Human nature is given, not invented
Dignity precedes the state, but dignity does not mean absolute autonomy.
Hebrew ScripturesAristotle
Field notes · 02
First principles
Twelve bearings for judgment.
Not a closed catechism, but a moral grammar: claims about the person, authority, property, institutions, citizenship, justice, and time.
Foundation and public claim
Christian in foundation. Constitutionally pluralist in political application.
The framework speaks from a definite inheritance while recognizing that political authority is limited, conscience is protected, and civic cooperation does not require theological uniformity.
Ordered liberty, not maximum liberty
Freedom is the political space for responsible agency, not the removal of every limit.
James MadisonAlexis de TocquevilleRussell Kirk
Love has an order
Universal dignity is real; our concrete obligations are particular and unequal in kind.
AristotleAlexis de Tocqueville
The family is the first institution
Before citizens, workers, or clients, there are children formed in households.
Hebrew ScripturesAristotleLeo XIII
Property is a right—and a trust
Distributed ownership protects freedom; legitimate ownership also carries duties.
Leo XIIIPius XIElinor Ostrom
Subsidiarity and solidarity belong together
Responsibility should remain low and near; no vulnerable person should be abandoned.
Pius XIAlexis de TocquevilleElinor Ostrom
The state has a moral purpose—and a limited mandate
Government should be strong within its proper sphere and never unlimited anywhere.
The People of the United StatesJames MadisonJames Madison
Expertise must serve wisdom
Technical knowledge can guide means; it cannot choose the highest ends.
James MadisonElinor Ostrom
Beauty, culture, and memory are common goods
A civilization needs places worth loving and forms worth handing on.
Edmund BurkeRussell KirkWilliam Howard Taft
Citizenship means membership
A nation is a historical political community, not merely an economic zone.
The People of the United StatesAlexis de TocquevilleJames Madison
Justice requires mercy and order
Order without mercy becomes cruelty; mercy without order becomes abandonment.
AristotleMartin Luther King Jr.Thomas Story KirkbrideU.S. Office of Justice ProgramsJames Madison
Politics is an intergenerational trust
The living govern conditions the unborn cannot yet defend.
Edmund BurkeThe People of the United StatesWilliam Howard Taft
How to use them
Read across, not only down.
No principle governs alone. Property requires duty. Solidarity requires subsidiarity. Mercy requires order. Expertise requires accountable authority. Conservation requires reform. The framework lives in these pairings.
See the policy implications