George Duke
Biographic Data
| ID | 4378166 |
|---|---|
| NAME | George Duke |
| GIVEN NAMES | George |
| FAMILY NAME | Duke |
| SIGNATURE | DUKE G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Deakin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0258-456X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Ideological Constitutionalism
A renewed interest in the concept of ideology is evident in recent constitutional theory. Ideology has featured prominently not only in restatements of traditional Marxist positions and attempted retrievals of the material conception of the constitution, but also in democratic critiques of liberal constitutionalism and theories of constitutional identity. The intention of this article is twofold. Firstly, the article defends the explanatory power…
Constitutional Symbolism in the Shadow of the Common Good
This paper aims to clarify the concept of the symbolic constitution and to explain one of its most significant functions: the representation of political unity in complex societies. Section B briefly outlines the concept of the symbolic constitution which informs the arguments of the paper. The next two sections proceed “hermeneutically” through critical engagements with (i) Martin Loughlin’s recent analysis of the symbolic constitution within an…
A theory of plural constituent power for federal systems
Federations present difficulties for prevailing theories of constituent power, which usually attribute ultimate constitution-making authority to a singular people. This article examines how a ‘pluralized’ constituent power functions in federal systems. It argues that the operation of plural constituent power in federations reflects a distinctive model of constitutional formation according to which a ‘polity of polities’ is established and sustain…
Habermas, Popular Sovereignty, and the Legitimacy of Law
Habermas’ theory of popular sovereignty has received comparatively little sustained critical attention in the Anglo-American literature since initial responses to Between Facts and Norms . In light of subsequent work on group agency, this paper argues that Habermas’ reconstruction of popular sovereignty—in its denial of the normative force of collective citizen action—is best understood as a renunciation of the doctrine. The paper is structured i…
Explanatory Causes in Aristotle’s Constitutional Theory
This article defends the thesis that the theory of explanatory causes plays a substantive and nontrivial role in Aristotle’s constitutional theory. The Aristotelian πολιτεία, I contend, is the formal cause of the polis and it is determined by the conception of εὐδαιμονία prevalent among the dominant or ruling political group in the polis. Section 1 defends the general claim that Aristotle’s constitutional analysis is informed by his theory of exp…
Carl Schmitt’s Political Romanticism and the Foundations of Law
s critique of political romanticism is neglected in comparison with his other interventions from the early Weimar period, yet its analysis of the metaphysical foundations of liberalism has important implications for his legal thought. This article examines the significance of Schmitt's account of political romanticism from a jurisprudential perspective. It sets out from the question whether-as is often asserted or intimated-Schmitt's own thought …
Constant’s liberal theory of popular sovereignty
In Principes de Politique (1815), Benjamin Constant offers a blueprint for later liberal attempts to retain a commitment to popular sovereignty, while moderating its absolutist tendencies and associations with arbitrary political power. This paper examines some notable tensions, still relevant today, in Constant’s domesticated liberal concept of popular sovereignty. These tensions, I contend, all point to the conclusion that Constant’s project of…
The Aristotelian Legislator and Political Naturalism
Aristotle's assertion in Politics 1.2 that there is a natural impulse to form political communities is immediately contraposed with the claim that the person responsible for their foundation is the cause (αἴτιος) of the greatest of goods ( Pol . 1253a33). The attribution of an essential role to the legislator as an efficient cause appears to clash, however, with Aristotle's political naturalism. If the polis exists by nature and humans are by nat…
Aristotle and Natural Law
This paper seeks to clarify the long-standing controversy over Aristotle's relationship to the natural law tradition. The paper argues that a precondition for any adequate assessment of Aristotle's natural law credentials is a close analysis of theNicomachean EthicsV.7 discussion of the just by nature. Such an investigation, the primary concern of section 1, reveals that Aristotle's characterization of the politically just as partly natural and p…
Strong popular sovereignty and constitutional legitimacy
Recent critiques of attempts to ground constitutional legitimacy in the constituent power of a strong popular sovereign have tended to focus upon the tension between strong popular sovereignty and central assumptions of liberal constitutionalism. Foremost among these assumptions are the need to reconcile disagreement regarding controversial matters of common concern and the value of the rule of law. The weakness of such critiques, however, is tha…
Sovereignty and the common good
This article develops an argument for the value of state sovereignty based on its capacity to promote the political common good. My claim is not of course that the common good is always promoted by state sovereignty but rather that state sovereignty possesses features particularly conducive to the promotion of the common good. Although this may sound like a modest claim, its truth is sufficient to undermine the view—held by many constitutional pl…
The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Jurisprudence
This collection provides an intellectually rigorous and accessible overview of key topics in contemporary natural law jurisprudence, an influential yet frequently misunderstood branch of legal philosophy. It fills a gap in the existing literature by bringing together leading international experts on natural law theory to provide perspectives on some of the most pressing issues pertaining to the nature and moral foundations of law. Themes covered …
Political Authority and the Common Good
