Natural Law Commons^™

International Law: Practical Authority, Global Justice, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Reason, Revelation, Universality And Particularity In Ethics, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This address to a philosophical conference on truth and faith in ethics engages in an extended critique of the account of truth in Bernard Williams, Truth and Truthfulness: an essay in genealogy (Princeton University Press, 2002). For any jurisprudential, moral or political theory that affirms natural law needs to respond first to sceptical denials that reason can discover any truths about what ends all human individuals or groups ought to pursue. But any such theory also needs to make clear how it differs from, even when it coincides in moral judgment with, bodies of moral teaching self-identified as part of …

Costs Of Sovereignty, K. A.D. Camara

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Theories Of Law Have Little Or Nothing To Do With Judicial Restraint, Philip Soper

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Natural Law Basis Of Legal Obligation: International Antitrust And Opec In Context, Joel B. Moore

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stabilizes petroleum prices to promote the economic prosperity of its member nations for which oil is a substantial export. Price stabilization influences the price of petroleum around the world, impacting the economies of developed and developing countries. Under U.S. antitrust jurisprudence, the OPEC quota agreements that stabilize prices would likely be declared illegal, and other countries might also declare price fixing to be illegal under their respective competition laws.

Several U.S. Senators have recently proposed that price fixing should be illegal under international law as well. This Note avoids a superficial analysis …

Natural Law And Public Reasons, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

In this Lecture I shall discuss the reasons that officials and citizens should rely upon in American politics. In recent years, various theorists have claimed that people in liberal democracies should rely in politics on "public reasons," reasons that are accessible to all citizens. Others have objected that such a counsel is unreasonable, if not incomprehensible. I shall concentrate on two facets of this issue. First, does the law exemplify a structure of public reasons – that is, do judges deciding cases draw on a stock of public reasons that is narrower than all the reasons one might give for …

Editorial Introduction, Gerard V. Bradley, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This Article is a forward to nine articles from the 2001 Symposium on Natural Law and Human Fulfillment, held at Notre Dame Law School. The Symposium was held to mark the 35th anniversary of the publication of Germain Grisez's "The First Principle of Practical Reason: A Commentary on the Summa Theologiae."

Natural Law And The Ethics Of Discourse, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This essay argues that Plato's critical analysis of the ethics of discourse is superior to Habermas', and more generally that Habermas has no sufficient reason to propose or suppose the philosophical superiority of "modernity." The failure of Hume and Kant and much modern philosophy to understand the concept and content of reasons for action underlies Habermas' attempted distinction between ethics and morality, and Rawls' concept of public reason. A proper study of discourse also yields a metaphysics of the person, and thus reinforces the ethics.

Natural Law And Birthright Citizenship In Calvin's Case (1608), Polly J. Price

Faculty Articles

The roots of United States conceptions of birthright citizenship lie deep in England's medieval past. This Article explores Calvin's Case (1608) and the early modem common-law mind that first articulated a theoretical basis for territorial birthright citizenship. Involving all the important English judges of the day, Calvin's Case addressed the question of whether persons born in Scotland, following the descent of the English crown to the Scottish King James VI in 1603, would be considered "subjects" in England. Calvin's Case determined that all persons born within any territory held by the King of England were to enjoy the benefits of …

The Case Of Natural Obligations, David V. Snyder

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Meaning Of Terrorism--Jurisprudential And Definitional Clarifications, Louis R. Beres

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines contemporary definitions of terrorism and determines that they are inadequate. The author describes five specific types of problems with current definitions and offers an appropriate scholarly remedy. This Article concludes, inter alia, that the United States should reject narrow, geopolitical definitions of terrorism. Instead, it should articulate and apply a single unambiguous standard that incorporates the requirements of just cause and just means. Absent evidence of these two elements, the insurgent use of force should be regarded as terrorism. This clearer and more objective definition will enable the United States to approach and address adversarial uses of …

Liberalism And Natural Law Theory, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

I shall argue, in the course of this lecture, that the title I gave myself is a bad one, one that sets a bad example. "Liberalism," like "conservatism" and "socialism," is too local, contingent and shifting a term to deserve a place in a general theory of society, politics, government and law. So I had better say at once which proposition or set of propositions I, on this occasion, was gesturing towards with the word "liberalism," out of all the many propositions, often conflicting, which have been called "liberal." What I had in mind was the thesis that government and …

