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Joining me this week in our first episode of the new year is a renowed thinker and writer on constitutional theory and natural law, Hadley Arkes. Hadley is the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College and the founding director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding. His new book and the focus of this episode is called Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. RELATED CONTENT Bridging the Civil & Divine - Karen Taliferro (Episode # 133) Summer Series on "Christianity & Constitutionalism" (see Episodes # 141 to 151) Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.
We've talked about natural law and where our rights come from, but on this episode of Situation Report, we're joined by Professor Hadley Arkes, who has written many books and articles on many topics, but his newest book is titled Mere Natural Law Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. We dive into this book and more on this episode of Situation Report. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We've talked about natural law and where our rights come from, but on this episode of Situation Report, we're joined by Professor Hadley Arkes, who has written many books and articles on many topics, but his newest book is titled Mere Natural Law Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. We dive into this book and more on this episode of Situation Report. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Originally Recorded August 17th, 2023 About the James Wilson Institute: https://jameswilsoninstitute.org/ Check out Professor Arkes's new book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution: https://www.amazon.com/Mere-Natural-Law-Originalism-Constitution/dp/1684513014 Get full access to Unlicensed Philosophy with Chuong Nguyen at musicallyspeaking.substack.com/subscribe
Way back in 1960, Leo Strauss wrote in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences that "Natural law, which was for many centuries the basis of the predominant Western political thought, is rejected in our time by almost all students of society who are not Roman Catholics." In the decades since then, however, natural law has enjoyed a revival of sorts, and is implicated today in the rise of constitutional originalism at the Supreme Court. But it is also a confusing subject, because many so-called "new natural law" theories seem to concede too much to modern philosophy, as if the great tradition of natural law begins with Bentham. To be sure, the classical authors such as Aristotle, Cicero, and Aquinas were not simple thinkers on the subject, but their work tends not bog down with specialized jargon or abstruse theory. One person stands out for rescuing the older tradition of natural law: Hadley Arkes, author of Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. In this conversation, Steve Hayward draws out the basics of the argument from Prof. Arkes, and extends the line of reasoning to today's controversies about free speech and "cancel culture," which are more confused than ever with the sudden eruption of anti-Semitism on college campuses.
On this episode, Hadley Arkes joins Mark Bauerlein to discuss his new book “Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution.”
On this episode, Hadley Arkes joins Mark Bauerlein to discuss his new book “Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution.”
This is Thinking in Public, a program dedicated to intelligent conversation about frontline theological and cultural issues with the people who are shaping them.In this edition of the popular podcast series "Thinking in Public," Albert Mohler speaks with founder and director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding, Professor Hadley Arkes, about his most recent book "Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution."If you enjoyed this episode of Thinking in Public, you can find hundreds of these conversations here.You can purchase "Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution" here.Sign up to receive every new Thinking in Public release in your inbox.Follow Dr. Mohler:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.
What is natural law, and what does it have to do with originalism? Why does the Right defend religion yet so often struggle to define it? Next up in our "Summer of Law" series, Hadley Arkes, the Edward Ney Professor Emeritus of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College and the Founder and Director of the James Wilson Institute sits down to chat about his recent book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution (Regnery Publishing, 2023). More on Prof. Arkes is available here. About the The James Wilson Institute, here. The Stanford Review's "religion," referenced during the podcast is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. She graduated from Stanford University in 2021, where she studied Classics and Linguistics. She was also Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Review and a member of the varsity fencing team. Previously, she was a Research Assistant in Education Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law
What is natural law, and what does it have to do with originalism? Why does the Right defend religion yet so often struggle to define it? Next up in our "Summer of Law" series, Hadley Arkes, the Edward Ney Professor Emeritus of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College and the Founder and Director of the James Wilson Institute sits down to chat about his recent book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution (Regnery Publishing, 2023). More on Prof. Arkes is available here. About the The James Wilson Institute, here. The Stanford Review's "religion," referenced during the podcast is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. She graduated from Stanford University in 2021, where she studied Classics and Linguistics. She was also Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Review and a member of the varsity fencing team. Previously, she was a Research Assistant in Education Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What is natural law, and what does it have to do with originalism? Why does the Right defend religion yet so often struggle to define it? Next up in our "Summer of Law" series, Hadley Arkes, the Edward Ney Professor Emeritus of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College and the Founder and Director of the James Wilson Institute sits down to chat about his recent book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution (Regnery Publishing, 2023). More on Prof. Arkes is available here. About the The James Wilson Institute, here. The Stanford Review's "religion," referenced during the podcast is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. She graduated from Stanford University in 2021, where she studied Classics and Linguistics. She was also Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Review and a member of the varsity fencing team. Previously, she was a Research Assistant in Education Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics
What is natural law, and what does it have to do with originalism? Why does the Right defend religion yet so often struggle to define it? Next up in our "Summer of Law" series, Hadley Arkes, the Edward Ney Professor Emeritus of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College and the Founder and Director of the James Wilson Institute sits down to chat about his recent book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution (Regnery Publishing, 2023). More on Prof. Arkes is available here. About the The James Wilson Institute, here. The Stanford Review's "religion," referenced during the podcast is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. She graduated from Stanford University in 2021, where she studied Classics and Linguistics. She was also Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Review and a member of the varsity fencing team. Previously, she was a Research Assistant in Education Policy at the American Enterprise Institute.
