Reason, Morality, and Law: The Philosophy of John Finnis

by John Keown (Editor), Robert P. George (Editor)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198738107
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/29/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	628
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

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

John Keown DLC holds the Rose Kennedy Chair in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, one of the world's premier centres of research into ethics. Having graduated in law from Cambridge he took a doctorate at Oxford and was then called to the Bar of England and Wales. Before being elected to the Rose Kennedy Chair he taught the law and ethics of medicine 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 distinguished bodies worldwide, including the United States Supreme Court, the Law Lords, the Court of Appeal, the House of Commons, the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics, and the Australian Senate, one of several bodies before which he has been invited to testify. He has served as a member of the ethics committee of the British Medical Association.

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.

Table of Contents

Editors' PrefaceIntroduction: The Achievement of John Finnis, Robert P. GeorgeReasons, Goods, and Principles1. Value: A Menu of Questions, Joseph Raz2. Finnis on Well-being, Roger Crisp3. Reasoning about the Human Good, and the Role of the Public Philosopher, John Haldane4. On the Most Fundamental Principle of Morality, Joseph Boyle5. What is Natural Law Like?, Jeremy WaldronIntentions in Action6. Intention and Side-effects: John Finnis and Elizabeth Anscombe, Luke Gormally7. Intention and Side-effects: The mens rea for Murder, Anthony Kenny8. John Finnis on Thomas Aquinas on Human Action, Kevin L. Flannery SJ9. On Moral Philosophy and Kinds of Human Actions, Cristobel OrregoJustice, Rights, and Wrongdoing10. Finnis on Justice, John Gardner11. Retributivism in the Spirit of Finnis, Matthew H. Kramer12. The Nature of Limited Government, Leslie Green13. Pure Perfectionism and the Limits of Paternalism, Christopher Tollefsen14. "Lawful mercy" in Measure for Measure, Jacqueline Tasioulas and John Tasioulas15. The Basis for Being a Subject of Rights: The Natural Law Position, Patrick Lee16. Constitutional and Other Persons, Gerard V. Bradley17. Bioethics After Finnis, Anthony Fisher OP18. A New Father for the Law and Ethics of Medicine, John KeownPhilosophy of Law19. Value, Practice and Idea, N E Simmonds20. The Irony of Law, Timothy Endicott21. Ideas of Easy Virtue, Timothy Macklem22. Law and its Theory: a Question of Priorities, Julie Dickson23. Finnis on Legal and Moral Obligation, Maris Kopcke Tinture24. Constitutional Principle in the Laws of the Commonwealth, Richard Ekins25. Intention and the Allocation of Risk, Neil M. GorsuchPhilosophy, Religion, and Public Reasons26. The Right to Religious Liberty and the Coercion of Belief: A Note on Dignitatis Humanae, Thomas Pink27. Natural Law and the Transcendent Source of Human Fulfillment, Germain GrisezReflections and Responses28. Responses, John FinnisBibliography of the Published Works of John Finnis

Editorial Reviews

"This is no ordinary Festschrift. Comprising twenty-eight contributions and one hundred and twenty-five pages of detailed responses from Finnis,...Reason, Morality, and Law is a decidedly weighty tome. And if we include the publication in 2011 of the second edition of Natural Law and Natural Rights, and then in 2013 the five volumes of Finnis's collected essays, Finnis's position as the most important contemporary defender of the natural law tradition has now been powerfully, and deservedly, established for some years to come... Reason, Morality, and the Law is a superb achievement, and a fitting tribute to this most inestimable of men."- Raymond Hain, Providence College, Nova et Vetera

From the Publisher