This conference examined works by two "fathers" of the Scottish Enlightenment, Gershom Carmichael (1672–1729) and Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746). The primary issues addressed remain central to contemporary debates about liberty and responsibility in the academy and the public square: the origin and character of civil and political rights, the limits of civil government, the nature of the rights associated with property, the obligations and privileges that flow from contracts, and the state’s powers in time of war.