Aquinas and Modern Law / Edition 1

by James Bernard Murphy, Richard O. Brooks

Overview

This volume collects some of the best recent writings on St. Thomas’s philosophy of law and includes a critical examination of Aquinas’s theory of the relation between law and morality, his natural law theory, as well as the modern reformulation of his approach to natural rights. The volume shows how Aquinas understood the importance of positive law and demonstrates the modern relevance of his writings by including Thomistic critiques of modern jurisprudence and examples of applications of Thomistic jurisprudence to specific modern legal problems such as federalism, environmental policy, abortion and euthanasia. The volume also features an introduction which places Aquinas’s writings in the context of modern jurisprudence as well as an extensive bibliography. The volume is suited to the needs of jurisprudence scholars, teachers and students and is an essential resource for all law libraries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409431770
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/21/2013
Series:	Philosophers and Law
Edition description:	1
Pages:	644
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard O. Brooks is Professor Emeritus of Law, Vermont Law School, USA and James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government, Dartmouth College, USA.

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction, James Bernard Murphy; Bibliography; Part I Introduction to Aquinas: On reading the Summa: an introduction to Saint Thomas Aquinas, Otto Bird. Part II The Problems of Natural Law: Recent criticism of natural law theory, Robert P. George; The metaphysical presuppositions of natural law in Thomas Aquinas: a new look at some old questions, Anthony Lisska. Part III Law and Morality: A question about law, Mortimer J. Adler; The scholastic theory of moral law in the modern world, Alan Donagan; Aquinas’s two pedagogies; a reconsideration of the relation between law and moral virtue, Mary M. Keys. Part IV Natural Law and Natural Rights: Do natural rights derive from natural law?, Michael P. Zuckert; Fairness in holdings: a natural law account of property and welfare rights, Joseph Boyle. Part V Dimensions of Positive Law: Law’s positivity in the natural law jurisprudence of Thomas Aquinas, James Bernard Murphy; The relation between positive and natural law in Aquinas, Daniel Westberg; The promulgation of law, Gilbert Bailey. Part VI One Thomistic Critique of Many Modern Jurisprudences: The authority of law in the predicament of contemporary social theory, John Finnis; Liberalism and natural law theory, John Finnis. Part VII A Thomistic Approach to Selected Legal Problems: Subsidiarity, federalism and the best constitution: Thomas Aquinas on city, province and empire, Nicholas Aroney; The environmental policy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patrick Halligan; Toward a Thomistic perspective on abortion and the law in contemporary America, M. Cathleen Kaveny; Aquinas and morphine: notes on double effect at the end of life, Stephen R. Latham; Conclusion: The modern return to Aquinas, Richard Oliver Brooks; Name index.