The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures.

The Stem Cell Debates: Lessons from Science and Politics
In its inaugural report, the Witherspoon Council on Ethics and the Integrity of Science considers the proper relationship between science, ethics, and politics by examining the most prominent science-related controversy of the past decade: the stem cell debates. These debates touched on fundamental questions concerning the governance of science and the moral status of embryonic human life. More than just a scholarly assessment of those debates, this report seeks to improve the public understanding of how science and democratic politics relate, including the responsibilities of scientists and policymakers. We consider the inevitable interplay between science and ethics and the conflicts of interest that arise when scientists are both advisors to policymakers and petitioners for their allocations. Among the report’s most crucial lessons is that, in our system of participatory republican government, we are responsible for considering not only the potential benefits of scientific research but also the ethical implications of that research. More...

Herbert W. Vaughan, Philanthropist, 1920-2011
The Witherspoon Institute mourns the passing away of Herbert W. Vaughan, lawyer, preservationist and philanthropist. Vaughan was a passionate scholar of government and history, particularly the United States Constitution, which he regarded as the greatest practical achievement of political science. He was a member of the board of directors of the Witherspoon Institute, a research center that supports the work of scholars interested in western moral political thought and the principles and institutions of American government. A fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and a member of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, Vaughan endowed lecture series at Princeton and at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, to advance the understanding of the core doctrines of American constitutionalism. More...

Embryo: A Defense of Human Life, Second Edition
by Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce the publication of the revised, second edition of Embryo: A Defense of Human Life by Robert P. George (Princeton University) and Christopher Tollefsen (University of South Carolina), available in paperback and eBook at Amazon.com.

National debates over embryonic-stem-cell research have divided citizens and lawmakers alike, as we seek a reasoned approach to these issues that honors our highest scientific and moral ideals. In this timely consideration of the nature and rights of human embryos, George and Tollefsen make a compelling case that we as a society should neither condone nor publicly fund research that kills or harms human beings at any stage of development including the embryonic stage. More...


Yasser Khalil Featured in British Council Video
Yasser Khalil, a young Egyptian, speaks about the importance of a rigorous discussion of religious freedom in Muslim and non-Muslim majority countries. Mr. Khalil was a participant in the Institute's Islam and Religious Freedom seminar, and here reflects on how the seminar and Dr. Jennifer Bryson shaped his understanding of religious freedom in light of contemporary events in the Middle East.

This video was produced by Generation 9/11, a project of the British Council USA, and can be also be viewed on YouTube.


The New Family Structure Study of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to support the New Family Structure Study (NFSS) at the Population Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. The study is directed by professors Mark Regnerus (Principal Investigator) and Cynthia Osborne (Co-Investigator), who are in turn guided by a research team made up of a diverse group of family scholars. The members of the NFSS research team include scholars who hold divergent views on the normative questions in contemporary debates over marriage and the family.


Moral Life and the Classical Tradition Seminar Concludes
From June 19 to 25, 2011, the Witherspoon Institute held its annual seminar on the Moral Life and the Classical Tradition, a program of the Schreyer Summer Seminars. Each year, this seminar brings together rising high-school juniors and seniors to discuss some of Platos great works as well as a variety of themes in Christian moral thought, with the purpose of preparing these students intellectually and morally for the college classroom and culture that they will soon enter. More...

Marriage and the Social Sciences Seminar Concludes
From June 22 to 25, 2011, the Witherspoon Institute held its annual seminar on Marriage, the Family, and the Social Sciences, a program of the William A. Schreyer Summer Seminars. Each year this seminar brings together top graduate students and leading faculty in sociology, demography, psychology, and economics to discuss the contemporary state of marriage and family. This years seminar was titled The Family and the Market: How Do Marriage and Fertility Matter to the Economic Welfare of Business, the State, and the Market? Participants discussed questions of the future of fertility rates in the United States compared to those in the rest of the West; how low fertility rates in East Asia and Europe may affect the economic performance of those countries; and the effect of family structure on mens labor force participation and employee performance in American corporations. More...

