The Real Source of Modern Judicial Review

The Real Source of Modern Judicial Review

Dred Scott v. SandfordModern judicial review has a curious history. Its proponents seek to find its origins in the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison. The argument is that Chief Justice John Marshall “cleverly” created judicial review as an American institution. As the...

The Founders’ Founder

Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. A Critical Edition with Modern Spelling by Richard Hooker, edited by Arthur Stephen McGrade. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Three volumes. Hardcover, 1100 pages, $420. If asked “Which thinker exerted the greatest influence...

On Incomprehensibles

The literary form of Pascal’s Pensées is something of a puzzle. Is it a series of jottings, aphorisms, short essays, even conversational letters, or all of the above? Whatever it is, it is a remarkable work bordering on the inexhaustible. Not unlike Boswell’s Life of...

Religious Liberty and the Tragic Approach to Legal Theory

The Tragedy of Religious Freedom by Marc O. DeGirolami. Harvard University Press, 2013. Hardcover, 320 pages, $45. This is a brilliant and profoundly conservative book. Its argument, though not simple, is clearly stated for the attentive reader. One likely...

Spring Permanent Things

The Spring 2014 number of our Permanent Things newsletter is up, featuring updates on recent events commemorating Russell Kirk and the strong reception in Brazil of the publication of The Politics of Prudence. You can download a copy of the PDF from this link.

Natural Law and the Challenge of Liberal Secularism

Conscience and Its Enemies: Confronting the Dogmas of Liberal Secularism by Robert P. George. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2013. Hardcover, 384 pages, $30.“Man is known to exist in no part of the world, without certain rules for the regulation of his intercourse...

Strong Essays on Burke

Edmund Burke, the Enlightenment and the Modern World, edited by Peter J. Stanlis. Detroit: University of Detroit Press, 1967. 129 pp. Putting a title on a collection of disparate papers is always a problem. Considering the difficulty, the editor of this volume has...

Rise of the Poster Children

An Anxious Age: The Post-Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of America by Joseph Bottum. Image, 2014. Hardcover, 296 pp. $25.What is the most consequential political change to have occurred in the United States in the past 150 years? Most observers might nominate various...
A new issue of Studies in Burke and His Time

A new issue of Studies in Burke and His Time

The Edmund Burke Society of America announces a new issue of their journal, Studies in Burke and His Time, Volume 23. The issue features articles on the theme of Burke and history. Articles from Joseph Pappin III, Jeffrey O. Nelson, Elizabeth Lambert, and Aaron D....

The Monuments of Noble Men

An Editorial There is a famous story told of the great statesman (and farmer) Marcus Cato. Despite his own fearsome reputation in war and politics, Cato professed to scorn the honor of a physical monument to his achievements. “When any seemed to wonder,” writes...