Lee University will welcome Dr. Michael Zuckert on Thursday for a lecture entitled, “Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places? America as a Lockean Republic.” Lee’s Department of History, Political Science and Humanities, with a grant provided by the Charles Koch Foundation, will host this event.
Dr. Zuckert’s talk will be about his book, “The Natural Rights Republic,” which clarifies much of the ambiguity surrounding the ideological inspirations of the American founding. Dr. Zuckert argues that first and foremost, Lockean Philosophy takes precedent over all others and reveals how the American Republic matches up with Locke's ideas of natural rights (the most famous of these ideas in American civic culture are life, liberty, and property).
Dr. Zuckert is the Nancy R. Dreux Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He works in the two fields of Political Theory and Constitutional Studies, in both of which he has published extensively. Dr. Zuckert has published “Natural Rights and the New Republicanism,” the “Natural Rights Republic,” “Launching Liberalism,” and (with Catherine Zuckert) “The Truth About Leo Strauss” in addition to many articles.
Dr. Zuckert has also edited (with Derek Webb) “The Antifederal Writings of the Melancton Smith Circle.” He is currently completing a book called “A System without a Precedent,” a study of American constitutionalism.
The Charles Koch Foundation was established by Charles G. Koch, who has supported academic research for 50 years. The Charles Koch Foundation currently supports nearly 300 initiatives at colleges and universities across the country. The foundation’s goal in supporting colleges and universities is twofold. It hopes to promote a better understanding of the link between free societies and prosperity and to provide additional resources to expand students’ educational opportunities and career development.
The lecture will take place at 6 p.m. in the Johnson Lecture Hall in the Humanities Center.
A question and answer session will immediately follow the lecture. Refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Dr. Thomas Pope at thomaspope@leeuniversity.edu or 614-8137.