# Adrian Vermeule Harvard Law School professor and the leading theorist of Catholic integralism — the hardest-line version of [[Catholic Post-Liberalism]] that argues the state should be formally ordered toward the common good as defined by Catholic natural law. His "Common Good Constitutionalism" challenges both progressive jurisprudence *and* conservative originalism from the right. ## Role in the New Right Vermeule provides the **legal-theoretical framework** for the post-liberal turn. Where originalists (including the [[Federalist Society]] mainstream) argue for interpreting the Constitution as written, Vermeule argues the Constitution should be interpreted to serve the common good — as defined by natural law in the Catholic tradition. This is a radical move: it gives judges and executives a mandate to override liberal rights in the name of moral order. ## Key Positions & Writings - **"Common Good Constitutionalism" (2022):** Rejects both progressive living constitutionalism and conservative originalism. Argues for interpreting law through the lens of the classical legal tradition's commitment to the common good, justice, and the moral order. - **[[Integralism]]:** The position that the political order should be formally subordinate to spiritual authority — in practice, that Catholic social teaching should guide state policy. Vermeule is more explicit about this than Deneen or Ahmari. - **Administrative state (surprisingly):** Unlike most of [[the New Right]], Vermeule does *not* want to dismantle the administrative state — he wants to *capture* it and redirect it toward the common good. This puts him in tension with the NRx/Claremont "burn it down" faction. ## Connections - [[Patrick Deneen]] — Fellow post-liberal; aligned on diagnosis, differ on some prescriptions - [[Sohrab Ahmari]] — Polemical ally - [[Leonard Leo]] — The [[Federalist Society]] network has a complex relationship with Vermeule: he challenges their originalist orthodoxy while sharing their goal of reshaping the judiciary - [[Curtis Yarvin]] — Unlikely convergence: both reject liberal constitutionalism, both want a strong executive, but from radically different premises (Catholic theology vs. tech-monarchism) ## The [[Originalism]] Schism Vermeule's work has created a genuine schism within the conservative legal movement. The [[Federalist Society]] was built on originalism; Vermeule argues originalism is just another form of liberal proceduralism that refuses to use state power for substantive moral ends. This fight — between post-liberal common-good constitutionalists and Federalist Society originalists — is one of the most important internal tensions in the New Right. ## See Also - [[Catholic Post-Liberalism]] - [[Patrick Deneen]] - [[Sohrab Ahmari]] - [[Federalist Society]] - [[Leonard Leo]] - [[The New Right Ecosystem]]