Edmund Burke and the Natural LawTransaction Publishers, 10.03.2015 - 311 Seiten Today the idea of natural law as the basic ingredient in moral, legal, and political thought presents a challenge not faced for almost two hundred years. On the surface, there would appear to be little room in the contemporary world for a widespread belief in natural law. The basic philosophies of the opposition--the rationalism of the philosophes, the utilitarianism of Bentham, the materialism of Marx--appear to have made prior philosophies irrelevant. Yet these newer philosophies themselves have been overtaken by disillusionment born of conflicts between "might" and "right." Many thoughtful people who were loyal to secular belief have become dissatisfied with the lack of normative principles and have turned once more to natural law. This first book-length study of Edmund Burke and his philosophy, originally published in 1958, explores this intellectual giant's relationship to, and belief in, the natural law. It has long been thought that Edmund Burke was an enemy of the natural law, and was a proponent of conservative utilitarianism. Peter J. Stanlis shows that, on the contrary, Burke was one of the most eloquent and profound defenders of natural law morality and politics in Western civilization. A philosopher in the classical tradition of Aristotle and Cicero, and in the Scholastic tradition of Aquinas, Burke appealed to natural law in the political problems he encountered in American, Irish, Indian, and British affairs, and in reaction to the French Revolution. This book is as relevant today as it was when it was first published, and will be mandatory reading for students of philosophy, political science, law, and history. |
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... Importance of Natural Law 3 two Natural Law and Revolutionary "Natural Rights" 14 three Burke and the Natural Law 29 four The Law of Nations 85 five Revolutionary "Natural Rights" 125 six Human Nature 160 seven Church and State 195 ...
... important part of the renewed interest in Burke's thought at mid-century, especially in the United States. The "Burke question," however, remains an open one, and the older view of Burke as opponent of the natural law remains ...
... important question. First I argue that the usual opposition between custom or tradition and natural law argument is much overstated by looking at an aspect of the natural law theory of Aquinas. I will also consider how the varying ...
... important study and, of course, the study of Burke himself. Critics of Edmund Burke and the Natural Law have objected not only to the characterization of Burke as a natural law thinker, but also to Stanlis's claim that Burke's natural ...
... to natural law. I want to suggest that an important part of the tendency to oppose those elements of Burke's thought that emphasize prescription and utility to natural law stems from a confusion about xiv EDMUND BURKE AND THE NATURAL LAW.