The Roots of Ordered Liberty: America at 250

The year 2026 marks an important milestone for the American republic: 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.  By most conventional accounts, this event served to found the American republic as a separate political entity, rooted in, but distinct from, its European—and specifically English—origin.  According to the Declaration, liberty is among the “self-evident” rights of human beings, along with its prerequisite—life—and its telos—happiness.

This structure situates liberty within a distinctive order of things, suggesting that liberty is not for its own sake, but instead ordered toward something higher.  In order fulfill its telos, liberty must exist within structures (familial, social, political, cultural, ecclesial) that direct it toward its proper end.  The American founders understood this and—drawing on the Western philosophical, theological, and political tradition—established a political order that aimed to provide and enable these structures, seeking to preserve life and liberty while making the pursuit of happiness possible.

Yet, 250 years on, these structures seem to be endangered from numerous quarters. 

On the side of ideas, common (mis)construals of the Declaration and the American founding either depict them as arising ex nihilo and dedicated simply to abstract ‘propositions,’ or as the contingent—and self-interested—work of morally dubious characters. 

And these ideas have consequences: in concrete terms, our fractious political discourse seethes with division, discontent, and rage; every faction predicts catastrophe and doom while high-profile acts of political violence punctuate the news.  Our educational system is failing at all levels, with students being fed ideological propaganda even as they prove unable to meet the most basic standards.  Our cultural output reflects decadence and vulgarity, catering to the base rather than elevating the public square.  And, our imperious foreign policy risks American lives for obscure causes with tenuous connections to our national interest, while exporting our decadence by force.

Has the contemporary American political order been irrevocably severed from its roots?  Can the American experiment in liberty be sustained?

In order to address this state of affairs, this conference welcomes paper and panel proposals that address questions including, but not limited to, the following:

• How should liberty be properly understood? Can it be distinguished from tyranny, on one hand, and license on the other?
• What is human happiness and how should it best be pursued? What is the relationship of politics and morality to happiness?
• As the Declaration of Independence suggests, the American claim to liberty rests both on universal appeals, and on assertions that are rooted in particular, historically conditioned circumstances. How should we think about the relationship between the universal and the particular—the philosophical and the historical—in the American political tradition?
• What were the moral-cultural assumptions of the Framers that informed the constitutional order that emerged?  How does this relationship bear on our current social order, legal and jurisprudential order, and our culture?
• Has the republic of 1776 become an empire?  Where does American foreign policy stand in relation to the concerns of those such as George Washington regarding the need to avoid foreign entanglements? What are the implications for domestic liberty and tranquility?
• How have the scientific and technological developments over the last two and a half centuries changed the character of the people and the institutions of the American republic?  Where lies the balance of ordered liberty in this regard?
• What is the relationship between education and liberty? How should education be reformed and employed to reinvigorate the American order and promote political discourse among citizens?
• Can returning to the classical and Christian roots of American political order aid in an American renaissance?  In what ways can this recovery be accomplished?

Paper proposals should include a title and abstract of no more than 300 words. 

They may be sent to APL@philosophyandletters.org.

We also welcome proposals for full panels.

The deadline for proposals is March 1^st, 2026.

The conference will be held June 4-6, 2026 at the College Park Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in College Park, Maryland.

Conference registration will open in early 2026.