Natural Rights, Natural Law, And American Constitutions, Philip A. Hamburger

Faculty Scholarship

Natural rights and natural -law are ideas that frequently seem to have something in common with the elusive shapes of a Rorschach test. They are suggestive of well-defined, recognizable images, yet they are so indeterminate that they permit us to see in them what we are inclined to see. Like Rorschach's phantasm-inducing ink blots, natural rights and natural law are not only suggestive but also indeterminate – ideas to which each of us can plausibly attribute whatever qualities we happen to associate with them. For this reason, we may reasonably fear that natural rights and natural law are ideas often …

A Not So Distant Mirror: Federalism And The Role Of Natural Law In The United States, The Republic Of Ireland, And The European Community, Paul W. Butler, David L. Gregory

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, Mr. Butler and Professor Gregory discuss the themes of federalism and natural law by examining United States, Republic of Ireland, and European Community cases regarding reproductive freedom, sexual preference, and divorce. The authors find a parallel between Ireland's difficulty in reconciling its Catholic values with the more secular human rights views of the European Community and the religious and social tension caused by federalism in the United States. While courts in both Ireland and the United States have used natural law to justify the level of substantive due process they accord privacy rights, the authors note that …

The Iroquois Great Law Of Peace And The United States Constitution: How The Founding Fathers Ignored The Clan Mothers, Renée Jacobs

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Concluding Reflections, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

A symposium to which one person contributes three extended papers is no unmixed pleasure for readers. This third contribution of mine will interest only those curious to see my response to other symposiasts' comments on my earlier efforts (in the symposium and elsewhere). To enable this curiosity to be satisfied as costlessly as possible, I divide these concluding reflections by authors rather than themes, though with priorities suggested by themes rather than authors.

International Obligation And The Theory Of Hypothetical Consent, Fernando R. Tesón

Scholarly Publications

In this article I make three related arguments. First, I argue that the traditional approach to the problem of international obligation is incomplete and much too simplistic. Drawing in part on the ideas of Ronald Dworkin, I suggest that rather than a question of fidelity to international law, the foundational problem is the determination of international law. Second, I consider and reject two theories of international obligation: the theory based on the concept of interdependence and the theory of actual consent of states. Third, I suggest a theory of international obligation based on human rights. This theory is drawn from …

Natural Law And Legal Reasoning, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

Much academic theory about legal reasoning greatly exaggerates the extent to which reason can settle what is greater good or lesser evil, and minimizes the need for authoritative sources which, so far as they are clear and respect the few absolute moral rights and duties, are to be respected as the only rational basis for judicial reasoning and decision, in relation to the countless issues which do not directly involve those absolute rights and duties. A natural law theory in the classical tradition makes no pretense that natural reason can determine the one right answer to those countless questions which …

Practical Principles, Moral Truth, And Ultimate Ends, John M. Finnis, Germain Grisez, Joseph Boyle

Journal Articles

The natural-law theory on which we have been working during the past twenty-five years has stimulated many critical responses. We have restated the theory in various works, not always calling attention to developments. This paper reformulates some parts of the theory, taking into account the criticisms of which we are aware.

What A Sensible Natural Lawyer And A Sensible Utilitarian Agree About And Disagree About: Comments On Finnis, Donald H. Regan

Articles

Before I start, let me say two things. First of all, to the extent that John Finnis is entering a plea for more attention to what is a relatively neglected tradition (in the narrow his message a hundred percent. And you courd learning about the natural law tradition than by reading his book, Natural Law and Natural Rights. My second introductory observation is that Finnis and I agree about many more things than you might expect if you just think of him as a natural law theorist and me as a utilitarian. I am very eccentric as a utilitarian. He …

The "Natural Law Tradition", John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This "tradition of natural law theory" has three main features: First, critique and rejection of ethical scepticism, dogmatism and conventionalism; Second, clarification of the methodology of descriptive and explanatory social theories (e.g., political science, economics, jurisprudence .... ); Third, critique and rejection of aggregative conceptions of the right and the just (e.g., consequentialism, utilitarianism, wealth-maximization, "proportionalism"...).

