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Jurisprudence

Notre Dame Law School

Journal Articles

Series

1989

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Some Reasons For A Restoration Of Natural Law Jurisprudence, Charles E. Rice Jan 1989

Some Reasons For A Restoration Of Natural Law Jurisprudence, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

The growing influence of utilitarianism and legal positivism in American jurisprudence today and the decline of natural law have produced an ominous shift in the foundation of our legal system. This shift is illustrated by various courts' approaches to momentous legal issues of the Twentieth Century such as abortion and euthanasia. Ultimately, legal positivism is unacceptable as a jurisprudential framework because it provides no inherent limits on the power of the state and no basis for determining what is just. In contrast, the natural law provides a jurisprudential framework that both guides and limits the civil law. It therefore is …


Natural Law And Justice (Book Review), Robert E. Rodes Jan 1989

Natural Law And Justice (Book Review), Robert E. Rodes

Journal Articles

Professor Weinreb's aim in this thoughtful and thought-provoking book is a drastic overhaul of the ongoing debate about natural law. Natural law as he sees it is not a mere theory about the relation of law and morality: it is a comprehensive theory about the place of human beings in the cosmos. As such, it has a profound bearing on legal questions, but not in the way its current proponents have in mind. By recasting the fundamental question of natural law, Weinreb sheds light on many subsidiary questions of legal theory. This is a difficult book, because it is closely …