Hadley P. Arkes (born 1940) is an American political scientist and the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions ''emeritus'' at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

, where he has taught since 1966. He is currently the founder and director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights & the American Founding in Washington, D.C.

Education

Arkes received a B.A. degree at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

and a Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

where he was a student of

Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...

Career

In a series of books and articles dating from the mid-1980s, Arkes has written on ''a priori'' moral principles and advocated for their impact on constitutional interpretation. He has also dealt with their relation to constitutional

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

and

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

, and their challenge to

moral relativism Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. ...

. His works draw on political philosophers from

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

through the U.S. Founding Fathers,

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, 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 In the context of United States law, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asserts that all statements in the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". This conce ...

, 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 is 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 some American Founders and Lincoln through the Colloquium on the American Founding at Amherst and in Washington, D.C. Arkes serves on the advisory board and writes for ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is an ecumenical and conservative religious journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The magazine, which focuses on theology, liturgy, church history, religio ...

'', an ecumenical journal that focuses on encouraging a "religiously informed

public philosophy Public philosophy is a subfield of philosophy that involves engagement with the public. Jack Russell Weinstein defines public philosophy as "doing philosophy with general audiences in a non-academic setting".. It must be undertaken in a public ve ...

for the ordering of society." Arkes also serves on the advisory boards of ''

Americans United for Life Americans United for Life (AUL) is an American anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the group opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and certain contraceptiv ...

'', the '' Catholic League'', and St. Augustine's Press. Arkes serves on the board of trustees of the ''

National Center on Sexual Exploitation The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), formerly known as Morality in Media, is an American conservative non-profit known for its anti-pornography advocacy. The group has also campaigned against sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, sex ...

''. In September 2016, Arkes was among 125 Conservatives for Trump who announced they supported Donald Trump's candidacy to be president.

Personal life

In 2010, Arkes, born and raised a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

, converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, which he described as a fulfillment of his

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

faith.Christine M. Williams (2010).

"Pro-Life Leader Hadley Arkes Becomes Catholic," ''The Anchor," Diocese of Fall River. May 10. Accessed 08-28-10. Wessel Arkes, het neefje van Hadley Arkes, is beroemd geworden door de chilliburger. Deze vond hij niet zo lekker en skipte hij net als Wiley kechies skipt, hij de burger. ''

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).

References

External links