Defining the limits of free speech, asking the right questions, arguing orginalism, and more . . .

The best of intellectual conservative thought, every Thursday
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]
CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (5 min)



** The One Question Conservatives Should Be Asking in 2020 ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Pay attention long enough and you’ll notice a recurring theme in conservative conversations:

No one can agree on what we ought to conserve.

Western traditions or Founding principles? Freedom or ordered liberty?

It seems there are more questions than answers.

Why Conservatives Need to Take a Hard Look at Their Beliefs

In this week’s Intercollegiate Review article, Spencer Klavan takes a different approach.

He suggests we reconsider the questions we’re asking.

If conservatives ask the right question, we just might agree on the thing we’re trying to conserve . . .

Read Now ([link removed])
[link removed]
CATEGORY: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY


**
Harvard Professor: “Originalism Has Outlived Its Utility”
------------------------------------------------------------
Harvard law professor Adrian Vermeule whacked a conservative hornet’s nest.

In his essay in The Atlantic, “Beyond Originalism,” ([link removed]) Vermeule suggests that a prominent conservative philosophy for interpreting the Constitution has outlived its purpose.

Vermeule’s Argument in Two Sentences:

Originalism is not enough to ensure a conservative interpretation of law and the Constitution.

What we need instead is a government-directed approach toward the common good.

How Conservatives Are Reacting

Vermeule’s essay is problematic for many reasons.

Even if we could agree on what the common good looked like, governments across the globe are notorious for promising heaven and delivering hell.

But in the spirit of fairness and conversation, we’re rounding up some of the best responses to Vermeule’s argument.

These Responses to Adrian Vermeule’s Essay Are Worth Your Time:
* Samuel Gregg pits Vermeule against Aquinas ([link removed]) on the Acton Institute’s blog.

* In the Daily Signal, Thomas Jipping says the Constitution can’t mean whatever judges want it to mean ([link removed]) .

* Thomas Fitzgerald, an integralist like Vermeule, thinks his argument is foolish ([link removed]) for integralist reasons as well as cultural ones.

* F. H. Buckley argues that originalism is itself a radical creed ([link removed]) and, therefore, not conservative. Can we do better?

* Georgetown law professor Randy E. Barnett says Vermeule makes the same authoritarian argument progressives do ([link removed]) .

* Matt Ford writes in the New Republic that Vermeule’s essay is honest . . . and disturbing ([link removed]) .

[link removed]
CATEGORY: LAW (6 min)



** How Justice Scalia Exemplified America’s Judicial Philosophy ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Given the furor over Adrian Vermeule’s essay on originalism, it makes sense to examine what originalism looks like in practice.

The late Justice Antonin Scalia lived originalism.

In this timeless Intercollegiate Review article, Noah Diekemper shows what that means—and why it matters.

Read Now ([link removed])
[link removed]


** Sit Down with Two Leading Scholars . . .
------------------------------------------------------------
. . . get an uncommon grasp of free speech—and get your questions answered in real time!

Join us Wednesday, April 15, at 8 p.m. ET ([link removed]) and explore what defines free speech, whether it has limits, and what those limits ought to be.

Your guides will be two leading authorities on free speech:
* Dr. Hadley Arkes, the great constitutional and natural law scholar of Amherst College

* Arthur Milikh, associate director of the Heritage Foundation’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies

Get the ISI Conference Experience—From the Comfort of Your Couch!

Registration is completely free ([link removed]) , but spots are limited—and they’re filling up.

Reserve yours now!

Reserve My Spot ([link removed])
[link removed]


** Share the Best of Conservative Thought
with Your Friends
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] http%3A%2F%2Feepurl.com%2FgZmFbv Tweet ([link removed] http%3A%2F%2Feepurl.com%2FgZmFbv)
[link removed] Share ([link removed])


** Who We Are, What We Do
------------------------------------------------------------
Most thoughtful college students are sick of getting a shallow education in which too many viewpoints are shut out. We teach you the principles of liberty and plug you into a vibrant intellectual community so that you get the collegiate experience you hunger for.

Are you looking for an education and a community dedicated to preserving the principles and ideas worth saving? Learn more and get started with ISI today!

Start Learning ([link removed])

============================================================
** ([link removed])
Our mailing address is:
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
3901 Centerville Road
Wilmington, DE 19807
USA

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])