John Locke's Theory Of Government And Fundamental Constitutional Rights: A Proposal For Understanding, Nicholas L. Divita

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Natural Law And The "Is"-"Ought" Question: An Invitation To Professor Veatch, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This Article invites Professor Henry Veatch to consider some of Finnis' previous work. Finnis asserts that his work presents "serious questions" for those who interpret Aristotle and Acquinas in the way the Veatch does and invites Veatch to respond.

The Basic Principles Of Natural Law: A Reply To Ralph Mcinerny, John M. Finnis, Germain Grisez

Journal Articles

In the preceding volume of this journal, Prof. Mclnerny criticized certain theoretical positions of Finnis and Grisez as well as their interpretation of St. Thomas. In the present article Finnis and Grisez reply that Mclnerny's criticisms lack cogency, because he has misunderstood their theories, judged their exegesis by his own different interpretation assumed gratuitously to be correct, and mixed philosophical and historical criticism in a way which helps to clarify neither the problems of ethical theory nor those of Thomistic exegesis.

The Implicit Teaching Of Utopian Speculations: Rousseau's Contribution To The Natural Law Tradition, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the evolution of natural law theory and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's contribution to it. The thesis that emerges from that examination asserts that the tension between law in its natural and positive forms is endemic to the human condition. If any common ground is to be found between theories of positivistic and natural law, it lies in the realization that natural law doctrine is not gratuitous and subjective optimism nor idealism pure and simple. The fact that natural law doctrine can serve but a role of general guidance, that it is alien to the concrete, positivistic manifestations of law, …

Statutes As Judgments: The Natural Law Theory Of Parliamentary Activity In Medieval England, Morris S. Arnold

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The proposition that late medieval English lawgivers believed themselves to be exercising a declarative function has been so frequently put forward and so widely accepted that it is in danger of being canonized by sheer dint of repetition; and thus one who would deny the essential validity of that notion bears the virtually insuperable burden of proof commonly accorded an accused heretic. Nevertheless, it will be argued here that natural law notions are attributed to the medieval English legislator with only the slightest support from the sources, and after only the most rudimentary and uncritical analyses of the implications of …

Legal Positivism And The Natural Law: The Controversy Between Professor Hart And Professor Fuller, George Breckenridge

Vanderbilt Law Review

Professor Hart defends legal positivism and Professor Fuller sets out his view of the natural law. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Fuller is against positivism and Hart against natural law. Each is an untypical representative of the varied traditions that bear these names. Each is, at the same time, because of his radical restatement and defense of his positions, probably the most reasonable and least extreme antagonist. In this dialogue, if anywhere, we are likely to discover the true issues and the common ground, if any, between the two positions. In fact each concedes, frankly or …

Legal Sanctions, Jerome Hall

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Plato And The Doctrine Of Natural Law, Hans Kelsen

Vanderbilt Law Review

As a result of the shocks which the existing social orders have experienced through two World Wars and the Russian Revolution, an intellectual movement is becoming increasingly evident in the Western World--one which, in sharp reaction to a scientific-positivistic and relativistic philosophy, aims at a return to metaphysics and theology, and--closely connected with this--to a renewal of the doctrine of natural law. The proponents of this trend believe they find valuable support in the philosophy of Plato, whose authority until recently was virtually uncontested--and in this they are justified. Plato's doctrine of Ideas is the boldest of metaphysical speculations, for …

Nietzsche, Thomas A. Cowan

Vanderbilt Law Review

I find that the attempt to assess Nietzsche's value to contemporary jurisprudence is fraught with extreme difficulty. Not only was Nietzsche perhaps the most controversial figure in the history of ideas:' this might have happened to one whose message was simple.But in Nietzsche's case the ideas themselves are highly controversial, paradoxical and even "immoral." Like every great thinker Nietzsche was more provocative to his enemies than to his friends. His enemies took their revenge by burying him under a deluge of refutation and abuse. Apparently Nietzsche was guilty of what might be called the crime of "universal treason." He gave …