Law Commons^™

The Architecture of Law explores the metaphor of law as an architectural building project, with eternal law as the foundation, natural law as the frame, divine law as the guidance provided by the architect, and human law as the provider of the defining details and ornamentation. Classical jurisprudence is presented as a synthesis of the work of the greatest minds of antiquity and the medieval period, including Cicero, Artistotle, Gratian, Augustine, and Aquinas; the significant texts of each receive detailed exposition in these pages.

Along with McCall’s development of the architectural image, he raises a question that becomes a running …

In The Architecture of Law: Building Law on a Solid Foundation- The Eternal and Natural Law, I began laying the foundation for a particular form of legal architecture. Taking inspiration from St. Thomas Aquinas’ description of God as the artificer or architect, I argued that the Law is a multi storied edifice comprised of different types of law. I explored the nature of the foundational law, the Eternal Law and its relationship to justice. I considered how the frame of Natural Law is erected upon or participates in the foundation of Eternal Law. Finally, I discussed some of the most …

Employing the architectural themes used by Aquinas in his discussion of Eternal Law, this article presents Natural Law as a frame for rational thought rooted in the foundation of the Eternal Law. The argument contrasts this theory of law, based on a close reading of Aquinas and Gratian, to both a Positivist theory of law as power as well as to other Natural Law theories not incorporating the foundation. Law is presented as a product of both reason and will. The genus of law is shown to involve both specific precepts as well as more general guiding principles. Law is …