Gregory S. Ahern, Author at The Imaginative Conservative

About Gregory S. Ahern

Gregory S. Ahern is a Fellow in Constitutional Theory at The Center for Constitutional Studies where his research focuses on the Founding Period, American Constitutionalism, and John Dickinson. Dr. Ahern holds a Ph.D. in Political Theory from the Catholic University of America.

The Spirit of American Constitutionalism

By Gregory S. Ahern|2024-09-16T15:27:37-05:00September 16th, 2024|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Constitution, Edmund Burke, Featured, Federalist Papers, John Dickinson, Timeless Essays|

The Constitution described by John Dickinson in his “Letters of Fabius” is a model of prudence and moderation, based not primarily on theoretical arguments, but on experience and an extensive knowledge of history. Though virtually ignored by scholars in recent decades, John Dickinson was one of the most influential of the American Founders. When he [...]

The Basis of the American Republic: Virtue, Wisdom & Experience

By Gregory S. Ahern|2013-12-10T20:00:50-06:00March 2nd, 2012|Categories: American Republic, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Politics, Virtue|Tags: 1HU|

In Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss writes that “Prescription cannot be the sole authority for a constitution, and, therefore, recourse to rights anterior to the constitution, i.e., to natural rights, cannot be superfluous unless prescription itself is a sufficient guarantee of goodness.”[1] Such a characterization results in the accusation that those who hold to prescription [...]