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Reason, Morality, and Law The Philosophy of John Finnis

Edited by John Keown · Robert P. George
Oxford University Press March 2013

Specifications

ISBN-13
9780199675500
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication
March 2013
Format
Hardback , 632 pages
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

  • Presents the first sustained critical engagement with John Finnis' work across moral, legal, and political philosophy, and theology
  • Includes a substantial response by Finnis himself clarifying and developing his ideas and arguments
  • Features new essays by leading philosophers such as Joseph Raz, Roger Crisp, Jeremy Waldron, John Gardner, Leslie Green, Germain Grisez, and John Haldane

John Finnis is a pioneer in the development of a new yet classically-grounded theory of natural law. His work offers a systematic philosophy of practical reasoning and moral choosing that addresses the great questions of the rational foundations of ethical judgments, the identification of moral norms, human agency, and the freedom of the will, personal identity, the common good, the role and functions of law, the meaning of justice, and the relationship of morality and politics to religion and the life of faith. The core of Finnis' theory, articulated in his seminal work Natural Law and Natural Rights, has profoundly influenced later work in the philosophy of law and moral and political philosophy, while his contributions to the ethical debates surrounding nuclear deterrence, abortion, euthanasia, sexual morality, and religious freedom have powerfully demonstrated the practical implications of his natural law theory.

This volume, which gathers eminent moral, legal, and political philosophers, and theologians to engage with John Finnis' work, offers the first sustained, critical study of Finnis' contribution across the range of disciplines in which rational and morally upright choosing is a central concern. It includes a substantial response from Finnis himself, in which he comments on each of their 27 essays and defends and develops his ideas and arguments.

Readership: Academics and advanced students in the philosophy of law, political philosophy, and theology

Table of Contents

Editors' Preface
Robert P. George: Introduction: The Achievement of John Finnis
Reasons, Goods, and Principles
1: Joseph Raz: Value: A Menu of Questions
2: Roger Crisp: Finnis on Well-being
3: John Haldane: Reasoning about the Human Good, and the Role of the Public Philosopher
4: Joseph Boyle: On the Most Fundamental Principle of Morality
5: Jeremy Waldron: What is Natural Law Like?
Intentions in Action
6: Luke Gormally: Intention and Side-effects: John Finnis and Elizabeth Anscombe
7: Anthony Kenny: Intention and Side-effects: The mens rea for Murder
8: Kevin L. Flannery SJ: John Finnis on Thomas Aquinas on Human Action
9: Cristóbel Orrego: On Moral Philosophy and Kinds of Human Actions
Justice, Rights, and Wrongdoing
10: John Gardner: Finnis on Justice
11: Matthew H. Kramer: Retributivism in the Spirit of Finnis
12: Leslie Green: The Nature of Limited Government
13: Christopher Tollefsen: Pure Perfectionism and the Limits of Paternalism
14: Jacqueline Tasioulas and John Tasioulas: "Lawful mercy" in Measure for Measure
15: Patrick Lee: The Natural Law Position on the Basis for Being a Subject of Rights
16: Gerard V. Bradley: Constitutional and Other Persons
17: Anthony Fisher OP: Bioethics after Finnis
18: John Keown: A New Father for the Law and Ethics of Medicine
Philosophy of Law
19: N E Simmonds: Value, Practice and Idea
20: Timothy Endicott: The Irony of Law
21: Timothy Macklem: Ideas of Easy Virtue
22: Julie Dickson: Law and its theory: a Question of Priorities
23: Maris Köpcke Tinturé: Finnis on Legal and Moral Obligation
24: Richard Ekins: Constitutional Principle in the Laws of the Commonwealth
25: Neil M. Gorsuch: Intention and the Allocation of Risk
Philosophy, Religion, and Public Reasons
26: Thomas Pink: The Right to Religious Liberty and the Coercion of Belief: A Note on Dignitatis Humanae
27: Germain Grisez: Natural Law and the Transcendent Source of Human Fulfillment
Reflections and Responses
28: John Finnis: Responses
Bibliography of the Published Works of John Finnis

About the Author

Edited by John Keown, Rose Kennedy Professor, Kennedy Institute Of Ethics, Georgetown University, and Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

John Keown holds the Rose Kennedy Chair in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Having graduated in law from Cambridge he completed a doctorate at Oxford, under the supervision of John Finnis. Before his election to the Kennedy Chair he taught medical law in the Faculty of Law at Cambridge, where he was a Fellow of Queens' College and of Churchill College. Professor Keown has written widely in the field of the law and ethics of medicine. His research has been cited by the Law Lords and by the US Supreme Court. His latest book is The Law and Ethics of Medicine (OUP, 2012).

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. He holds a D.Phil from Oxford, where he studied under John Finnis and Joseph Raz. He is the author of numerous books, including Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality, and In Defence of Natural Law.

 

Contributors: 
Joseph Boyle, University of Toronto
Gerard V. Bradley, University of Notre Dame
Roger Crisp, St Anne's College, Oxford
Julie Dickson, Somerville College, Oxford
Richard Ekins, St John's College, Oxford
Timothy Endicott, Balliol College, Oxford
John Finnis, University College, Oxford and the University of Notre Dame
Anthony Fisher OP, Bishop of Parramatta, New South Wales
Kevin L. Flannery SJ, Gregorian University, Rome
John Gardner, University College, Oxford
Robert P. George, Princeton University
Luke Gormally, The Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics
Neil M. Gorsuch, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Leslie Green, Balliol College, Oxford
Germain Grisez, Mount St. Mary's University (emeritus)
John Haldane, University of St Andrews
Anthony Kenny, St John's College, Oxford (emeritus)
John Keown, Georgetown University
Matthew H. Kramer, Churchill College, Cambridge
Patrick Lee, Franciscan University of Steubenville
Timothy Macklem, King's College London
Cristóbel Orrego, Pontifical Catholic University, Chile
Thomas Pink, King's College London
Joseph Raz, Columbia University and King's College, London
N.E. Simmonds, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Jacqueline Tasioulas, Clare College, Cambridge
John Tasioulas, University College London
Maris Köpke Tinturé, Worcester College, Oxford
Christopher Tollefsen, University of South Carolina
Jeremy Waldron, All Souls College, Oxford

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