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Slavery in the Constitutional Convention
Smith discusses some controversies over slavery during the framing of the Constitution, especially the three-fifths clause.
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George H. Smith
George H. Smith was formerly Senior Research Fellow for the Institute for Humane Studies, a lecturer on American History for Cato Summer Seminars, and Executive Editor of Knowledge Products. Smith's fourth and most recent book, The System of Liberty, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013.
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Constitutional Controversies
Smith discusses some major controversies provoked by the debate over ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
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An Overview of Some Proslavery Arguments
Smith discusses some early justifications of slavery and how they repudiated natural rights.
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Lysander Spooner on Natural Law
Smith discusses Spooner’s secular theory of natural law and his belief that no legislation is valid unless it conforms to natural law.
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Some Thoughts about Writing Essays
With his 250th essay, Smith interrupts his series on abolitionism to offer some reflections on writing essays.
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Are Judges Bound to Enforce Unjust Laws?
Smith details the scholarly debate between Lysander Spooner and Wendell Phillips over the constitutionality of slavery.
Excursions
Freethought and Freedom: Introduction
George H. Smith begins his series on the historical relationship between religious skepticism and libertarianism.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Bernard Mandeville v. Francis Hutcheson
George H. Smith discusses what Bernard Mandeville meant in saying that private vices produce public benefits, and how Francis Hutcheson criticized that theory.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Mandeville on the Benefits of Vice
George H. Smith discusses Bernard Mandeville’s defense of legal prostitution and other vices.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Bernard Mandeville
George H. Smith explains why Mandeville’s ideas about vice made him one of the most notorious writers of his time.
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Lysander Spooner on the Unconstitutionality of Slavery
Smith provides some background on Spooner’s influential book The Unconstitutionality of Slavery.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Joseph Butler, Continued
George H. Smith continues his discussion of Joseph Butler’s theory of moral psychology, and summarizes his ideas about conscience and rational self-interest.
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The Constitution and Slavery
Smith discusses the schism in the abolitionist movement over the constitutionality of slavery, and he begins his analysis of Lysander Spooner’s arguments in The Unconstitutionality of Slavery.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Joseph Butler
George H. Smith discusses Joseph Butler’s influential theory of psychology and his ideas about self-interest and benevolence.
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Concluding Remarks on Vices are not Crimes
Smith summarizes Lysander Spooner’s objections to the most popular arguments in favor of the prohibition of alcohol.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: The Selfish System
George H. Smith discusses various objections to the claim that all actions are necessarily self-interested.
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Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Thomas Hobbes
George H. Smith discusses the Hobbesian theory of self-interest and why classical liberals were so intent on refuting it.
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Lysander Spooner’s Moral Theory
Smith discusses the influence of puritanism, the religious revival in the early 19th century, and Spooner’s disagreements with Christian ethics.