Natural Law

List of Readings

Natural law, or right reason , rests on the self-evident truths of fundamental goods and supposes that humanaction can be directed toward what is morally right by practical reason. According to Aquinas, “Goodis the first thing that falls under the apprehension of the practical reason, which is directed toaction: since every agent acts for an end under the aspect of good. Consequently the first principlein the practical reason is one founded on the notion of good.” Summa Theologiae ,I—II, 94, a.2 .

Below are selected readings exploring the truths and application of natural law.

Aristotle

Aristotle, Ethics.
Aristotle, Politics.

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae , Blackfriars,London, 1975.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentarium super epistolam ad Romanos, c.14, lect.2 (ad v.5), in S. Thomae Aquinatis Super Epistolas S. Pauli Lectura, R. Cai, O.P. (ed.), Marietti, Turin.
St. Thomas Aquinas, In Duo Praecepta Caritatis et in Decem Legis Praecepta. Prologus: Opuscula Theologica, II,No.1129, Ed. Taurinen, Paris, 1954.

Althusius, Johannes

Althusius, Johannes. Politics . Translated with anintroduction by Frederick S. Carney. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964 [1614].

Black, Rufus

Black, Rufus. Christian Moral Realism: Natural Law, Narrative, Virtue, and the Gospel . New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000.
Black, Rufus. “Is the New Natural Law Theory Christian?” In The Revival of Natural Law: Philosophical, Theological and Ethical Responses to the Finnis-GrisezSchool, 148-63. Edited by Nigel Biggar and Rufus Black. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2000.
Black, Rufus. “The New Natural Law Theory.” In The Revival of Natural Law: Philosophical, Theological and Ethical Responses to the Finnis-GrisezSchool, 1-28. Edited by Nigel Biggar and Rufus Black. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2000.

Biggar, Nigel

Biggar, Nigel. “Karl Barth and Germain Grisez on the Human Good: An Ecumenical Rapprochement.”In The Revival of Natural Law: Philosophical, Theological and Ethical Responses to the Finnis-GrisezSchool, 164-83. Edited by Nigel Biggar and Rufus Black. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2000.
Biggar, Nigel. The Hastening that Waits: Karl Barth's Ethics . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.

Budziszewski, J.

Budziszewski, J. Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law, Intervarsity Press, 1997.
Budziszewski, J. The Revenge of Conscience: Politics and the Fall of Man , Spence Publishing, 2000.
Budziszewski, J. “The Roots of Law” , Religion and Liberty vol. 11, n. 5, 2001.
Budziszewski, J., What We Can't Not Know: A Guide , Spence Publishing, 2003.

Brunner, Emil

Brunner, Emil. Christianity and Civilization . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948-49.
Brunner, Emil. Justice and the Social Order . Translated by Mary Hottinger. London: Lutterworth Press, 1945.
Brunner, Emil. Man in Revolt: A Christian Anthropology . Translated by Olive Wyon. Philadelphia: WestminsterPress, 1947.
Brunner, Emil. Revelation and Reason: The Christian Doctrine of Faith and Knowledge . Translated by OliveWyon. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1946.
Brunner, Emil. The Divine Imperative: A Study in Christian Ethics . Translated by Olive Wyon. New York:Macmillan, 1937.
Brunner, Emil and Karl Barth. Natural Theology (“Nature and Grace” by Brunner and the Reply “No!” by Barth). Translated byP. Fraenkel. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1946.

Finnis, John

Finnis, John. Natural Law and Natural Rights, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1980/1993.
Finnis, John. Fundamentals of Ethics, Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C., 1983.
Finnis, John. “A Bill of Rights for Britain? The Moral of Contemporary Jurisprudence”, Maccabaean Lecturein Jurisprudence, Proceedings of the British Academy 71, 1985: 143-81.
John Finnis, Joseph Boyle, and Germain Grisez, Nuclear Deterrence: Morality and Realism, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1987.
Finnis, John. “Legal Enforcement of 'Duties to Oneself': Kant v. Neo-Kantians”, Columbia Law Review 87, 1987.
Finnis, John. Joseph M. Boyle, and Germain Grisez, “Incoherence and Consequentialism (orProportionalism)—A Rejoinder”, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 64, 1990.
Finnis, John. Moral Absolutes: Tradition, Revision, and Truth, Catholic University of America Press,Washington, D.C., 1991.
Finnis, John. Aquinas: Moral, Political and Legal Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998.

George, Robert P.

