The Underground Thomist

This is J. Budziszewski's website. Unbelievable as it may seem, I am not the only person with that name.  One of the others complained to me that he was losing clients because people were getting us confused.  I am the one who has taught since 1981 at the University of Texas at Austin, where I am a professor of government and philosophy.  My academic focus is the ethical basis of politics.  That doesn't mean politicians are virtuous.  It means that choices concerning right and wrong, good and evil, are inseparable from political life -- so, among other things, whether the politicians and citizens are virtuous makes a difference.  I think and write mostly about classical natural law; conscience and moral self-deception; virtue and moral character; family and sexuality in relation to political and social order; religion in public life; authentic vs. counterfeit versions of toleration and liberty; and the unravelling (and possible restoration) of our common culture.  The various parts of this website -- articles, talks, books, dialogues, blog, and so forth -- are variously targeted, some at scholars, some at students, and some at general readers, but I hope everything can be read and enjoyed by everyone.

I blog daily, and you can subscribe to the website.   At the site you can also find my books, my articles in First Things and other magazines and professional journals, and my Office Hours dialogues and Ask Theophilus letters.  My newest book is a Commentary on Thomas Aquinas' s Treatise on Law, published in 2014 by Cambridge University Press along with a free online Companion to the Commentary.  You can find out about the Commentary, read samples, and download the Companion through those links.  The Treatise itself, which is part of the Summa Theologiae, is the most important source for the classical natural law tradition.