The Online Library of Liberty

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• Introduction
• Translator’s Preface
• Part One: History of the Idea of Natural Law
• Chapter I: The Legacy of Greece and Rome
• Chapter II: The Natural Law In the Age of Scholasticism
• Chapter III: The Turning Point: Hugo Grotius
• Chapter IV: The Natural Law In the Age of Individualism and Rationalism
• Chapter V: The Turning Away From Natural Law
• Chapter VI: The Victory of Positivism
• Chapter VII: The Reappearance of Natural Law
• Part Two: Philosophy and Content of the Natural Law
• Chapter VIII: Being and Oughtness
• Chapter IX: Intellect and Will
• Chapter X: The Structure of the Sciences
• Chapter XI: The Nature of Law
• Chapter XII: Morality and Law
• Chapter XIII: The Content of the Natural Law
• Chapter XIV: Natural Law and Positive Law
• Chapter XV: Conclusion
• Select Bibliography
• General Studies
• Ancient
• Medieval and Scholastic
• Enlightenment
• Anglo-american
• Contemporary Debates

ancient

Systematically developed theories of natural law are the work of medieval and modern minds. But the problem of natural justice was addressed by Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek and Roman Stoics. Works by Barker, Miller, Maguire, Spanneut, A. Watson, and G. Watson treat the concept of justice by nature in the philosophers of antiquity; Novak studies its development in Jewish thought. In The Natural Law, Rommen depicts the transition from classical to medieval theories as being smooth and cumulative. The essay by Koester, however, suggests that the transition was more abrupt. He argues that the introduction of biblical ideas of creation and law into the Graeco-Roman world is chiefly responsible for the concept of “natural law.” The essay by Mahoney traces some of the early theological formulations and uses of natural law.

• Barker, Ernest. “Aristotle’s Conception of Justice, Law, and Equity in the Ethics and the Rhetoric.” In The Politics of Aristotle, 362–72. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1958.
• Koester, Helmut. “The Concept of Natural Law in Greek Thought.” In Religions in Antiquity, ed. Jacob Neusner. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1968.
• Maguire, G. P. “Plato’s Theory of Natural Law.” Yale Classical Studies 10 (1947): 151–78.
• Mahoney, John, S.J. “Nature and Supernature.” In Natural Law and Theology, ed. Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick, 413–63. New York: Paulist Press, 1991.
• Miller, Fred D. “Aristotle on Natural Law and Justice.” In A Companion to Aristotle’s Politics, ed. David Keyt and Fred D. Miller. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991.
• Novak, David. “Natural Law, Halakhah and the Covenant.” Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988): 43–67.
• Spanneut, M. “Stoicism: Influence on Christian Thought.” In New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13, 719–21. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.
• Watson, Alan. “The Legacy of Justinian Natural Law.” In Roman Law and Comparative Law, 214–20. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991.
• Watson, G. “The Early History of Natural Law.” Irish Theological Quarterly 33 (1966): 65–74.