winds to a close, John Rawls remains a–perhaps the–central figure in Anglo-American political philosophy. In his 1993 book, Political Liberalism, Rawls… More

Justice, Legitimacy, and Allegiance

– Loyola Law Review 44:1 (1998). Reprinted in Mitchell Muncy (ed.) The End of Democracy II:  A Crisis of Legitimacy (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); and in Sotirios Barber and Robert P. George (eds.) Constitutional Politics:  Essays on Constitution Making, Maintenance, and Change (Princeton University Press, 2001).

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

Natural Law and Public Reason

– In Robert P. George and Christopher Wolfe (eds.), Natural Law and Public Reason (Georgetown University Press, 2000), with Christopher Wolfe.
Stephen Macedo, in his Liberal Virtues and in a number of separately published articles, has defended a liberal doctrine of public reason, one which he considers to be in line with John… More

Reason, Freedom, and the Rule of Law

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 46 (2001). Reprinted in the American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 1:1 (Fall 2001), Regent University Law Review 15:2 (2002-2003), Charles W. Dunn (ed.), Faith, Freedom, and the Future:  Religion in American Political Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), The Clarion Review 2 (2004), and Michael  A. Scaperlanda and Teresa Stanton Collet (eds.), Recovering Self-Evident Truths:  Catholic Perspectives on American Law (Catholic University of America Press, 2007).
The idea of law and the ideal of the rule of law are central to the natural law tradition of thought about public (or “political”) order. St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to… More

Responding Justly to Terrorism

– Crisis Magazine, November 1, 2001.
There is no question that our nation will respond with force to the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What will our response look like if it is shaped by the Catholic… More

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

Would a War in Iraq be Ethically Justified?

– The Daily Princetonian, September 19, 2002.
How can we decide if an attack on Iraq in ethically justified? Although the early architects of “just war theory” held that punishing past aggression is among the legitimate… More

The Unorthodox Liberalism of Joseph Raz

– Revised and expanded in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Liberalism at the Crossroads, 2nd Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003). Original version published in The Review of Politics 53:4 (Fall 1991). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe and John Hittinger (eds.), Liberalism at the Crossroads (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994).
Abstract (from The Review of Politics): In The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz has challenged the anti-perfectionism of orthodox liberal political theory and proposed an alternative form of… More

Law and Moral Purpose

– First Things, January 2008.
The obligations and purposes of law and government are to protect public health, safety, and morals, and to advance the general welfare” including, preeminently, protecting people’s… More

Natural Law

– In Keith Whittington, R. Daniel Kelemen, and Gregory A. Caldeira (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008).
Abstract: Theories of natural law propose to identify fundamental aspects of human well-being and fulfillment (“basic human goods”), and norms of conduct entailed by their integral… More

Plough Interviews Robert P. George on Biblical Justice

– Plough Publishing, published October 8, 2014, YouTube.
Raised in West Virginia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners, Robert P. George is now McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. All the same, his renown as a public… More

Five Pillars of a Decent and Dynamic Society

– In James R. Stoner, Jr. and Harold James (eds.), The Thriving Society: On The Social Conditions of Human Flourishing (The Witherspoon Institute, 2015). First presented as the keynote address at John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum, Sydney, August 2012; Lecture in the Loyola University’s Centennial Celebration, March 2013; Keynote address at Sutherland Institute's 2013 Annual Dinner, April 2013; Lecture at Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, September 2013.

Teaching

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).

Social Cohesion and the Legal Enforcement of Morality

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 35:1 (1990).
IN SEPTEMBER OF 1957, THE COMMITTEE on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, chaired by Sir John Wolfenden, issued its Report recommending to the British Parliament that “homosexual… More

Rule by Law

– National Review, February 26, 1996, with Ramesh Ponnuru.

Natural Law and Liberal Public Reason

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 42:1 (January 1997), with Christopher Wolfe.
As the century winds to a close, John Rawls remains a–perhaps the–central figure in Anglo-American political philosophy. In his 1993 book, Political Liberalism, Rawls… More

Justice, Legitimacy, and Allegiance

– Loyola Law Review 44:1 (1998). Reprinted in Mitchell Muncy (ed.) The End of Democracy II:  A Crisis of Legitimacy (Spence Publishing Co., 1998); and in Sotirios Barber and Robert P. George (eds.) Constitutional Politics:  Essays on Constitution Making, Maintenance, and Change (Princeton University Press, 2001).

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

Natural Law and Public Reason

– In Robert P. George and Christopher Wolfe (eds.), Natural Law and Public Reason (Georgetown University Press, 2000), with Christopher Wolfe.
Stephen Macedo, in his Liberal Virtues and in a number of separately published articles, has defended a liberal doctrine of public reason, one which he considers to be in line with John… More

Reason, Freedom, and the Rule of Law

– American Journal of Jurisprudence 46 (2001). Reprinted in the American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Law 1:1 (Fall 2001), Regent University Law Review 15:2 (2002-2003), Charles W. Dunn (ed.), Faith, Freedom, and the Future:  Religion in American Political Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), The Clarion Review 2 (2004), and Michael  A. Scaperlanda and Teresa Stanton Collet (eds.), Recovering Self-Evident Truths:  Catholic Perspectives on American Law (Catholic University of America Press, 2007).
The idea of law and the ideal of the rule of law are central to the natural law tradition of thought about public (or “political”) order. St. Thomas Aquinas went so far as to… More

Responding Justly to Terrorism

– Crisis Magazine, November 1, 2001.
There is no question that our nation will respond with force to the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What will our response look like if it is shaped by the Catholic… More

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

Would a War in Iraq be Ethically Justified?

– The Daily Princetonian, September 19, 2002.
How can we decide if an attack on Iraq in ethically justified? Although the early architects of “just war theory” held that punishing past aggression is among the legitimate… More

The Unorthodox Liberalism of Joseph Raz

– Revised and expanded in Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Liberalism at the Crossroads, 2nd Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003). Original version published in The Review of Politics 53:4 (Fall 1991). Reprinted in Christopher Wolfe and John Hittinger (eds.), Liberalism at the Crossroads (Rowman & Littlefield, 1994).
Abstract (from The Review of Politics): In The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz has challenged the anti-perfectionism of orthodox liberal political theory and proposed an alternative form of… More

Law and Moral Purpose

– First Things, January 2008.
The obligations and purposes of law and government are to protect public health, safety, and morals, and to advance the general welfare” including, preeminently, protecting people’s… More

Natural Law

– In Keith Whittington, R. Daniel Kelemen, and Gregory A. Caldeira (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008).
Abstract: Theories of natural law propose to identify fundamental aspects of human well-being and fulfillment (“basic human goods”), and norms of conduct entailed by their integral… More

Plough Interviews Robert P. George on Biblical Justice

– Plough Publishing, published October 8, 2014, YouTube.
Raised in West Virginia as the grandson of immigrant coal miners, Robert P. George is now McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. All the same, his renown as a public… More

Five Pillars of a Decent and Dynamic Society

– In James R. Stoner, Jr. and Harold James (eds.), The Thriving Society: On The Social Conditions of Human Flourishing (The Witherspoon Institute, 2015). First presented as the keynote address at John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum, Sydney, August 2012; Lecture in the Loyola University’s Centennial Celebration, March 2013; Keynote address at Sutherland Institute's 2013 Annual Dinner, April 2013; Lecture at Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, September 2013.