Natural Law Theory Research Articles

The Crisis of Human Rights. On the Importance and Timeliness of their Catholic Critique

Human rights, as they developed after the Second World War, were intended to protect the objective goods necessary for the development of the human person. As such, they represented an attempt to restore modern politics’ access to the natural moral law. Although human rights are now treated as a “litmus test” for the legitimacy of democracy, their very nature is undergoing a metamorphosis. Along with demands for the recognition of abortion as a human right and same-sex relationships as marriage, they are even becoming a negation of a universal moral law. This article discusses, with reference to the Catholic critique of human rights, the possible reasons for the metamorphosis of human rights that is taking place before our eyes, as well as possible ways out of the “dead end” of the practical negation of human dignity.

Carl Anton Martini and Natural Law at the University of Vienna after 1752

Abstract Natural law as a discipline was definitively institutionalized at universities in the Habsburg monarchy during the reforms of Maria Theresia after 1752. The guiding principles of these reforms were set in the instruction for the chair of natural law in Vienna which was given to Carl Anton Martini. It was Catholic in conception, but it ordered the professor to draw on Grotius. Our article reconstructs the elementary structure of Martini’s theory of natural law with a focus on his conception of state. The article proves that Martini did not adopt Wolff’s conception of deducing duties and obligations from the highest principle for that would conflict with the Catholic emphasis on freedom of will. Instead of that, Martini derived duties and rights from the three God-given ends. Martini perceived the state as based on social contract, after the model of Christian Wolff. However, it seems that Martini rejected the two-contract model and acknowledged only the contract of submission as binding. Martini sought to hold the middle ground between Machiavellians arguing that the subjects lose all rights after the social contract, and radical ‘monarchomachs’ who believe that the ‘populus’ retains the supreme power. Martini argues that the ruler is limited by natural laws; the subjects retain rights to life and to property, but they are denied any right to resistance. Since Martini derived the monarch’s powers from the unlimited duty to guarantee security, he admitted even encroachments on religious freedom. He admitted coercion in matters that would threaten salus civitatis, but respected the inner libertas conscientiae. He also acknowledged a peculiar division of powers differentiating between a legislative, an inspectorial and an executive power. Even though the aim of this division was not a system of checks and balances, a precise description of the scope of the executive power helped to delimit a sphere of individual freedom.

Natural law and unwritten law in Classical Greek thought

AbstractIt is a common mistake of contemporary natural law scholarship to overestimate the ancient Greeks' contribution to a meaningful theory of natural law and to mistake an appeal to unwritten law with natural law's criteria for normative validity. This paper was designed to elaborate on two interrelated queries. On the one hand, it labours to reconstruct the ancient Greeks' understanding of a hierarchy of law, which is answered in the affirmative. On the other hand, the paper inquires whether there existed any meaningful sense of natural law in the Classical period, to which question the Archytean nexus of law and natural justice is offered as a palpable compromise.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE SEPARABILITY THESIS

Abstract One commendable aspect of the ruminations by H.L.A Hart on legal positivism, which quite a few contemporary philosophers of law have not fully absorbed, is that he recognised the diversity of the points of contention that have pitted the devotees of positivism against the devotees of natural-law theories. Whereas some present-day philosophers of law are inclined to refer to “the separability thesis” of legal positivism – with the definite article “the” as a signal that there is one defining point of dispute between legal positivists and their opponents – Hart knew that there is no single such thesis. Natural-law theorists have in fact postulated numerous connections between law and morality which putatively clinch the character of law as an inherently moral phenomenon, and legal positivists have posed challenges to each of those connections or to the claim that any unchallenged connection serves to establish the inherently moral character of law.

