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The Disintegration of Natural Law Theory
Aquinas to Finnis
Series: - Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, Volume: 84
Author:
John Finnis's proposal to rehabilitate Aquinas's natural law theory as an appropriate foundation of legal and moral theory rests on the assumption that Aquinas's theory can be restored by eliminating the mistaken interpretations of subsequent natural law theorists. This book challenges that assumption.
After a brief analysis of Aquinas, the theories of Suárez, Grotius, and Pufendorf are investigated. It is argued that their theories are no 'mistakes', but attempts at solving problems inherent in natural law theory. As these attempts all fail, tensions remain, and ultimately lead to the demise of the theory. Finally it is argued that Finnis, running into the same problems, cannot hope to restore Aquinas's theoretical edifice.
After a brief analysis of Aquinas, the theories of Suárez, Grotius, and Pufendorf are investigated. It is argued that their theories are no 'mistakes', but attempts at solving problems inherent in natural law theory. As these attempts all fail, tensions remain, and ultimately lead to the demise of the theory. Finally it is argued that Finnis, running into the same problems, cannot hope to restore Aquinas's theoretical edifice.
Pauline C. Westerman, Masters (1986) in Philosophy, Ph.D. (1997) in Law, University of Groningen, Netherlands, is Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Law at that same University. She has published on Locke and Hume, and wrote a volume on legal philosophy for the Open University.
"...a book that is generally careful, articulate, well expressed, and often insigthful, deserving of the scholarly attention it will surely receiveâ¦"
Michael J. Seidler.
Michael J. Seidler.
The book is important for legal philosophers as well as for historians of ideas, interested in the works of Aquinas, Suárez, Grotius, and Pufendorf.