Robert P. George (ed.), Natural Law Theory: Contemporary Essays , Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995.
George, Robert P. “Recent Criticism of Natural Law Theory”, University of Chicago Law Review 55, 1988: 1371-1429.
George, Robert P. and Gerard Bradley, “Marriage and the Liberal Imagination”, Georgetown Law Journal 84, 1995.
George, Robert P. “Moralistic Liberalism and Legal Moralism”, Michigan Law Review 88, 1990: 1421-2.
George, Robert P. “Does the 'Incommensurability Thesis' Imperil Common Sense Moral Judgements?” American Journal of Jurisprudence 37, 1992: 185-195.
George, Robert P. Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993.
George, Robert P. (ed.), Natural Law, Liberalism, and Morality, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996.
George, Robert P. “Natural Law and Positive Law”, in Robert P. George, The Autonomy of Law: Essays on Legal Positivism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996.
George, Robert P. “Natural Law and International Order”, in Terry Nardin et al. (eds.), The Constitution of International Society: Diverse Ethical Perspectives, Princeton UniversityPress, Princeton, 1998.
George, Robert P. In Defense of Natural Law, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1999.
George, Robert P. “A Clash ofOrthodoxies” , First Things 95, 1999: 33-40
Josh Dever/Robert P. George, “A Clash ofOrthodoxies: An Exchange” , First Things 104, 2000, 47.
Robert P. George and Christopher Wolfe (ed.), Natural Law and Public Reason, Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C., 2000.

Glendon, Mary Ann

Glendon, Mary Ann. Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse, Free Press, New York, 1991.

Gierke, Otto Friedrich von

Gierke, Otto Friedrich von. Natural Law and the Theory of Society, 1500—1800 . Translated by Ernest Barker. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1950.

Gregg, Samuel

Gregg, Samuel. Morality, Law, and Public Policy, St. Thomas More Press, Sydney, 2001.

Grisez, Germain

Grisez, Germain. The Way of the Lord Jesus, 3.Vols, 1983, 1993, 1997
Grisez, Germain. Joseph Boyle, and John Finnis, “Practical Principles, Moral Truth, andUltimate Ends”, American Journal of Jurisprudence 32, 1987: 99-151.

Gustafson, James M

Gustafson, James M. Protestant and Roman Catholic Ethics: Prospects for Rapprochement . Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1978.

Hare, John E

Hare, John E. God's Call: Moral Realism, God's Commands, and Human Autonomy . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001.

Helm, Paul

Helm, Paul. “Calvin and Natural Law.” Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 2 (1984): 5-22.
Helm, Paul. “John Calvin, the sensus divinitatis, and the Noetic Effects of Sin.“ International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 43, no. 2 (April 1998): 87-107.

Henry, Paul B

Henry, Paul B. “Types of Protestant Theology and the Natural Law Tradition.” Ph.D. diss., DukeUniversity, 1970.

Hittinger, Russell

Hittinger, Russell. A Critique of the New Natural Law Theory, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, 1987.
Hittinger, Russell. “The Gospel of Life: ASymposium” , First Things 56, October 1995.

Jackson, Robert

Jackson, Robert. “Opening Speech”, in Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, vol. ii,Proceedings, 11/14/1945-11/30/1945 [Official text in the English language], IMT, Nuremberg, 1947:Second Day, Wednesday, 11/21/1945, Part 20, 143.
Jackson, Robert. “Closing Speech”, in Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, vol. xix,Proceedings, 7/19-29/1946, [Official text in English language], IMT, Nuremberg, 1947: One Hundredand Eighty-Seventh Day: Friday, 7/26/1946: Morning Session: Part 2, 29.

Kuyper, Abraham

Kuyper, Abraham. De gemeene gratie . 3 vols. Leiden: Donner, 1902.
Kuyper, Abraham. Encyclopaedie der heilige godgeleerdheid . 3 vols. Amsterdam: J. A. Wormser, 1894.

MacIntyre, Alasdair

MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Notre Dame University Press, Notre Dame, 1981.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. Whose Justice? Which Rationality? Notre Dame University Press, Notre Dame, 1988.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. “The Privatization of Good”, Review of Politics 52, 1990: 320-48.

McInerney, Ralph

McInerney, Ralph. Ethica Thomistica, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C., 1982.
McInerney, Ralph. “The Principles of Natural Law.” American Journal of Jurisprudence 25 (1980): 1-15.

Juan de Mariana, S.J.

Juan de Mariana, S.J. A Treatise on the Alteration of Money , 1609.Translated by Patrick T. Brannan, S.J. In Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 5, Number 2 (2002): 523-593.

Maritain, Jacques

Maritain, Jacques. The Rights of Man and Natural Law, Gordian Press, New York, 1943/1970.
Maritain, Jacques. True Humanism, Geoffrey Bles, London, 1981.