Guests: Miles Smith, Hadley Arkes, & Ingrid Jacques Host Scot Bertram talks with Miles Smith, Assistant Professor of History at Hillsdale College, about his recent Op-ed at Chicago Tribune, "Activism and niches are killing the history profession." Hadley Arkes, Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College, discusses the natural law tradition and his new book Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. And Ingrid Jacques, Columnist at USA Today and Hillsdale alumna, talks about the state of journalism and opinion writing and how Hillsdale helped prepare her for her career. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Links from the show:* Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution* Connect with Hadley* Rate the showAbout my guest:Hadley Arkes is the Edward Ney Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College. He joined the Faculty at Amherst in 1966 and taught for 50 years. He is the author of multiple books with Princeton University Press and Cambridge University Press, including The Philosopher in the City (1981), First Things (1986), Beyond the Constitution (1990), The Return of George Sutherland (1994), Natural Rights and the Right to Choose (2002), and Constitutional Illusions and Anchoring Truths: The Touchstone of the Natural Law (2010). His articles have appeared in professional journals, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, National Review, and First Things, and he is one of the founders of the web journal The Catholic Thing.Arkes was the main advocate and architect of the bill that became the Born-Alive Infants' Protection Act. The account of his experience of moving the bill through Congress is contained in his book Natural Rights & the Right to Choose. Professor Arkes led the testimony on the bill before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2000, then again in July 2001. On August 5, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the bill into law with Professor Arkes in attendance.Professor Arkes is the founder and director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding in Washington, D.C. Get full access to Dispatches from the War Room at dispatchesfromthewarroom.substack.com/subscribe
Frank begins the show with Steve Kates, aka Dr. Sky a veteran radio and TV broadcaster and edu-tainer with expertise in astronomy and space, and also a podcaster for wabcradio.com to talk about the latest in space news. After, Frank talks about whether or not you should charge your kid rent once they turn 18 and also speaks with Hadley Arkes,the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College, legal scholar and the author of the new book “Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution” about the Supreme Court, his book, and originalism. Next, Frank talks about Telly offering free 55-inch televisions and Dr. Naomi Wolf, author of The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians, Covid-19 and the War Against the Human and CEO of DailyClout.io, a successful civic tech company joins Frank to talk about censorship and vaccine side effects. Later, Frank talks about dementia and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Frank Morano interviews Hadley Arkes,the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College, legal scholar and the author of the new book “Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution” about the Supreme Court, his book, and originalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hadley Arkes provides a valuable education in foundational ideas governing America with his new book, "Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode of "The Federalist Radio Hour," Hadley Arkes, legal philosopher and founding director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding, joins Federalist Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss the relationship between "originalism" and "natural law" and explain how underlying moral truths should inform conservative judicial thinking. You can find Arkes' book "Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution" here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Mere-Natural-Law/Hadley-Arkes/9781684513017
We live in what appears at first glance to be a highly skeptical age, one characterized by moral relativism in public discourse and ‘value-freedom' in science. But is this really the case? Hadley Arkes believes that, despite many people's protest to the contrary, what they do is informed–perhaps unwittingly–by an understanding of natural law. In this wide-ranging conversation, the founding director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding unpacks this paradox as explored in his new book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution.-What is natural law and what sort of alternative does it provide to skepticism?-Why is there hostility or disinterest in natural law today among both self-styled progressive and conservative jurists?-Why do contemporary criticisms of natural law fall flat?-Where can natural law principles contribute to clarifying and answering contentious moral and legal debates of our time?- Why are comedians the best expositors of natural law principles?Subscribe to our podcastsMere Natural Law | AmazonAbout Hadley Arkes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hadley Arkes, Ney Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus at Amherst College and founder of the James Wilson Institute, on his new book Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
About the book: Originalism Is Not Enough In this profoundly important reassessment of constitutional interpretation, the eminent legal philosopher Hadley Arkes argues that “originalism” alone is an inadequate answer to judicial activism. Untethered from “mere Natural Law”—the moral principles knowable by all—our legal and constitutional system is doomed to incoherence. The framers of the Constitution regarded the “self-evident” truths of the Natural Law as foundational. And yet in our own time, both liberals and conservatives insist that we must interpret the Constitution while ignoring its foundation. Making the case anew for Natural Law, Arkes finds it not in theories hovering in the clouds or in benign platitudes (“be generous,” “be selfless”). He draws us back, rather, to the ground of Natural Law as the American Founders understood it, the anchoring truths of common sense—truths grasped at once by the ordinary man, unburdened by theories imbibed in college and law school. When liberals discovered hitherto unknown rights in the “emanations” and “penumbras” of a “living constitution,” conservatives responded with an “originalism” that refuses to venture beyond the bare text. But in framing that text, the Founders appealed to moral principles that were there before the Constitution and would be there even if there were no Constitution. An originalism that is detached from those anchor - ing principles has strayed far from the original meaning of the Constitution. It is powerless, moreover, to resist the imposition of a perverse moral vision on our institutions and our lives. Brilliant in its analysis, essential in its argument, Mere Natural Law is a must-read for everyone who cares about the Constitution, morality, and the rule of law. This ABC Books author of the week was featured on KSGF Mornings with Nick on Thursday, May 04, 2023.
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