Ross Douthat wrote a May 27 column for The New York Times provocatively titled, Free Speech Will Not Save Us. The columnist was casting doubt on the argument that the best way to cure political polarization is with renewed respect for the right of people to speak. Douthat is correct that the right of free […]
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Natural Rights in America Today, with a Defense of the Founders on Natural Law: Reply to Seagrave
Adam Seagrave’s review of my Political Theory of the American Founding contains both praise and criticism. I will respond here to four of his most important concerns. DID THE NATURAL RIGHTS THEORY OUTGROW THE FOUNDERS? I discuss this point first because it suggests that Seagrave and I perhaps disagree not only about the fate of […]
Author Meets Critics: Thomas G. West’s The Political Theory of the American Founding
The great contribution of West’s book is to bolster the argument that the founders are a formidable group, not only in their political prudence but also in their claim to genuine moral and political wisdom. Tom West’s new book The Political Theory of the American Founding is a very good book and a very ambitious […]
Author Meets Critics: Thomas G. West’s The Political Theory of the American Founding
The parochialism implied by the title of West’s book and reflected in much of its content contrasts with the universality of the founders’ rhetoric and with the timelessly applicable ideas of natural rights and the natural law. The Political Theory of the American Founding is a remarkable, important, and impressive book. It is a decisive […]
The Founders on Race and the Rational Basis of Natural Law: Reply to Peter Myers
For the founders, the social compact is based on equal consent on both sides. Existing citizens should consent to new citizens, just as new citizens should consent before being admitted to citizenship. I thank Peter Myers for his generous assessment of my Political Theory of the American Founding – at least in the first half […]
