political philosophy
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Is Democracy Viable?
A Philosophical Happy Hour inquiring into the long-term institutional viability of democratic governance. Why is democracy the favored form of governance in the modern world? The modern forms of democratic government emerged alongside an emphasis on individual rights, autonomy, and equality. Therefore it seems, at the root of such emergence, we find beliefs both about…
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Reading Circle: Pierre Manent [2026-27]
Description Democracy without Nations?: The Fate of Self-Government in Europe (4 weeks) [March–April]This work, now over twenty years old, retains clear relevance today in light of the current crisis of the nation-state as a political form. The book is an extended essay on some of the consequences of late–twentieth-century changes in European governance. As an…
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Lecture: Jefferson, Natural Rights, and the Sources of the Declaration of Independence
In this Lyceum Institute Colloquium, John Pinheiro (Acton Institute) examines Thomas Jefferson’s understanding of natural rights and argues that the Declaration of Independence is best understood within the organic English constitutional tradition of common law, rather than primarily through a Lockean framework. The lecture explores the relationship between natural rights language and inherited English liberties,…
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Classical Liberalism’s Widening Gyres
A polemic on why the lukewarm “center” cannot hold. There is an episode of the sitcom Parks and Recreation featuring a cult that named themselves “the Reasonabilists”.[1] The cult worships “Zorp, the giant lizard god who will destroy the earth with his cleansing fire of judgment.” When asked why the cultists call themselves “the Reasonabilists”,…
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On Morality, Law, and the Exercise of Choice
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the relationship between morality and law, and what falls to our exercise of choice. St. Thomas Aquinas defines law as an ordinance of reason ordered to the common good, promulgated by one who holds responsibility for the community. This broad but precise definition allows us to distinguish kinds of law…
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Who is My Enemy?
A Philosophical Happy Hour inquiring into the nature of enmity, the distinction of public and personal enemies, and the morally rightful manner of holding oneself in opposition to others. We hear a lot these days about friends and enemies, and—it seems—not unreasonably. The world seems awash in hostility. But what is it, in fact, that…
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2024 Summer: A Thomistic Defense of Democracy
Can democracy be saved? Ours, on both the left and the right, seems to be a world viewed increasingly through post-liberal lenses. Must we return to a strict hierarchy if we are to abandon the “liberal experiment” that has rendered increasing ailment in recent decades—if, that is, we are not to lapse into socialist totalitarianism? …
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Obeying Unjust Laws
St. Thomas defines law in Summa Theologiae I-II q. 90 aa. 1-4. It is an ordinance of reason for the sake of the common good made by someone bestowed with the care of the common good and promulgated. Hence, human law, which St. Thomas treats in I-II q. 95, must share the above definition in…
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Implementation of Subsidiarity
The principle of subsidiarity—perhaps longest known for its role in Catholic social teaching though also described as “fundamental to the functioning of the European Union”—has an undeniable allure for all serious persons. Succinctly described, subsidiarity holds that governing decisions ought to be made at the lowest level of competence. In a concrete example, decisions about…