Natural law theory, "new" and old

Sean Coyle*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In the second edition of Natural Law and Natural Rights John Finnis observes that, whilst he expected criticism of his theory from positivists, he did not expect it from traditional natural law theorists who felt that the theory was insufficiently grounded in Aquinas’s doctrines. Finnis argued that the divergence was a mirage occasioned by his addressing topics out of the standard orders of treatment. This essay considers what Finnis’s theory would look like if placed back into Aquinas’s orders of treatment, and gauges the extent to which it conforms to Aquinas’s doctrines, and the extent to which it is divergent and “new.” This analysis may hopefully serve as a starting point for further study.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberauad004
JournalAmerican Journal of Jurisprudence
Early online date1 Feb 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Feb 2023

Keywords

  • John Finnis
  • Thomas Aquinas
  • Natural Law

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Natural law theory, "new" and old'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this