Table Of ContentST. THOMAS AQUINAS AND THE
NATURAL LAW TRADITION
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS AND THE
NATURAL LAW TRADITION
Contemporary Perspectives
≤≥
edited by
John Goyette,Mark S.Latkovic,and Richard S.Myers
The Catholic University of America Press
Washington,D.C.
Copyright ©
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Li-
brary materials, .-.
°
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
St.Thomas Aquinas and the natural law tradition :contemporary perspectives /
edited by John
Goyette,Mark S.Latkovic,and Richard S.Myers.
p.cm.
Papers from a conference held in June in Michigan.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN --- (alk.paper)—ISBN --- (pbk.:alk.paper)
.Thomas,Aquinas,Saint,?–-Congresses. .Natural law-Congresses.
.Natural law-Religious aspects-Catholic Church-Congresses. I.Title:Saint
Thomas Aquinas and the natural law tradition. II.Goyette,John,–
III.Latkovic,Mark S.,– IV.Myers,Richard S.,– V.Title.
B.TS
.-dc
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
PART I.PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF
THE NATURAL LAW
. Benedict M.Ashley,O.P.,The Anthropological
Foundations of the Natural Law:A Thomistic Engagement
with Modern Science 3
response
Janet E.Smith,Character as an Enabler of Moral Judgment 17
. Ralph McInerny,Thomistic Natural Law and
Aristotelian Philosophy 25
PART II.NATURAL LAW IN A THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
. David Novak,Maimonides and Aquinas on Natural Law 43
responses
Martin D.Yaffe,Natural Law in Maimonides? 66
John Goyette,Natural Law and the Metaphysics of Creation 74
. Romanus Cessario,O.P.,Why Aquinas Locates Natural Law
within the Sacra Doctrina 79
responses
Robert Fastiggi,Natural Reason in the Service of Faith 94
Earl Muller,S.J.,The Christological Foundation of Natural Law 102
vi Contents
PART III.THE NEW NATURAL LAW THEORY
. William E.May,Contemporary Perspectives on
Thomistic Natural Law
response
Mark S.Latkovic,Natural Law and Specific Moral Norms
. Steven A.Long,Natural Law or Autonomous Practical Reason:
Problems for the New Natural Law Theory
PART IV.LAW AND POLITICS
. Christopher Wolfe,Thomistic Natural Law and the
American Natural Law Tradition
response
William Mathie,Aquinas,Locke,and Lincoln in the
American Regime
. Robert P.George,Kelsen and Aquinas on the
Natural Law Doctrine
. Russell Hittinger,Thomas Aquinas on Natural Law
and the Competence to Judge
Contributors
Works Cited
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editors want to note that a version of Russell Hittinger’s paper ap-
pears as chapter of his The First Grace:Rediscovering the Natural Law in a
Post-Christian World.A version of the paper by Romanus Cesssario, O.P.,
forms part of chapter of his An Introduction to Moral Theology.Permission
from,respectively,ISI Books and The Catholic University of America Press
to reprint these two papers is thankfully acknowledged. A version of
Robert P.George’s paper first appeared in Notre Dame Law Review and is
reprinted here with permission of the author.
The editors also want to thank the Rev.John Bustamante and Mr.Albert
A.Starkus III for providing invaluable assistance in the preparation of the
manuscript,as well as Ave Maria School of Law for its financial support,
and Sacred Heart Major Seminary for both its financial support and its
hospitality in hosting the conference upon which the volume is based.
John Goyette
Mark S.Latkovic
Richard S.Myers
vii
INTRODUCTION
We are in the midst of a great revival of interest in natural law.Much of
this thinking is traced in one degree or another to the thought of St.Tho-
mas Aquinas. In the area of moral philosophy and moral theology the
works of Father Martin Rhonheimer and Servais Pinckaers,O.P.,come to
mind.In recent years,Aquinas has also influenced the works of leading po-
litical and legal philosophers.John Finnis’s book—Aquinas:Moral,Political,
and Legal Theory—is just one example,although there is much debate about
whether Finnis’s work can be said to follow the teaching of Aquinas.That
St.Thomas’s understanding of natural law is the subject of debate,however,
testifies to the renewed interest in the Common Doctor.Indeed,the recent
attention to Thomistic natural law has sparked a greater interest in other ar-
eas of Aquinas’s thought.This is not surprising.His natural law doctrine is
embedded in a larger philosophical and theological context.For instance,
natural law theory requires a normative view of nature,one that implicitly
rejects a purely mechanistic natural science in favor of a philosophy of na-
ture that appeals to formal and final causality.An account of natural law also
requires certain metaphysical and theological presuppositions since it pre-
sumes that nature is governed by divine providence.In many ways the re-
cent interest in natural law resonates with Pope John Paul II’s Veritatis
splendor and confirms his comment in Fides et ratio about the enduring
originality of the thought of St.Thomas Aquinas.
All but one of the papers in this volume were originally presented at a
conference on “St.Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law Tradition”in June
.The conference was cosponsored by Sacred Heart Major Seminary
(Detroit,Michigan) and Ave Maria School of Law (Ann Arbor,Michigan).
Not all of the responses presented at the conference are included in the
ix
Description:A great revival of interest in natural law thinking has occurred across a range of disciplines and perspectives. Much of this recent work is traced to the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. To explore and evaluate the current revival, this volume examines the relation between Thomistic natural law and t
