Liberty Law Talk

Roger Scruton discusses his latest book on human nature, exploring the reconciliation of conflicting views of evolutionary biology and individual autonomy through guilt and excuses. The podcast explores the extra dimension of human behavior that evolutionary adaptation and scientific ideas alone cannot explain. It delves into the concept of personhood, comparing Kant's ideas to the modern liberal account based on contract and consent. The podcast also examines emergent features and cognitive dualism, discussing the limitations of evolutionary biology in explaining human behavior and experiences. The chapter on freedom emphasizes the connection between responsibility, blame, and accountability, and explores the limitations of the concept of contract and consent in understanding human relationships.

Law and Liberty regular and essayist extraordinaire Theodore Dalrymple visits Liberty Law Talk to discuss Brexit, the EU, and rising nationalist currents in the West.

This edition of Liberty Law Talk is a conversation with Peter Lawler about his new position as editor of Modern Age and his just released book, American Heresies and Higher Education.

How did key participants in Straussian fight club, especially Harry Jaffa and Walter Berns, challenge the progressive settlement of political science, the history of the American Founding, and constitutionalism? Our guide for understanding this debate will be Steven Hayward who joins this edition of Liberty Law Talk to discuss his latest book, Patriotism Is Not Enough: Harry Jaffa, Walter Berns, and the Arguments that Redefined American Conservatism.

Patrick Deneen joins this edition of Liberty Law Talk to discuss his latest book, Conserving America? Essays on Present Discontents.

Barry Goldwater famously told the Republican National Convention in 1964 that “extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice and … moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Begging to differ is Aurelian Craiutu who joins this episode to discuss his new book, Faces of Moderation, a profound study of thinkers such as Raymond Aron, Michael Oakeshott, Isaiah Berlin, and others, who defended freedom and constitutional government against ideologues of all types.

This new edition of Liberty Law Talk discusses with professor and author Minxin Pei how the nexus of corruption between businesses and officials within the Chinese Communist Party is negatively shaping the country’s current trajectory in economics and foreign policy. Much conventional thinking holds that China’s economic rise will continue unabated, but Pei’s account breaks with current wisdom by focusing on a decadent ruling class mismanaging China towards disaster.

This edition of Liberty Law Talk discusses with Josh Blackman his latest book, Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty, and Executive Power. Professor Blackman has been engaged with Obamacare since its creation and discusses the ways the law has impacted our thinking about healthcare, the regulatory state, and religious liberty.

The great historian of American conservatism, George Nash, returns to Liberty Law Talk to discuss the current state of conservatism after the improbable victory of Donald Trump.

This edition of Liberty Law Talk is a discussion with Mark David Hall about American framer Roger Sherman who was the only framer to sign the Articles of Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention, he spoke more than all but three delegates and helped forge the Connecticut Compromise. Yet his writings remain relatively obscure. To help rectify this is Liberty Fund’s new volume entitled Collected Works of Roger Sherman, edited by Hall.