Natural Law Commons^™

On Reason And Authority In Law's Empire, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

Law's Empire will shape jurisprudence by its admirably resourceful attention to understanding a community's law "internally". It promotes reflective understanding of the practical argumentation constitutive of the attitude(s) in which that law subsists. But the book neglects some of practical understanding's resources of political and moral theory, and overestimates practical reasoning's power to identify options as the best and the right)

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.

The Connection Between Law And Morality: Comments On Dworkin, David Lyons

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The "Natural Law Tradition", John Finnis

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

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

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Natural Law Tradition: Comments On Finnis, Lloyd L. Weinreb

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Decree: The Congress Of The United Mexican States Decrees Federal Act Relating To The Sea, Congress Of The United Mexican States

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Transboundary Oil And Gas Selected Bibliography, Alberto Székely

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Binational Uses Of Transboundary Air Resources: The International Entitlement Issue Reconsidered, Gunther Handl

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Hammer Clause Of The Reclamation Reform Act Of 1982, Ray G. Huffaker, B. Delworth Gardner

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unity Of Law & Morality: A Refutation Of Legal Positivism (Book Review), John H. Robinson

Journal Articles

Professor Robinson provides a critique of M.J. Detmold’s book, The Unity of Law & Mortality: A Refutation of Legal Positivism. He argues that the book is flawed for failure to present his adversary’s position and for failure to explain the reasons for embracing an ontological perspective towards all ethics. Despite its ambition, the argument does not get off the ground.

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"...).

The Role Of Strategic Reasoning In Constitutional Interpretation: In Defense Of The Pathological Perspective Comments, Vincent A. Blasi

Faculty Scholarship

I am indebted to Professor Christie, not only for noticing my work but also for challenging it in so forthright a manner. He has identified a feature of my thesis that deserves to be a focal point for additional debate. Any reader of my original article who was undecided whether to agree with it ought to be aided considerably in the task of critical evaluation by the exchange Professor Christie has initiated. I know my own understanding of the premises and implications of my thesis has been enhanced by the experience of working out a response to his challenge.

The …

Natural Law And Political Choice: The General Justification Defense – Criteria For Political Action And The Duty To Obey The Law, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

During most of this century, a distinct separation has existed between natural law perspectives and perspectives about the nature of law and about social choices that have dominated American law schools. One could find elaborations of natural law in Catholic law schools and periodicals, but these expressions exercised little influence on the mainstreams of legal thought. In the last two decades, non-Catholics have grown to realize that they have much to learn from natural law approaches, and natural lawyers have tried to enhance their own understandings by references to other perspectives. I am emboldened to proceed by my strong belief …

Table Of Original Publication Citations, Natural Resources Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Moral Value Of Law, Philip Soper

Michigan Law Review

Suppose you have correctly concluded that it is your legal obligation to act or refrain from acting in a certain way. Can you, from that conclusion alone, say anything at all about what you ought to do morally?

An affirmative answer to this question implies that law has moral value regardless of content or circumstance: without knowing what the act is that the law commands or even what legal system has enacted the law, one would, on this view, be able to link the conclusion about legal obligation with some conclusion about moral responsibility. Such a view seems quite far-reaching …

The Natural Duty To Obey The Law, Kent Greenawalt

Michigan Law Review

Though scholarly skepticism has been expressed during the past two decades, lawyers and others have often supposed that people have a moral obligation or duty to obey the law. This article is about one possible basis for that moral constraint, a natural duty. The article has a number of interrelated objectives. In it, I try to show briefly why theories of natural duty are so important in this context, how these theories differ from other moral bases for obedience, what the strengths and weaknesses are of particular arguments about a natural duty, what features unify apparently disparate approaches, what assumptions …

On "The Critical Legal Studies Movement", John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

"The present study critically examines the account of legal thought developed in Roberto Unger's very long article, ""The Critical Legal Studies Movement"" (1983), and tests it against Unger's own account of certain ""exemplary"" difficulties in the Anglo-American law of Contract. These scrutinies reveal that Unger's account fundamentally misunderstands the ways of legal thought, and disguises its misunderstanding behind equivocations on ""(in)determinate"" and ""(un)justified."""

On 'Positivism' And 'Legal Rational Authority', John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This Article critiques Anthony Kronman’s book Max Weber, which provides an interpretation of Weber’s social theory of law concerning positivism and legal rational authority. In particular, the three premises of Kronman’s thesis regarding social theory are considered and their weaknesses are explained. Through this critique, the Author argues that no good reason has been presented to accept that Weber’s positivist theory is of value.

The Natural Duty To Obey The Law, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, Professor Greenawalt examines the strengths and weaknesses of arguments asserting the existence of a natural duty to obey the law. He begins by defining "natural duty," and then investigates this concept in the theories of John Finnis, John Rawls, Tony Honore, Philip Soper, and John Mackie. Drawing upon the similarities of these theories, Professor Greenawalt questions the nature, reach, and force of the natural duty to obey, considering, among other things, whether the duty extends to laws that are unjust or to laws with which few others comply, and examining more generally when duties should be understood …

An Economic Analysis Of Illinois New Hazardous Waste Law, J. Lon Carlson, Gary V. Johnson, Tom S. Ulen

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

European Integration Through Fundamental Rights, Jochen Abr. Frowein

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The conception of fundamental rights as natural rights of human beings developed in European legal thinking mainly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and also Immanuel Kant should be mentioned. But it was in the new world that the principles of fundamental human rights were first put into practice. A little more than ten years after the first American declarations, the "Declaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen" was adopted in Paris; it remains part of French constitutional law today. But, unlike the development in the United States, the French guarantees could not be enforced …

The 1977 Procedural Amendments To The Clean Air Act - Have They Made A Difference, Eileen Paez

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Centralized Decisionmaking In The Administration Of Groundwater Rights: The Experience Of Arizona, California And New Mexico And Suggestions For The Future, Zachary A. Smith

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unfinished Work Of The Instrumentalists, Willard Hurst

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Instrumentalism and American Legal Theory by Robert Samuel Summers

Environmental Law - Atomic Energy Act, Steven B. Bennett

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Natural Resources - Constitutional Law, Celia L. Jorgensen

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Water Law - Sporhase V. Nebraska, Mary Ann Green

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Reader Response, Arthur Christian Nelson

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.