H O N O R S    P R O G R A M    2 0 0 7    –    2 0 0 8    T H E M E

At least since Sophocles' play Antigone, a defining feature of Western civilization has been its insistence that justice is not identical with obedience to the public laws of the state. There exists a "higher law" that binds consciences, and which may prompt legitimate acts of civil disobedience. From Socrates to Thomas More and beyond, many of the heroes of the Western tradition have been martyrs for conscience's sake. The public laws of modern liberal democracies, however, seek to respect conscience by defending individual rights. Strange inversions and paradoxes result. For example, some U.S. senators work to reject judicial nominations on the grounds that the candidate believes in "natural law." Ancient patterns of life enshrined in common law are ruled by courts to be illegitimate intrusions of religion into the legal order. Acts traditionally considered crimes are transformed into fundamental rights. What claims does higher law have on us, both as individuals and as a constitutional people? Is higher law always "divine" law? What are the differences between natural justice, natural law, and natural rights? How are they related? How does higher law relate to the common law? Can human beings only be free once higher law is rejected? Or is the opposite the case? This summer, join ISI as we untangle some of the most vexing questions of contemporary politics in light of first principles.

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