The case is hard for those challenging intellectual property. There is no coherent basis for a right to enjoy the creations of others without the compensation of or consent of their creator. “Just as sex is a God-given instinct for the prolongation of the human race, so the desire for property as a prolongation of […]
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Historical Records and Historical Narratives about the Constitutional Convention
It is both prudent and just to question the reliability of the records we use when forming our historical narratives. But it is no less prudent to question the wisdom of forming constitutional narratives that seek to replace the historical records with the historian’s speculations. James Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention are a much […]
Living the Natural Law in an Age of Natural Rights
The natural law has much to contribute to our rights-focused political discourse. Three strategies can help those committed to the natural law to bring this contribution to bear in our time. My title assumes that there is a real difference between natural law and natural rights—perhaps even a “tension” or, worst of all, a “contradiction.” […]
Do We Need a Natural Law Theory of the State?
Is natural law equipped to ground a normative theory of the liberal democratic state in this era of the great struggle between globalization and its opponents? Forty years ago, the famed Canadian political theorist C.B. Macpherson asked the political science community a question: Do we need a theory of the state? Macpherson was a social […]
Natural Justice and the Amistad
John Quincy Adams’ oral argument in the Amistad case is notable for its explicit appeal to the authority of the Declaration of Independence and to the practical political relevance of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” John Quincy Adams – son of the Revolution, former president, and sitting Massachusetts congressman – appeared at […]
