Stanley C. Brubaker

Reconsidering Dworkin's Case for Judicial Activism

Dworkins argument in favor of judicial activism is original, influential, and apparently powerful. While Dworkin does avoid virtually all the weaknesses of other advocates of judicial activism, the strength of his argument is only apparent. Beneath the surface lie several serious flaws. When these are corrected, what remains is in fact a powerful argument, but it is an argument for judicial restraint, not activism.

Coming into One's Own: John Locke's Theory of Property, God, and Politics

In the three centuries since the publication of the Two Treatises , a trail set down by Locke, although scarcely concealed, has gone unremarked—as has its final destination. If we miss this trail, we miss the works coherence. If we follow this trail, we find a compelling, even shocking, case against Revelation as an independent source of authority. And we find a theory of property so powerful—certainly in Lockes own estimation—it compels the reconstitution of the relation between children and parents, wives and husbands, servants and masters, persons and polities, and ultimately between man and God. Indeed, Lockes story of the right of property is also the story of mans coming into his own, his coming into his own mind, freed from the irrational claims of Revelation. Thus, Lockes theory of property is nothing less than a story of mans Enlightenment.

Civic Liberalism: Reflections on Our Democratic Ideals. By Thomas A. Spragens, Jr. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999. 271p.

Of the many endeavors in the last three decades to restate the central aspirations of liberalism, this important work is one of the most balanced, nuanced, and cogent. Part of its success lies in its willingness to stretch the boundaries of what we call liberalism, but in doing so, Spragens only brings liberal theory into better alignment with intuitions and sensibilities underlying liberal practice.

70.00 cloth,

Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton, brings together a series of important essays linked by their common defense of natural law. The book consists of three parts: a direct defense against natural laws several critics; an indirect defense through engagement with alternative moral and political theories (those of Amy Gutmann, Joel Feinberg, Alasdair Maclntyre, Michael Perry, Richard Posner, Andrew Sullivan, and Dennis Thompson); and an illustrative defense, building on the authors Making Men Moral (1993), which shows natural law to be a formidable and attractive alternative to liberalism on such morally charged issues as gay marriage, pornography, abortion, religious freedom, and international law. On every front, George shows himself to be a champion of the first order: His arguments display analytic rigor, penetrating insight, honesty and graciousness toward his adversaries, moral seriousness, and rare moral courage.