The Sower is a Podcast of the Ciceronian Society.
The Ciceronian Society exists to equip and encourage Christian scholars to serve the church as a center of cultural and civic renewal.
Through our events, publications, and podcasts we provide the space and opportunities that Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox scholars need for professional growth and intellectual discipleship.
Since 2012, we have been building a network of friends with a love for our core themes - tradition, place, and ‘things divine’ - and with a genuine commitment to the church and the life of the mind.
To learn more about our society, our conferences, and the peer-reviewed journal, Pietas, visit https://ciceroniansociety.org/
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The Sower is a Podcast of the Ciceronian Society.
The Ciceronian Society exists to equip and encourage Christian scholars to serve the church as a center of cultural and civic renewal.
Through our events, publications, and podcasts we provide the space and opportunities that Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox scholars need for professional growth and intellectual discipleship.
Since 2012, we have been building a network of friends with a love for our core themes - tradition, place, and ‘things divine’ - and with a genuine commitment to the church and the life of the mind.
To learn more about our society, our conferences, and the peer-reviewed journal, Pietas, visit https://ciceroniansociety.org/
EPISODE 49 - Paul DeHart on Natural Law, Consent, and the Social Contract
The Sower
1 hour 46 minutes 47 seconds
2 months ago
EPISODE 49 - Paul DeHart on Natural Law, Consent, and the Social Contract
Josh Bowman talks with his longtime friend and former professor, Paul R. Dehart on his new book, The Social Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent (Univ. of Missouri, 2024). DeHart is Professor of Political Science at Texas State University.
DeHart argues that modern attempts to root political obligation and morality in contractarian thought on voluntarist terms are self-referentially incoherent as well as a normative failure. What implications might this have for the American Founding and Constitutional thought? Can the classical natural law tradition get along with social contract theory? Is social contract theory worth saving? Does the “consent of the governed” even matter?
We discuss this and much more, giving attention to thinkers such as Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Althuisus, Richard Hooker, and many others.
Dr. DeHart’s profile at Texas State University https://faculty.txst.edu/profile/1922208
His Books:
The Social Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent (Univ. of Missouri, 2024) https://upress.missouri.edu/9780826223050/the-social-contract-in-the-ruins/
Uncovering the Constitution's Moral Design (Univ. of Missouri, 2017) https://upress.missouri.edu/9780826221308/uncovering-the-constitutions-moral-design/
Also mentioned:
The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, Vol. 2: The Age of Reformation, by Quentin Skinner
And works by Francis Oakeley, J. Budziszewski, A. John Simmons, Brian Tierney, and others.
The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025.
To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/
0:00 Introduction3:38 Social Contract Theory14:30 SCT vs Natural Law Tradition24:23 Why It Fails38:01 American Founding52:24 Covenantal Realism1:12:19 How to Handle Disagreements1:23:18 First Principles1:26:57 Paucity of Consent
The Sower
The Sower is a Podcast of the Ciceronian Society.
The Ciceronian Society exists to equip and encourage Christian scholars to serve the church as a center of cultural and civic renewal.
Through our events, publications, and podcasts we provide the space and opportunities that Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox scholars need for professional growth and intellectual discipleship.
Since 2012, we have been building a network of friends with a love for our core themes - tradition, place, and ‘things divine’ - and with a genuine commitment to the church and the life of the mind.
To learn more about our society, our conferences, and the peer-reviewed journal, Pietas, visit https://ciceroniansociety.org/
