On November 14, 2024, 16 faculty members and graduate students attended an Inklings gathering featuring a talk by Dr. Paul DeHart. Entitled “Does Government by Consent Logically Cohere?,” The speech drew from his recent book, The Social Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent (University of Missouri, 2024).
DeHart argued that government by consent only coheres if it is grounded in an objective moral reality existing beyond the sheer wills of the individuals composing it. DeHart discussed a number of thinkers including Aristotle, Suarez, Locke, and Hobbes. He also explored the way the American founding might be situated in this debate, arguing that it reflects the older conception of government by the people, that it is not the offspring of the modern version of government by consent. His presentation was followed by rich discussion among the attendees that explored the concepts of natural law and social contract theory across different regions, religions, and periods of time.
The original Inklings consisted of a small group of intellectuals (whose ranks included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis) who met weekly at Oxford University to read aloud and discuss their works in a spirit of fellowship and civil conversation. In the spirit of these Inklings, the Department of Political Science at Texas State University has held similar gatherings for more than two decades. Meeting monthly, TXST Inklings participants discuss research, exchange ideas, and address a wide variety of issues reflecting diverse interests.
For more information on the series, please contact Dr. Arnold Leder at al04@txstate.edu.
