The Problem of Natural Law

Douglas Kries (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

214 Seiten

2008
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-0-7391-2037-8 (ISBN)

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The Problem of Natural Law takes up the problem of how natural law theory might be made a serious contender in modern moral, political, and legal debate. Author Douglas Kries takes as his starting point the question of how human beings are said to know the natural law, which is a question that has traditionally been answered by appealing to the notion of "conscience." Since Thomas Aquinas articulated the classic formulation of natural law theory, the book begins with an analysis of Thomas's notion of conscience. It then examines both the philosophical and theological objections that have been raised against the Thomistic notion of conscience and argues that this long-standing teaching could and should be bracketed by contemporary natural law theory. On the basis of this reformulation of natural law, Kries then proceeds to show how reviving natural law theory might be possible in the contemporary context, though it will need to be preceded by a reformulation of the natural law theory itself, especially with respect to the doctrine of conscience. If this is accomplished, Thomistic natural law will be better situated to respond to its three most important contemporary critics: the existentialism of Sartre, the deontologism of Kant, and the political hedonism of Hobbes.

Douglas Kries is associate professor of philosophy at Gonzaga University.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Identifying the Problem
Part 2 Part I: The Pre-Modern Critics of Thomistic Conscience
Chapter 3 Chapter 1: Conscience in Thomas's Understanding of Natural Law
Chapter 4 Chapter 2: The Objections of the Ancient Philosophers
Chapter 5 Chapter 3: The Objections of the Calvinist Christians
Part 6 Part II: The Question of Revision
Chapter 7 Chapter 4: On the Possibility of Revising Thomas's Teaching on Conscience
Part 8 Part III: Answering Modern Critics of Natural Law
Chapter 9 Chapter 5: Those Who Deny the Existence of Human Nature
Chapter 10 Chapter 6: Those Who Deny the Moral Relevancy of Human Nature
Chapter 11 Chapter 7: Those Who Deny the Ancient Understanding of Human Nature

Erscheint lt. Verlag	30.5.2008
Reihe/Serie	Applications of Political Theory
Sprache	englisch
Maße	154 x 229 mm
Gewicht	322 g
Themenwelt	Sonstiges ► Geschenkbücher
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
ISBN-10	0-7391-2037-9 / 0739120379
ISBN-13	978-0-7391-2037-8 / 9780739120378
Zustand	Neuware