James Wilson Institute

"While the rest of us worry about rogue superintelligent machines rising up to take over, [Glenn Harlan Reynolds] argues the real danger is far more subtle—and far more tempting." @instapundit discusses Seductive AI on @AnchoringTruths. anchoringtruths.org/2026/05/07/sed…

Prof. Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee joined the Anchoring Truths Podcast to discuss his book "Seductive AI." His thesis is that AI doesn’t need to conquer us with force, but can seduce us instead—flattering our egos, anticipating our every desire, offering perfect companions, endless convenience, and the illusion of control—until we’ve quietly handed over our agency, our relationships, and our ability to think for ourselves. Listen now at the link below!👇👇

Clarence Thomas, through what he has suffered, learned, and taught, stands right now as our most preeminent public man. This speech belongs in the Archives of Great American Speeches. 11/11 Full piece: civitasoutlook.com/symposium-arti…

Lincoln warned the nation could not endure half slave and half free. Today the dynamic is the same. Relativism has been building for a century. The cultural conditions favor totalitarianism. The future looks grim — unless we awaken. 10/

Citing Wilson and Dewey, Thomas shows how Progressivism seeks to replace the Declaration:Rights come not from God, but from Government. It demands a subservience incompatible with a Constitution built on transcendent rights. 9/

Most urgently, Thomas gives us a modern House Divided speech. Nothing since the Civil War has so radically denied the moral premises of the Founding as today’s Progressivism — now dominant in the Democratic Party. 8/

He maps the drift perfectly: judges who “grow” toward the liberal side, chasing acclaim, access, and praise. Fearful of criticism. Bewitched by flattery. They put aside convictions for euphoria and acceptance. 7/

Thomas calls out the temptation: people write elegant essays on the Declaration, then offer “lip service camouflaged by grand theories.” They water down their message, negotiate against their principles, and “hide in the tall grass.” We’ve all seen it. 6/

Beyond the philosophy, Thomas’s speech reveals his greatest quality: Courage. The kind tested in the fire of his confirmation. The kind that refuses to bend. He has lived it. He teaches it. 5/

Here was a young man stamped with a lower racial caste — yet lifted by the deep confidence that a higher moral and natural law existed. A law that commands respect for the dignity of every human being, even the broken man in the gutter. Few accounts of natural law have ever been more heartfelt. 4/

The most powerful moment: Thomas saw that the positive law crushing them was built on a lie. Deeper than the Declaration stood the truth Lincoln captured — that nothing “stamped with the Divine image” was meant to be degraded. That moral truth, not Greek philosophy or syllogisms, anchors everything. 3/

What makes Thomas’s address so moving is the riveting biographical core. Born into a corrupt legal system in Georgia that nearly denied his family’s human and legal standing — nevertheless he came to love America. All through the teachings of his Grandfather, Grandmother, and the Catholic education they fought to give him. 2/

Justice Thomas just delivered one of the greatest American speeches of our time. It’s a profound warning about Progressivism’s threat to the regime built on the Declaration of Independence — and a masterclass in courage, dignity, and natural law. A thread. 🧵 1/

Read the full piece at @CivitasOutlook here: civitasoutlook.com/symposium-arti…

NEW Hadley Arkes on Justice Thomas's Address at UT "In what he has suffered, what he has learned from it, and what he has come to teach so forcefully, Justice Clarence Thomas may stand right now as our most Preeminent Public Man."

We recently joined students at the UChicago Law School for our final Law School Seminar of the Spring Semester. The Seminar was led by JWI Senior Fellow Justin Dyer and Executive Director Garrett Snedeker.

RIGHT NOW: James Wilson: The Man Who Wrote “We The People” and Inspired the Declaration at @HillsdaleInDC Ft. Prof. John Mikhail

JWI was delighted to celebrate the launch of @MZHemingway’s new book “Alito” at @CPInst! @HPArkes_ @MaibachMichael & Garrett Snedeker pictured with Mollie Hemingway