CCT Dine & Discuss - The Declaration of Independence at Age 250

The Village Spot is welcoming us with open arms and is excited to have our group!

The Village Spot

3150 Village Walk Circle

Naples, FL 34109

(Please announce at the gate that you’re attending the Center for Critical Thinking Dinner)

Refund Policy: Refunds only available up to 3 days before the event.

Eligible refunds are subject to a $4 service fee.

The event will start at 6:00 pm.

Speaker: Robert Levy

Topic: Happy Birthday, America: The Declaration of Independence at Age 250

To commemorate America’s 250th Anniversary, Mr. Levy is hoping to promote a discussion of the Declaration of Independence and the principles that shaped our nation. Here are a few of the questions he plans to address:

“All Men are created equal”: Does that mean equal opportunities? Equal outcomes? Equality before the law? What about women’s rights and slavery? Were the Founders hypocrites?

“Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”: Can the reference to a Creator be reconciled with religious freedom, including the freedom not to be religious?

What does it mean to say that rights such as “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” are “unalienable”?

How is “Liberty” a right? Why does the Declaration refer to the “Pursuit of Happiness” and not simply “Happiness”?

“To secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men”: What is the purpose of government? Why does the Declaration say “secure” rather than “grant” these rights?

“Deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed”: What are “just Powers”? Can a democratic majority override an “unalienable right”? Does “Consent of the Governed” necessarily mean democracy?

About the Speaker: Robert A. Levy was, for 14 years, chairman of the board of directors at the Cato Institute. He joined Cato as senior fellow in constitutional studies in 1997 after 25 years in business. The Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies is named in his honor.
Levy received his PhD in business from the American University in 1966. That year, he founded CDA Investment Technologies, a major provider of investment information and software. Levy served as CEO until 1991. He then attended George Mason School of Law, where he was chief articles editor of the law review and class valedictorian. Levy received his JD in 1994. The next two years, he clerked for Judge Royce C. Lamberth on the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, and for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
From 1997 until 2004, Levy was an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, National Review, and many other publications. Levy has also discussed public policy on national radio and TV programs, including ABC’s Nightline, Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor, PBS NewsHour, and NBC’s Today Show. His latest book is The Dirty Dozen: How 12 Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom. Levy served as co-counsel in District of Columbia v. Heller, the successful Supreme Court challenge to Washington, DC’s gun ban.