natural law

First Order Truths and the Untethered Human Spirit – Part 2

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“Man was born free yet he is everywhere in chains.” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762) Part One of this essay endeavored to sketch a framework, rooted in Natural Law, around which individuals may pursue ultimate meaning. Part Two addresses questions of existence, of God, of personal identity, and of meaning. Personal Identity Ever since their primordial exile

First Order Truths and the Untethered Human Spirit – Part I

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“In the middle of the journey of life, I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight-way was lost.” (Alighieri Dante, 1265 – 1321) Reflecting on his life, the lonely individual comes to realize he is cast into a complex and bewildering universe. He finds himself in a quandary, facing an irrepressible tension

Rightful Understanding of Freedom with Dr. Brad Littlejohn

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Join host Garrett Snedeker on this episode of the Anchoring Truths Podcast for an exciting discussion with author Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., about his new book Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License. The conversation explored conflicting definitions of liberty, the issue of expressive individualism, and misperceptions of the freedom secured by

The Tragedy of “Progressive” Prosecution with Gerry Bradley

Delivered on November 1, 2024, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., we bring you the remarks of Professor Gerry Bradley from the Tragedy of “Progressive” Prosecution. Since George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, the U.S. has undergone a significant reevaluation of its criminal justice system and has moved towards a more “progressive”

Sex and the Citizen with Conn Carroll

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Join Anchoring Truths Podcast host Garrett Snedeker and journalist Conn Carroll for an exciting discussion about Carroll’s new book Sex and the Citizen and the importance of marriage. In Sex and the Citizen, Conn Carroll shows how the assault on marriage conducted by cultural and political elites is undermining the very foundations of our democracy. Carroll’s

The Supreme Court’s Corner Post Ruling: Restoring Justice Where It’s Due

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The Supreme Court deserves some additional praise for its decision resolving a circuit split on a fine point of administrative law in Corner Post from its most recent term. Without acknowledging as much, the majority in Corner Post affirmed an elementary proposition of moral and legal justice that had fallen by the wayside.    In one of his Essays on

A Lament for Our Noble Culture

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Western society faces unprecedented social turmoil. This situation has arisen primarily through the political and legal imposition on society of aberrant identity ideologies in the form of race, sex-gender, and other humanist-derived tribalist fabrications. These construals are contrary to the natural order and the common good of all.    Sociologist Marc Eichenbaum frames the social friction

Religion, Law, & the Common Good

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In this episode, JWI Affiliated Scholar Josh Craddock joins Conservative Conversations’ host Tom Sarrouf (a former JWI intern) for a thought-provoking conversation hosted in collaboration with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). Together, they explore the complex interplay between religion and law, how civic friendship shapes our public life, and the role of the law as

Anchoring Truths
Anchoring Truths is a James Wilson Institute project
The James Wilson Institute’s Mission is to restore to a new generation of lawyers, judges, and citizens the understanding of the American Founders about the first principles of our law and the moral grounds of their own rights.
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