Law

Liberty and the Rule of Law

ABSTRACT

This colloquium focused on the distinction between positive law, or law as commands; natural law, or law as transcendent reason; and conventional law, or law as agreement and human artifice. At the heart of the discussion about rule of law and liberty is how and when laws restrict individuals’ ability to make choices in pursuit of their own welfare.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

Aquinas, St. Thomas. Treatise on Law. Washington, DC: Regenery, 2001.

Hayek, F. A. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Maravall, José María and Przeworksi, Adam. Democracy and the Rule of Law. Cambridge: University Press, 2003.

Oakeshott, Michael. On History and Other Essays. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1999.

Weingast, Barry. “The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of Law.” American Political Science Review 91 (1997): 245-263.