Rule of Law Program
(recent activity)

Four Great Philosophers of Law
May 8-11, 2005
Dr. Russell Hittinger

Dr. Russell Hittinger was sponsored by EICEE to lead a conference entitled "Four Great Philosophers of Law" at the Neuwaldegg Institute in Vienna, Austria. Participants were drawn from graduate departments of law, philosophy and political science from most Central and Eastern European countries. There were 60 participants in all.

On this occasion Professor Hittinger examined four great but diverse legal minds: Aquinas, Locke, Hobbes, and Kant. The work of these philosophers has done much to frame the contemporary legal and political discussion of natural law and natural rights. Using a format of intense classroom study coupled with seminar discussions, Professor Hittinger contrasted these thinkers and developed a synthetic assessment of their relevance to contemporary scholarly debate.

Dr. Russell Hittinger, who earned his Ph.D. at St. Louis University, teaches philosophy at the University of Tulsa, where he is chair of the department. He has also taught at Catholic University of America, Princeton University, Fordham University, and New York University. Professor Hittinger received the Silver Gavel Award of the American Bar Association for Privacy and Liberal Legal Culture in 1991. His books and articles have been published by Oxford University Press, the University of Notre Dame Press, the Review of Politics, as well as several law journals.

I now have a better understanding of Natural law and the relationship between law and the free society. This is especially important in the post-Soviet countries where there is widespread confusion on these fundamental points.

Stephen Bartulica, Diplomat, Croation Foreign Ministry, former head speechwriter for Minister of Foreign Affairs