Defying the D2-law in fuel droplet combustion under gravity

We show both experimentally and theoretically for the first time that the widely used D2-law for describing the shrinking kinetics of a vaporizing droplet is not the true law for single burning droplets under the influence of gravity. Experimentally, the instantaneous diameter D for such a droplet is identified to obey a new kinetic law: Dn decreases linearly with time t, with the exponent n=2.53±0.30−2.69±0.14 for a variety of common liquid fuels such as alkanes and alcohols of low and high boiling hydrocarbons. Theoretically, we develop a phenomenological theory to show n=8/3≈2.67 well capturing the experimental values. The burning rate constant in this new D8/3-law no longer behaves like the thermal diffusivity α of the gas phase but turns into α3ℓ−7/3/g due to the additional inherent fluid-property-determined buoyancy length ℓ under the influence of the gravitational acceleration g. This non-square power law is purely transport determined. It is a consequence of simultaneous momentum, heat, and mass transfer resulted from buoyant convection setup by the blazing flame around the droplet, insensitive to combustion chemistry and detailed reaction kinetics. This study provides not only renewed insights into the multifaceted droplet combustion phenomenon but also possibly new paradigms for a better understanding or characterization of actual fuel droplet combustion processes in normal gravity environments.

A rational exploration of personalist bioethics: understanding its foundations

The aim of this article is to elucidate the rational foundations upon which personalist bioethics is built, thereby enhancing understanding regarding its place within the broader discourse of secular bioethics. Personalist bioethics, as a dynamic pursuit, actively engages with scientific discoveries, periodically revisiting them and considering contemporary individuals' diverse perceptions of identity and values. It integrates two foundational trunks: personalism and Aristotelian-Thomistic theology with metaphysical reference. The method employed by personalist bioethics is illustrated through triangulation: the exposition of biomedical reality, an in-depth study of anthropological significance, and the identification of values at stake. Rooted in a substantialist concept of the human person, it follows a systematic interaction of various knowledge spheres, aiming not only to describe problematic relations but also to propose prescriptive solutions. Personalism maintains that the human person is valuable for who he is and not only for the choices he makes; he is a source from which the choices proceed. According to personalist ethics, the ethical value of an act will have to be considered under the subjective aspect of intentionality, but it will also have to be considered in terms of its objective content and its consequences. The natural moral law that urges every conscience to do good and avoid evil, therefore, becomes concrete in respect for the human person in all the fullness of his values, his essence, and ontological dignity.

Transhumanism within the Natural Law: Transforming Creation with Nature as Guide

Transhumanism is an unsettling prospect for proponents of a natural law ethic. The goal of transhumanism is to fundamentally alter our human nature, while the natural law tradition relies on this nature for producing normative claims. The tension seems clear. But beyond the need to explore this underdeveloped relationship, it may be that natural law provides precisely the sort of ethical framework—a framework centered on human nature—for best evaluating transhumanism and bioenhancement technologies. Building on the work of Jason T. Eberl and Brian Patrick Green, I articulate how a Thomistic theory of natural law can guide us in a brave new world. Along the way, I note ways in which both Eberl and Green are too limiting in their interpretations of natural law, but in offering these critiques, I hope to bring out how natural law proves an invaluable guide for navigating life in creation—even a creation that has been tampered with.

Divine Obligations as Theodicy in Leibniz’s Jurisprudence and Metaphysical Theology

Leibniz’s jurisprudence and theory of natural law, which began development as early as the 1660s, has implications for his mature theodicy. In this essay, it is shown that based on an analysis of a few key jurisprudential texts, the Nova Methodus (1666), the Elementa Juris Naturalis (1670–1671), and the Codex Juris Gentium Diplomaticus (1693), Leibniz developed the legal term ‘obligatio’ from Roman Law and the Spanish Jesuit traditions, but that his usage shifted at different stages of his life. Nevertheless, these views are compatible and provide a grounding for his philosophical optimism. It is further shown that Leibniz took the concept of obligatio to provide something like legal standing (locus standi or klagebefugnis) so that rational minds can undergo the theodicean project, that is, because God has obligations to substances, they can seek an explanation for their suffering from God. And because human reason is analogous to divine reason, according to Leibniz, God provides the explanation that the actual world is the best possible world. The goal, then, is to prove that we should take Leibniz’s insights into jurisprudence more seriously, at least in part, because they help to explain his philosophical optimism.

