Reason, Religion, and Natural Law: From Plato to SpinozaJonathan A. Jacobs This edited volume examines the ways in which theological considerations have figured in natural law theorizing, from Plato to Spinoza. Theological considerations have long had a pronounced role in Catholic natural law theories, but have not been seriously examined from a wider perspective. The contributors to this volume take a more inclusive view of the relation between conceptions of natural law and theistic claims and principles. They do not jointly defend one particular thematic claim, but articulate diverse ways in which natural law has both been understood and related to theistic claims. In addition to exploring Plato and the Stoics, the volume also looks at medieval Jewish thought, the thought of Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham, and the ways in which Spinoza's thought includes resonances of earlier views and intimations of later developments. Taken as a whole, these essays enlarge the scope of the discussion of natural law through study of how the naturalness of natural law has often been related to theses about the divine. The latter are often crucial elements of natural law theorizing, having an integral role in accounting for the metaethical status and ethical bindingness of natural law. At the same time, the question of the relation between natural law and God — and the relation between natural law and divine command — has been addressed in a multiplicity of ways by key figures throughout the history of natural law theorizing, and these essays accord them the explanatory significance they deserve. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
Ancient Origins | 29 |
Medieval Jewish Philosophy | 81 |
Medieval Christian Philosophy | 131 |
Spinoza and the Transition to Modern Thought | 199 |
| 259 | |
| 275 | |
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Reason, Religion, and Natural Law: From Plato to Spinoza Jonathan A. Jacobs No preview available - 2012 |
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accepted according action activity agent appears Aquinas Aquinas’s argues argument basis called Cambridge cause claims commandments common conception concerns consider considerations constitution Decalogue depends desire determined discussion distinction divine essay ethics example existence expressed fact final follows given God’s grace grounded Guide happiness holds human nature I–II idea important includes individual intellectual interpretation issue Jewish justice kind knowledge law theorizing legislator living Maimonides matter means medieval mind moral natural law necessary norms notes notion object obligation Ockham particular passage perfection person philosophy Plato political position possible practical principles providence prudence question rational reason refers regard relation requirements respect right reason role rule Scotus seems sense simply sources Spinoza Stoic suggests theory things thinkers thought tion tradition truth ultimate understanding understood University Press virtue whole writes