Messner, Johannes

Messner, Johannes. Social Ethics: Natural Law in the Western World . Rev. ed. Translated by J. J. Doherty. St.Louis and London: B. Herder Book Company, 1965.

Mouw, Richard J

Mouw, Richard J. He Shines in All That's Fair: Culture and Common Grace . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. EerdmansPublishing Company, 2001.
Mouw, Richard J. The God Who Commands: A Study in Divine Command Ethics . Notre Dame: University of Notre DamePress, 1990.

Murray, John Courtney, S.J.

Murray, John Courtney, S.J., We hold these Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition, Sheed and Ward,Kansas City, 1961.

Novak, David

Novak, David. Jewish Social Ethics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993.
Novak, David. Natural Law in Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999.

Oakley, Francis

Oakley, Francis. “Medieval Theories of Natural Law: William of Ockham and the Significance ofthe Voluntarist Tradition.” Natural Law Forum 6 (1961): 65-83.

John Paul II

John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor , 1993.
Wojtyla, Karol. “The Human Person and Natural Law.” In Person and Community: Selected Essays, 181-85. Translated by Theresa Sandok, O.S.M. New York:Peter Lang, 1993.
Karol Wojtyla, “Animadversiones scripto exhibitae quoad schema declarationis de libertatereligiosia”, in Acta Synodalia Sacrosancti Concilii Oeumenici Vaticani II, Fourth Session, Volume 2, 1977,Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 1977.

Pius XI

Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Mit Brennender Sorge , 1937.

Rommen, Heinrich

Rommen, Heinrich. The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy . Translated by T. R.Hanley. Indianapolis, Ind.: Liberty Press, 1999.

Schreiner, Susan E

Schreiner, Susan E. “Calvin's Use of Natural Law.” In A Preserving Grace: Protestants, Catholics, and Natural Law, 51-76. Edited by MichaelCromartie. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company/Ethics and Public Policy Center,1997.
Schreiner, Susan E. The Theater of His Glory: Nature and the Natural Order in the Thought of John Calvin . Durham,N.C.: Labyrinth Press, 1991.

Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis Humanae, 7 December 1965, para. 2 in A. Flannery, O.P. (gen. ed.), Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, vol. 1 (rev. ed.), FowlerWright Books Ltd., Leominister, 1988.

Shawcross, Sir Hartley

Shawcross, Sir Hartley. “Opening Address”, in Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, vol. iii,Proceedings, 12/1/1945-12/14/1945 [Official text in the English language], IMT, Nuremberg, 1947:Twelfth Day, Tuesday, 12/4/1945, Part 1, 91-4; Part 6, 106.

Suarez, Francisco

Suarez, Francisco. De Legibus ac Deo Legislatore, Coimbra, 1612.

Sudduth, Michael Czapkay

Sudduth, Michael Czapkay. “The Prospects for 'Mediate'Natural Theology in John Calvin.” Religious Studies 31, no. 2 (March 1995): 53-68.

Vermigli, Peter Martyr

Vermigli, Peter Martyr. Commentary on Aristotle's Ethics. Vol. 7. The Peter Martyr Library . Translated by Emidio Campi and L. Wysocki. Kirksville, Mo.: TrumanState University Press, forthcoming.

Vos, Arvin

Vos, Arvin. Aquinas, Calvin, and Contemporary Protestant Thought: A Critique of Protestant Views on theThought of Thomas Aquinas . Washington, D.C. and Grand Rapids, Mich.: Christian University Pressand Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.

Westberg, Daniel

Westberg, Daniel. Right Practical Reason: Aristotle, Action, and Prudence in Aquinas . Oxford: Clarendon Press,1994.
Westberg, Daniel. “The Reformed Tradition and Natural Law.” In A Preserving Grace: Protestants, Catholics, and Natural Law, 103-17. Edited by MichaelCromartie. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company/Ethics and Public Policy Center,1997.
Westberg, Daniel. “The Relation Between Positive and Natural Law in Aquinas.” Journal of Law and Religion 11 (1994-1995): 1-22.
Westberg, Daniel. “Thomistic Law and the Moral Theory of Richard Hooker.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 68 (1994): Supplement, 201-14.

D. Hieronymi Zanchi

D. Hieronymi Zanchi, Operum Theologicorum , tome 4, De primi hominis lapsu, de peccato, and de legi Dei (Genevae: Sumptibus Samuelis Crispini,1617), Cap. X, “De lege in genere,” fols. 185-221. Translatedby Jeffrey J. Veenstra. In Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 6, Number 1 (2003): 305-398.