By Pauline Westerman
John Finnis's notion to rehabilitate Aquinas's average legislations conception as a suitable origin of felony and ethical concept rests at the assumption that Aquinas's thought could be restored by way of getting rid of the flawed interpretations of next common legislations theorists. This ebook demanding situations that assumption. After a quick research of Aquinas, the theories of Suarez, Grotius, and Pufendorf are investigated. it truly is argued that their theories are not any 'mistakes', yet makes an attempt at fixing difficulties inherent in usual legislation conception. As those makes an attempt all fail, tensions stay, and finally result in the dying of the idea. ultimately it truly is argued that Finnis, working into a similar difficulties, can't wish to revive Aquinas's theoretical edifice.
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Additional info for The Disintegration of Natural Law Theory: Aquinas to Finnis
Example text
This interpretation allows me to adopt a middle-course between the conflicting interpretations. It is true that natural inclinations should not be seen as examples to be copied. of is-statements into ought-state ments. An understanding of God’s style is more than following successful examples. In this sense, the contemporary natural lawyers are right to reject the kind of automatic inferences legal positivists have in mind when they speak about natural law. But Finnis and Grisez exaggerate matters by claiming that we should not rely on information about nature at all, or that nature is entirely irrelevant for practical reasoning.
His moral behaviour is not only marked by ‘well-tempered affections’ but, more importandy, by the fact that the ends he pursues are guided by practical reasoning: The natural inclination to the good of virtue is a kind of beginning of virtue, but is not perfect virtue. In fact, the stronger this inclination is, the more perilous can it prove to be, unless it be joined by right reason 51 Cf. also O’Connor, 1967, p. 28. 52 Mill, 1863, p. 8. 53 Mill, 1863, p. 9. 54 On the basis of these quotations it is not difficult to assess the relationship between good as the object of practical reasoning and good as the end of practical reasoning.
It can be argued, however, that precisely the first principle prevents Aquinas from falling into naturalistic traps. Norms are not derived from nature, but from the normative injunction, expressed in the major. Nature is not the foundation of morals, but only plays a role where it informs us about our natural inclinations. 8 Finnis and Grisez, however, are not satisfied with this line o f defense. They think that even this more modest role for nature is too large. Whether the whole theory is erected on a general ‘ought’ or not, in both cases nature would be decisive in informing our practical judgements on desirable courses of action.