For the first podcast episode of 2024, Prof. W. B. “Bill” Allen joins JWI Founder & Director Hadley Arkes and Anchoring Truths Podcast host Garrett Snedeker to discuss Allen’s new translation of Montesquieu’s most famous work, The Spirit of the Laws. (from Anthem Press) They discussed the influence of Natural Law on Montesquieu’s political thought, distinctions between political and moral virtue, his influence on the colonies and on the American Founding, and much more.
Prof. Allen is the Dean Emeritus, and Emeritus Professor of Political Science, of the James Madison College of Michigan State University. He is a former member and chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and has been a Kellogg National Fellow, Fulbright Fellow and a member of the National Council on the Humanities. He has published several books, including George Washington: America’s First Progressive and Rethinking Uncle Tom: The Political Philosophy of H. B. Stowe. He also edited such collections as George Washington: A Collection and The Essential Antifederalist and has published numerous scholarly articles on political philosophy and American political thought. Allen received his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 1972.
