The Natural Law Origins of Private and Public Law

March 4, 2025 Stanford Law School Sponsored by Stanford Constitutional Law Center The very use of the term natural rights has been passé in modern legal and political discourse for close to one-hundred years, being derided as obscure, irrelevant or both. In this talk, Professor Richard Epstein hopes to revive the natural law tradition, by looking at the many doctrines dealing with everything from the acquisition of property, through the rules of commercial transactions, and the articulation of the rules for taxation and eminent domain to show that these rules often satisfy the most exacting standard for social welfare that are offered by today’s modern consequentialist theorists. Professor Jud Campbell will provide commentary and Professor Michael McConnell will moderate.