Virtuosity in Business:
Invisible Law Guiding the Invisible Hand
by Kevin T. Jackson
The University of Pennsylvania Press has recently published Virtuosity in Business: Invisible Law Guiding the Invisible Hand by Kevin T. Jackson, Daniel Janssen Chair in Corporate Social Responsibility at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute.

The recent global financial crisis raises pressing issues that are not exclusively economic. The health of the economy, Kevin T. Jackson contends, reflects the moral health of the wider culture: ethics must be considered along with economics to understand world markets, especially now that globalization and other forces have increasingly complicated the regulation of transnational corporate conduct. Virtuosity in Business calls on businesspeople and ethicists to expand their thinking by stressing the profound relevance of philosophy to business and economics. More...


Consultation on Institutional Religious Conscience
On the June 3-4 the Witherspoon Institute convened a private consultation of its Task Force on Conscience Protection of  The William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution. The Task Force is chaired by Helen Alvar, a Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and an associate professor of family law at George Mason University. More...


Consultation on International Religious Freedom
On May 6-7 the Witherspoon Institute convened a private consultation of its Task Force on International Religious Freedom. The Task Force is chaired by Thomas F. Farr, Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and Visiting Professor at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. The consultation examined the issue of international religious freedom in a multidisciplinary way, with five panels of scholars offering perspectives on the issue from philosophy, theology, law, psychology, political science, sociology, and international relations. More...


Doing the Right Thing: An Exploration of Ethics
Doing the Right Thing is a DVD series in six parts that explores the ethical and moral issues facing contemporary culture. It is a production of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview in collaboration with the Witherspoon Institute. Through panel discussions, interviews, and student questions, this video study hosted by Brit Hume raises ethical issues in a compelling and fresh way to stimulate thought, discussion, and action. The six DVD sessions and accompanying study guide encourage participants to examine themselves and the ways in which ethics and personal character affect their lives at home, school, and the workplace. More...


More God, Less Crime by Byron R. Johnson
The Templeton Press has recently published More God, Less Crime: Why Faith Matter and How It Could Matter More by Byron R. Johnson. Johnson is Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences, Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion, and director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior, all at Baylor University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute. In More God, Less Crime renowned criminologist Byron R. Johnson proves that religion can be a powerful antidote to crime. The book describes how faith communities, congregations, and faith-based organizations are essential in forming partnerships necessary to provide the human and spiritual capital to effectively address crime, offender rehabilitation, and the substantial aftercare problems facing former prisoners. More...


Open House on Saturday, May 28, 2011
The Witherspoon Institute will be holding an Open House on Saturday, May 28, 2011, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at its offices at 16 Stockton Street in Princeton, New Jersey. All friends of the Institute, including Princeton University alumni in town to attend the Princeton Reunions (the Open House takes place before the P-Rade), are welcome to come and learn about what the Institute has been doing since its inception in 2003. Informational literature will be available, and staff of the Institute will be on hand to answer any questions. Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow Robert P. George of Princeton University will also be on hand to make a few brief remarks. Light lunch refreshments will be offered.


Steven Justice Appointed Senior Fellow
The Witherspoon Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Steven Justice as a Senior Fellow. Justice is Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches a variety of topics in medieval literary history, including medieval religious thought, medieval Latin, classical traditions in medieval literature, the western tradition in literature, literary criticism, and Old English language and literature. Justice was a fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center Fellowship, and a University of California Presidents Research Fellow in the Humanities. In addition, he was Council of the Humanities Fellow at Princeton University and Humanities Research Fellow at U. C. Berkeley. In 1995 he received the MLA Prize for Best First Book. Justice received his BA in English from Yale College and his PhD in English from Princeton University.


Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism
As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., the Witherspoon Institute is proud to announce a public preview of a new online academic resource dedicated to natural law and the American tradition. Today is an apt occasion to learn more deeply about that great tradition, to which, King said, we are the heirs through the "magnificent words" of the "architects of our republic." The aim of the Witherspoon Institutes project is to create a nonpartisan, educational website on Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism, which will serve as an online resource center for students, teachers, and educated citizens to learn about the intellectual traditions of natural law and natural rights, particularly within American political and constitutional history. More...