This article argues that the natural law common good is the best candidate value to ground a direct justification of political authority. The common good is better placed than rival values to ground a direct justification for three related reasons. First, the common good is the right kind of value to serve in a justification of political authority insofar as it is a reason for action which provides a convincing answer to the fundamental question …
The Distinctive Common Good
This paper defends the traditional distinctive notion of the common good against the claim that it is normatively redundant on the aggregative conception. The first two sections of the paper outline the different candidate conceptions of the common good and the normative role of the common good within natural law theories. The paper then considers some difficulties faced by the instrumental and aggregative conceptions, before developing an Aristo…
Gadamer and political authority
The rehabilitation of the concept of authority is one of the more contentious positions advocated by Gadamer in Truth and Method (1960). Habermas in particular challenged the universality of Gadamer’s hermeneutic project by presenting this rehabilitation as a conservative legitimation of prevailing prejudices which truncates the role of critical reflection. Given that Gadamer’s primary focus is upon the ramifications of the Enlightenment dichotom…
The Aristotelian Spoudaios as Ethical Exemplar in Finnis's Natural Law Theory
One provocative but frequently overlooked feature of John Finnis’s natural law theory is its appeal to the normative role of the Aristotelian spoudaios (the mature person of practical reasonableness). Finnis’s account of the basic requirements of practical reasonableness and defense of the methodological device of “focal meaning” both have recourse to Aristotle’s claim that, in ethics and politics, things should be judged in terms of how they app…
Abstract Singular Terms and Thin Reference
The prevailing approach to the problem of the ontological status of mathematical entities such as numbers and sets is to ask in what sense it is legitimate to ascribe a reference to abstract singular terms; those expressions of our language which, taken at face value, denote abstract objects. On the basis of this approach, neo‐ F regean Abstractionists such as H ale and W right have argued that abstract singular terms may be taken to effect genui…
Aristotle and Natural Law
This paper seeks to clarify the long-standing controversy over Aristotle's relationship to the natural law tradition. The paper argues that a precondition for any adequate assessment of Aristotle's natural law credentials is a close analysis of theNicomachean EthicsV.7 discussion of the just by nature. Such an investigation, the primary concern of section 1, reveals that Aristotle's characterization of the politically just as partly natural and p…
The Distinctive Common Good
This paper defends the traditional distinctive notion of the common good against the claim that it is normatively redundant on the aggregative conception. The first two sections of the paper outline the different candidate conceptions of the common good and the normative role of the common good within natural law theories. The paper then considers some difficulties faced by the instrumental and aggregative conceptions, before developing an Aristo…
Strong popular sovereignty and constitutional legitimacy
Recent critiques of attempts to ground constitutional legitimacy in the constituent power of a strong popular sovereign have tended to focus upon the tension between strong popular sovereignty and central assumptions of liberal constitutionalism. Foremost among these assumptions are the need to reconcile disagreement regarding controversial matters of common concern and the value of the rule of law. The weakness of such critiques, however, is tha…
Political Authority and the Common Good
This article argues that the natural law common good is the best candidate value to ground a direct justification of political authority. The common good is better placed than rival values to ground a direct justification for three related reasons. First, the common good is the right kind of value to serve in a justification of political authority insofar as it is a reason for action which provides a convincing answer to the fundamental question …
Abstract Singular Terms and Thin Reference
The prevailing approach to the problem of the ontological status of mathematical entities such as numbers and sets is to ask in what sense it is legitimate to ascribe a reference to abstract singular terms; those expressions of our language which, taken at face value, denote abstract objects. On the basis of this approach, neo‐ F regean Abstractionists such as H ale and W right have argued that abstract singular terms may be taken to effect genui…
Gadamer and political authority
The rehabilitation of the concept of authority is one of the more contentious positions advocated by Gadamer in Truth and Method (1960). Habermas in particular challenged the universality of Gadamer’s hermeneutic project by presenting this rehabilitation as a conservative legitimation of prevailing prejudices which truncates the role of critical reflection. Given that Gadamer’s primary focus is upon the ramifications of the Enlightenment dichotom…
The Aristotelian Spoudaios as Ethical Exemplar in Finnis's Natural Law Theory
One provocative but frequently overlooked feature of John Finnis’s natural law theory is its appeal to the normative role of the Aristotelian spoudaios (the mature person of practical reasonableness). Finnis’s account of the basic requirements of practical reasonableness and defense of the methodological device of “focal meaning” both have recourse to Aristotle’s claim that, in ethics and politics, things should be judged in terms of how they app…
The Distinctive Common Good
This paper defends the traditional distinctive notion of the common good against the claim that it is normatively redundant on the aggregative conception. The first two sections of the paper outline the different candidate conceptions of the common good and the normative role of the common good within natural law theories. The paper then considers some difficulties faced by the instrumental and aggregative conceptions, before developing an Aristo…
The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Jurisprudence
