Natural Law Commons^™

Natural Lights & Natural Rights: The Problem Of The New Classical Natural Law Theory, Charles Neville Cacciatore

LSU Master's Theses

The present work examines the natural law jurisprudence of John Finnis. It argues that Finnis’s teaching is a genuinely new natural law theory. Finnis’s jurisprudence is not a re- presentation of the jurisprudence of St. Thomas Aquinas because its central element—a doctrine of natural rights—is a departure from Aquinas’s natural law teaching. In support of these claims, the present work relies upon the scholarship of Ernest L. Fortin, A.A. Following Fr. Fortin, it presents an understanding of the natural law that endorses a clear distinction between natural right and natural rights—between premodern political philosophy and modern political philosophy.

The Conceptions Of Self-Evidence In The Finnis Reconstruction Of Natural Law, Kevin P. Lee

St. Mary's Law Journal

Finnis claims that his theory proceeds from seven basic principles of practical reason that are self-evidently true. While much has been written about the claim of self-evidence, this article considers it in relation to the rigorous claims of logic and mathematics. It argues that when considered in this light, Finnis equivocates in his use of the concept of self-evidence between the realist Thomistic conception and a purely formal, modern symbolic conception. Given his respect for the modern positivist separation of fact and value, the realism of the Thomistic conception cannot be the foundation for the natural law as Finnis would …

Martin Luther King Jr. And Ernest Everett Just - On Evolution Of Ethical Behavior, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. prescribed an evolutionary advance in ethical behavior: the total “abolition of poverty” and the abolition of war throughout “the world house.” Cell biologist Ernest Everett Just advanced the idea that human ethical behavior evolved from cellular origins.

Also, astrobiologists Chandra Wickramasinghe and Sir Fred Hoyle advanced the idea of cosmic biology, including stellar evolution and cosmic evolution. From cells to humans to stars and cosmology, evolutionary natural science converges with natural theology.

The Presbyterian Enlightenment: The Confluence Of Evangelical And Enlightenment Thought In British America, Brandon S. Durbin

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Eighteenth-Century British American Presbyterian ministers incorporated covenantal theology, ideas from the Scottish Enlightenment, and resistance theory in their sermons. The sermons of Presbyterian ministers strongly indicate the intermixing of enlightenment and evangelical ideas. Congregants heard and read these sermons, spreading these ideas to the average colonist. This combination helps explain why American Presbyterians were so apt to resist British rule during the American Revolution. Protestant covenantal theology, derived from Protestant reformers like John Calvin and John Knox, emphasized virtue and duty. This covenant affected both the people and their rulers. When rulers failed to uphold their covenant with God, the …

Martin Luther King Jr. On Economy, Ecology, And Civilization: Toward A Mlk Jr-Inspired Ecotheology, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

This MLK Jr-inspired ecotheology [eco-theology] connects “economics,” “ecology,” and “ecological civilization” to the theological ethics of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Though we often remember King primarily as a domestic civil rights leader; attention to King’s book—Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) reveals that he advanced a global ethics. King called for replacing recourse to war with nonviolent resistance to evil, and for abolishing poverty throughout “the world house.” He prescribed that we “civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.” King was concerned with civilizing “the world house” (house …

Balancing Rights: The Modern Problem, Rev. Thomas A. Russman

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Unjust Laws, Charles E. Rice

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Relation Between Natural Law And Human Law In Thomas Aquinas, Raymond Bradley

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Catholic Just War Tradition And The War In Iraq: Just Pre-Emptive War, Just Humanitarian Intervention?, Daniel R. Strecker

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Decorating The Structure: The Art Of Making Human Law, Brian M. Mccall

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Natural Law Theory And The Declaration On Religious Freedom Of The Second Vatican Council, Charles P. Kindregan

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Natural Law In The Church Today, George M. Regan, C.M.

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Basis Of The Natural Law In Locke's Philosophy, James W. Byrne

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Pacem In Terris - Human Rights And Duties In Natural Law, Pope John Xxiii

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Natural Law Norms, Brendan F. Brown

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Artificial Insemination: I - Legal Aspects, Anthony F. Logatto, M.S.S.S., Ll.B.

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Return To Political Theology, Joshua D. Hawley

Notre Dame Law Review

My aim in what follows is to employ N.T. Wright’s powerful and provocative analysis of Paul’s political gospel as a critical perspective on the foundational claims of the Great Separation. Because the very possibility of political theology is disputed in many quarters, I begin in Part I with a defense of political theology as critical theory. In Part II, I turn to Paul’s political gospel, tracing Wright’s reconstruction of its central terms, including the Pauline critique of empire. In Part III, I explore—briefly—the affirmative political vision Pauline theology makes possible, with particular focus on that theology’s unique form of political …

The Relationship Between Natural Law And Mosaic Law In Philo: His On Rewards And Punishments As A Case Study, Clark Whitney

Honors Theses

Living from around 20 B.C. to A.D. 50, Philo of Alexandria, Egypt contributed to the fields of philosophy and religion. In fact, Philo is one of the most significant contributors to our understanding of Hellenistic Judaism and Middle Platonism.. By extension, our understanding of the New Testament (especially the Pauline epistles) is indebted to Philo, because a plethora of the New Testament writings were composed by Jews into Greek language. According to C.D. Yonge, very little is known about Philo's personal life except that he lived in Alexandria, Egypt and came from a family who was wealthy and prominent among …

The Natural Relationship Of Church And State Within The Kingdom Of Christ Based On The Encyclical Immortale Dei Of Pope Leo Xiii, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

This lecture addresses the natural relationship between Church and State and explains Catholic Social Teaching regarding the organization of civil society.