The Republican Professor

This is Part 9 in a series celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Harvard University Press' 1985 publication of Richard A. Epstein's "Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain."

We continue our celebration of this anniversary with a fair use and transformative reading, continuing and now finishing chapter 4 in a new section which Richard calls ""Takings Prima Facia," which makes the analogy between private law takings in the common law harm tradition and the public law takings where the government is a defendant. He titles chapter "Takings and Torts," because he's taking a look at political philosophy and the American constitutional order, how these things interact using argument by analogy with the common law/private law tradition, ensconced as it is in the purpose of the Constitution. That moral purpose is the protection of individual liberty against claims by a simple majority in a democracy, or by the government in a taking of private property.

Today we discuss the subsections of Proximate Causation and Consequential Damages from pp. 47 to the end of the chapter on p. 56.

At the end, this episode concludes with a reading of Psalm 33 in the NASB version.

Excellent stuff here. Excellent.

Every college student should read this book. It's a superb introduction to the political philosophy of the American regime. Praise the Lord.

We'd like to thank Harvard University Press for making this material available and Richard Epstein for writing it.

Make sure you buy the book and follow along.

It's very important for you to have your own copy on your own bookshelf, and to begin to master this material. Support your local book dealer. See if they have a copy of it, or if they'd mind keeping an eye out for you.

I always encourage buying physical books, objects you can have, hold, cherish, learn from, display on your bookshelf as a topic of conversation, things you can pass on to the next generation with your notes in them, things that do not depend upon electricity.

Toward that end:

Go to Harvard University Press for more selections available for purchase. Please support the publisher and your local booksellers.

The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-contemplating-property-rights podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
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Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We're using the slip opinion this time, see below for a link. Why the Court's majority is wrong in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia (2020) (part 10 in a series) about the faulty assumption that unexamined and unexplained transgenderism premises about sex and gender are properly included under "sex discrimination" language in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act --This continues to be a real hoot.

Part 10: We continue our in-depth examination of sex, gender, and separation of powers in the US Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County, GA 590 U.S. 644 (2020): the Republican dispute, how to understand it, and what to do about it.

We continue discussing and we finish with the Republican dissenting opinion of Justice Alito (joined by Thomas) from his II.D through to the end.

Kavanaugh's dissent is next, and then we'll be done with this series.

Part 10.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf

The Republican Professor is a pro-separation-of-powers-rightly-construed podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor
Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

Claremont Review of Books published an issue in Summer 2025 where the question is posed on the cover, decorated by attractive art, "Will there always be an England?"

We're doing a fair use and transformative reading of an essay in one of my favorite publications. This is an engagement with an essay by Christopher Caldwell, one of my favorite writers on American Politics, entitled "Land's End" in Summer 2025 Claremont Review of Books pp 8-12.

The piece is accessible to the public at https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/lands-end-2/

It's the second piece in CRB history to have that title .

Kesler, Editor of the CRB, was one of my Ph.D. professors at Claremont Colleges (4 courses).

We want to thank Claremont Review of Books for making this material available. Go to ClaremontReviewofBooks.com to subscribe for a very reasonable price and get the hard copies with aesthetically pleasing artwork and thoughtful though accessible essays in your physical mailbox.

The Republican Professor is a pro-Claremont-Review-of-Books podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Part 7: We continue our timely coverage of Pope Leo XIII 's Rerum Novarum numbers 32 through the end of 35 in his continued condemnation of Socialism and collectivism against the individual rights of employers, workers and families in 1891, when Socialism was increasingly popular in intellectual circles, setting the stage for the statisms of the 1900s.

The Republican Professor is a pro-getting-theology's-application-to-public-policy-correct podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Support the podcast. Buy me a cup of coffee or ten here : https://buymeacoffee.com/lucasj.mather

Warmly,

Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Republican Professor Podcast
The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack
https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/
https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor
Twitter: @RepublicanProf
Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We begin our study of open carry in America's Constitutional tradition by spending time with Baird v. Bonta (2 Jan 2026, 9th Circuit) thru the top of page 11 (up to Roman Numeral II). The pro-Second-Amendment opinions, both of them that we take a look at, were written by Republican appointees (Trump, Republican US Senate).

We will pick up at page 11 and Roman Numeral II at that time.

This episode and this series is dedicated to the memory of my closest first cousin, Little Dan Mountain Jr, closest in age by just a couple of weeks, who died a week ago today, last Thursday.

I picked a topic that would bring a smile to his face and that would honor the bright spots in our childhood together in Colorado.

This episode includes a reading from Psalm 29 (KJV) and Streams in the Desert January 24th (Cowman Publications, Lost Feliz Station Lost Angeles, Calif, 1925 -- non-woke edition).

The Republican Professor is a pro-Second-Amendment-in-California podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.