Hadley Arkes
Encyclopedia
Hadley P. Arkes is a political scientist and the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions at Amherst College
, where he has taught since 1966.
Arkes received a B.A. degree at the University of Illinois
and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago
where he was a student of Leo Strauss
.
In a series of books and articles dating from the mid-1980s, Arkes has written on moral principles, arguing that they are true and necessary across cultures. He has also dealt with their relation to constitional jurisprudence
and natural law
, and their challenge to moral relativism
. His works draw on political philosophers from Aristotle
through the U.S. Founding Fathers
, Lincoln
, and contemporary authors and jurists.
John O. McGinnis, reviewing Arkes' Constitutional Illusions & Anchoring Truths in The Wall Street Journal, writes that it tries to find a path between the extremes of originalism, where the meaning of the U. S. constitution is fixed by its original text, and the idea of the living constitution, where its meaning is updated by evolving moral principles.
Arkes helped craft the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
of 2002. He is also founder and a member of the Committee for the American Founding, a group of Amherst alumni and students seeking to preserve the doctrines of "natural rights" exposited by the American Founders and Lincoln through the Colloquium on the American Founding at Amherst and in Washington, D.C.
In 2010 Arkes, born and raised a Jew, converted to Catholicism, which he described as a fulfillment of his Jewish faith.
Arkes serves on the advisory board and writes for First Things
, a ecumenical journal that focuses on encouraging a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, where he has taught since 1966.
Arkes received a B.A. degree at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
where he was a student of Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss was a political philosopher and classicist who specialized in classical political philosophy. He was born in Germany to Jewish parents and later emigrated to the United States...
.
In a series of books and articles dating from the mid-1980s, Arkes has written on moral principles, arguing that they are true and necessary across cultures. He has also dealt with their relation to constitional jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
and natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
, and their challenge to moral relativism
Moral relativism
Moral relativism may be any of several descriptive, meta-ethical, or normative positions. Each of them is concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different people and cultures:...
. His works draw on political philosophers from Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
through the U.S. Founding Fathers
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
, Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, and contemporary authors and jurists.
John O. McGinnis, reviewing Arkes' Constitutional Illusions & Anchoring Truths in The Wall Street Journal, writes that it tries to find a path between the extremes of originalism, where the meaning of the U. S. constitution is fixed by its original text, and the idea of the living constitution, where its meaning is updated by evolving moral principles.
Arkes helped craft the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 is an Act of Congress. It extends legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed attempt at induced abortion. It was signed by President George W...
of 2002. He is also founder and a member of the Committee for the American Founding, a group of Amherst alumni and students seeking to preserve the doctrines of "natural rights" exposited by the American Founders and Lincoln through the Colloquium on the American Founding at Amherst and in Washington, D.C.
In 2010 Arkes, born and raised a Jew, converted to Catholicism, which he described as a fulfillment of his Jewish faith.
Arkes serves on the advisory board and writes for First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
, a ecumenical journal that focuses on encouraging a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society
Selected Publications
- Bureaucracy, regime and presumption : the national interests on the Marshall Plan (dissertation: University of Chicago, 1967).
- The philosopher in the city (Princeton University Press, 1981).
- First things: an inquiry into the first principles of morals and justice (Princeton University Press, 1986).
- On natural rights : speaking prose all our lives (Heritage Foundation, 1992).
- A jurisprudence of natural rights : how an earlier generation of judges did it (Heritage Foundation, 1992).
- Beyond the Constitution (Princeton University Press, 1992).
- The Return of George Sutherland: Restoring a Jurisprudence of Natural Rights (Princeton University Press, 1997).
- The mission of the military and the question of "the regime" (Colorado Springs, CO: United States Air Force Academy, 1997).
- Natural rights and the right to choose (Cambridge University Press, 2002).
- Constitutional illusions and anchoring truths : the touchstone of the natural law (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
External links
- Faculty page at Amherst College
- Fellow Page at Ethics and Public Policy Center
- Page of Articles at the Claremont Institute