The European far right and human rights language

ABSTRACT In recent years, the European far-right movements have increasingly employed the language and terminology of human rights, even though resistance towards international influences continues to be one of their most consistent traits. The purpose of this article is to analyse how authors in the European far right use human rights language and concepts and what it reveals of their views on human rights. In this analysis, based on publications by major European parties, organisations, and activists in the far-right movement mainly in France, Germany and Finland, we argue that while the use of human rights language is primarily instrumental, it also utilises surprising remnants from the history of human rights thought, such as the relative natural law theory. In many cases, the observed uses are thinly veiled attempts to pass racism as legitimate rights claims, but others are more creative, for example when the criticism of Western bias in human rights is turned into an argument for white supremacy, repurposing the language of minority protections.

A critical evaluation of “paradoxical” leadership: (new) natural law theory, Aristotelian “heresy” and the mending of nominalist bifurcations

ABSTRACT In this essay, I evaluate the theory that leadership ought to be ”paradoxical”, meaning that leaders should embrace contradictions and incoherent norms. The idea of a paradoxical practice is trending in both education leadership and policy studies (as well as in business leadership studies), but in fact the literature on education (in Singapore and elsewhere) suggests that this is not helpful for arresting the terrors of performativity, and that there are examples of high performing education systems flourishing better through being consistent with core values. I detail how paradoxical leadership makes it difficult for defending ethical practice and how their rejection and shaming of the Aristotelian principle of non-contradiction risks effecting a woke culture that represses criticality. I argue that all this is part of an ongoing nominalist trend (the bifurcation between nature and thinking) in the history of ideas, only that we are at a philosophical tipping point. I explore the alternative, which takes contradictions seriously and irons out inconsistencies, and pre-empt objections internal to the Aristotelian tradition, and also offer an interpretation of James March’s influential theory of leadership to show that if read carefully, the theory does not fit well with the paradoxes approach.

A Relational View of Homosexuality

Abstract Homosexuality is criminalised and socially condemned in many places in Africa. This fact seems to suggest that African moral philosophy would likely render homosexuality immoral. Indeed, some of the African philosophical literature tries to suggest that homosexuality is morally wrong. Contrasting with this view, in this article, I will show that Afro-communitarian ethics implies that homosexuality is morally permissible and, indeed, can be an excellent way to promote social harmony. I defend this theory by drawing out the implications of social harmony, and also respond to potential objections from African intellectuals and new natural law theorists.

Three Different Currents of Thought to Conceive Justice: Legal, and Medical Ethics Reflections

The meaning of justice can be defined according to a juridical, human, theological, ethical, biomedical, or social perspective. It should guarantee the protection of life and health, personal, civil, political, economic, and religious rights, as well as non-discrimination, inclusion, protection, and access to care. In this review, we deal with three theoretical concepts that define justice in all its aspects. (1) The utilitarian theory, which justifies moral statements on the basis of the evaluation of the consequences that an action produces, elaborating a pragmatic model of medical science. (2) The libertarian theory, which considers freedom as the highest political aim, thus absolutizing the rights of the individual; here, the principle of self-determination, with respect to which the principle of permission/consent is the fundamental presupposition, plays a central role in the definition of the person. (3) The iusnaturalist theory, in which man’s moral freedom is identified with the ability to act by choosing what the intellect indicates to him as good; the natural moral law that drives every conscience to do good is therefore realized in respect for the person in the fullness of his rights. In conclusion, different forms and conceptions of justice correspond to different organizations of society and different ways of addressing ethical issues in the biomedical domain.

Moral Position In Legal Science: An Analysis of The Dynamics of Legal Science Development

The emphasis of moral principle lies in the beneficial purpose of law subjected to lengthy problems regarding the placement. Different analyses have been carried out relating to the effects of natural law and positivism in legal science. Therefore, this study aims to achieve an understanding of the position of moral principle in legal science in the dynamics of legal development. The results show that moral principle assumes a significant role in legal science in the context of natural law theory. Conversely, positivism suggests the purification of legal constructs from moral components, emphasizing the need to remain detached from moral principles.

