The Natural Law Moment in Constitutional Theory

21 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2024 Last revised: 28 Mar 2025

See all articles by J. Joel Alicea

J. Joel Alicea

Catholic University of America (CUA) - Columbus School of Law

Date Written: April 9, 2024

Abstract

Something new is happening in American constitutional theory. Never before have so many legal scholars sought to ground constitutional theory in the natural-law tradition. Indeed, we can truly say that we are living through a natural-law moment in constitutional theory, a period of unprecedented interest in natural law among constitutional theorists. This immediately calls to mind three questions. First: how, if at all, are the theorists of this moment different from prior theorists who sought to ground constitutional theory in natural law? Second: what explains the rise of natural law in American constitutional theory? Third: what are the implications for constitutional theory of our natural-law moment? This essay sketches answers to these questions, with the caveat that much more could be said about them. This essay was originally delivered as the Herbert W. Vaughan Memorial Lecture at Harvard Law School on April 9, 2024.

Keywords: natural law originalism non-originalism Aquinas Thomism

Suggested Citation

Alicea, J. Joel, The Natural Law Moment in Constitutional Theory (April 9, 2024). 48 Harv. J.L. Pub. Pol'y 307 (2025),
, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4796406

J. Joel Alicea (Contact Author)

Catholic University of America (CUA) - Columbus School of Law ( email )

3600 John McCormack Rd., NE
Washington, DC 20064
United States

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