This collection provides an intellectually rigorous and accessible overview of key topics in contemporary natural law jurisprudence, an influential yet frequently misunderstood branch of legal philosophy. It fills a gap in the existing literature by bringing together leading international experts on natural law theory to provide perspectives on some of the most pressing issues pertaining to the nature and moral foundations of law. Themes covered …
Political Authority and the Common Good
This article argues that the natural law common good is the best candidate value to ground a direct justification of political authority. The common good is better placed than rival values to ground a direct justification for three related reasons. First, the common good is the right kind of value to serve in a justification of political authority insofar as it is a reason for action which provides a convincing answer to the fundamental question …
Sovereignty and the common good
This article develops an argument for the value of state sovereignty based on its capacity to promote the political common good. My claim is not of course that the common good is always promoted by state sovereignty but rather that state sovereignty possesses features particularly conducive to the promotion of the common good. Although this may sound like a modest claim, its truth is sufficient to undermine the view—held by many constitutional pl…
The Aristotelian Legislator and Political Naturalism
Aristotle's assertion in Politics 1.2 that there is a natural impulse to form political communities is immediately contraposed with the claim that the person responsible for their foundation is the cause (αἴτιος) of the greatest of goods ( Pol . 1253a33). The attribution of an essential role to the legislator as an efficient cause appears to clash, however, with Aristotle's political naturalism. If the polis exists by nature and humans are by nat…
Aristotle and Natural Law
This paper seeks to clarify the long-standing controversy over Aristotle's relationship to the natural law tradition. The paper argues that a precondition for any adequate assessment of Aristotle's natural law credentials is a close analysis of theNicomachean EthicsV.7 discussion of the just by nature. Such an investigation, the primary concern of section 1, reveals that Aristotle's characterization of the politically just as partly natural and p…
Strong popular sovereignty and constitutional legitimacy
Recent critiques of attempts to ground constitutional legitimacy in the constituent power of a strong popular sovereign have tended to focus upon the tension between strong popular sovereignty and central assumptions of liberal constitutionalism. Foremost among these assumptions are the need to reconcile disagreement regarding controversial matters of common concern and the value of the rule of law. The weakness of such critiques, however, is tha…
Carl Schmitt’s Political Romanticism and the Foundations of Law
s critique of political romanticism is neglected in comparison with his other interventions from the early Weimar period, yet its analysis of the metaphysical foundations of liberalism has important implications for his legal thought. This article examines the significance of Schmitt's account of political romanticism from a jurisprudential perspective. It sets out from the question whether-as is often asserted or intimated-Schmitt's own thought …
Constant’s liberal theory of popular sovereignty
In Principes de Politique (1815), Benjamin Constant offers a blueprint for later liberal attempts to retain a commitment to popular sovereignty, while moderating its absolutist tendencies and associations with arbitrary political power. This paper examines some notable tensions, still relevant today, in Constant’s domesticated liberal concept of popular sovereignty. These tensions, I contend, all point to the conclusion that Constant’s project of…
Explanatory Causes in Aristotle’s Constitutional Theory
This article defends the thesis that the theory of explanatory causes plays a substantive and nontrivial role in Aristotle’s constitutional theory. The Aristotelian πολιτεία, I contend, is the formal cause of the polis and it is determined by the conception of εὐδαιμονία prevalent among the dominant or ruling political group in the polis. Section 1 defends the general claim that Aristotle’s constitutional analysis is informed by his theory of exp…
Habermas, Popular Sovereignty, and the Legitimacy of Law
Habermas’ theory of popular sovereignty has received comparatively little sustained critical attention in the Anglo-American literature since initial responses to Between Facts and Norms . In light of subsequent work on group agency, this paper argues that Habermas’ reconstruction of popular sovereignty—in its denial of the normative force of collective citizen action—is best understood as a renunciation of the doctrine. The paper is structured i…
Constitutional Symbolism in the Shadow of the Common Good
This paper aims to clarify the concept of the symbolic constitution and to explain one of its most significant functions: the representation of political unity in complex societies. Section B briefly outlines the concept of the symbolic constitution which informs the arguments of the paper. The next two sections proceed “hermeneutically” through critical engagements with (i) Martin Loughlin’s recent analysis of the symbolic constitution within an…
A theory of plural constituent power for federal systems
Federations present difficulties for prevailing theories of constituent power, which usually attribute ultimate constitution-making authority to a singular people. This article examines how a ‘pluralized’ constituent power functions in federal systems. It argues that the operation of plural constituent power in federations reflects a distinctive model of constitutional formation according to which a ‘polity of polities’ is established and sustain…
Ideological Constitutionalism
A renewed interest in the concept of ideology is evident in recent constitutional theory. Ideology has featured prominently not only in restatements of traditional Marxist positions and attempted retrievals of the material conception of the constitution, but also in democratic critiques of liberal constitutionalism and theories of constitutional identity. The intention of this article is twofold. Firstly, the article defends the explanatory power…
Political science (17 works) · Law (15 works) · Politics (13 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Law and economics (8 works) · Normative (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works)