Moses Mendelssohn and the Jewish Questions of Modern Natural Law

Abstract In the late eighteenth century, Johann David Michaelis criticized Moses Mendelssohn for bringing what Michaelis termed his native Jewish tradition into his thinking on universal matters. Yet leaning on Jewish sources had been a key feature of European natural law thinking from the onset of modernity. In this article, the author reads Mendelssohn’s natural law theory as conversant with early modern legal thought that was scrutinized in the enlightenment, shedding new light on Mendelssohn’s innovations and on what Mendelssohn was up against when he offered natural law foundations for toleration. The author finds that arguments for and against toleration of the Jews from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth were tied to the question of whether Judaism contained universal laws or laws particular to the Jews, and suggests that Mendelssohn’s approach, while rejected from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, may be newly relevant today.

Universal Laws, Nature Laws, God Laws, Spiritual, Philosophical & Science Laws: Origin, Rationales, Prophesy, and Human Well-Being

The natural world is built and operated by universal laws. Stephen Hawking prophecy states that by understanding the working of the universe, you will know and understand the mind of God. This paper focuses on analyzing different universal laws and their origin, rationale, and prophecy. This research is a framework of the science, rationale, vision, and metaanalysis of universal laws. The findings revealed that natural law, in philosophy, is a system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and is derived from nature. Natural law theory is concerned with two basic principles, which are morality and legality. God's eternal law is not fully cognizable by humans in His everlasting plan. The scientific laws of nature consist of many principles which were earlier assumed as Nature’s laws. The first spiritual law of success is pure potentiality which says humans are pure consciousness. The 12 universal laws are inherent and unchanging principles that ancient people intuitively discovered through their fact-finding efforts. The law of Newton’s gravity is considered “universal” and it is applicable on all bodies having a mass (sun, moon, earth, apple, etc.). The 7 cosmic laws are fundamental principles that control everyone and everything. God designed nature’s laws and blessed humans with rationality to understand them. Also, God's eternal law can be discovered by observing the behaviour of animals and planets, as well as understanding how people should behave.

Legal Transformation in the Digital Age: A Comparative Study of the Impact of New Regulations in the Digital Economy

<p class="TableParagraph"><em>The research aim is to analyze the impact of new regulations in the digital economy through a comparative study. This research uses the content analysis method to understand how these regulations affect legal structures and business practices. The digital age has brought significant changes to the global economy, triggering the need for regulations that can support innovation while protecting the rights of users. New regulations in the digital economy often relate to data privacy, cybersecurity and intellectual property rights. Through content analysis, this research evaluates how different countries are responding to these challenges through their legal frameworks. The research is also grounded in natural law theory, coined by Hugo Grotius, who argued that laws should reflect universal and unchanging moral principles. The results show that new regulations in the digital economy have a significant impact on legal protection for consumers. This protection effort is carried out through preventive, repressive, protective, solution, and alternative approaches. Dispute resolution through both litigation and non-litigation channels shows that legal protection can be guaranteed by the existence of regulations governing electronic commerce, especially on e-commerce platforms. By applying these principles, this research aims to provide recommendations for the establishment of regulations that are not only effective but also fair and sustainable.</em></p><p class="TableParagraph"><em> </em></p>

US Human Rights Concept

The article examines the main stages in the development of the concept of human rights in the United States of America. The evolution of the traditional concept of human rights is traced, starting with the positions of the «Founding Fathers» of the United States. A classification of decisions of the US Supreme Court made on the basis of the natural law theory of constitutional interpretation is presented. The significant influence of the theory of natural law on the formation of American constitutionalism and, especially, judicial practice is noted. The features of the modernist concept of human rights in the United States, which is based on the idea of protecting private property as the foundation of individual freedom, are analyzed. The conclusion is formulated about the absence in the modern US constitutional doctrine of recognition of the fundamental importance of rights of a social, economic and cultural nature. The features of the official «progressive agenda», mandatory for the whole world, are revealed, which consists of the following provisions: desovereignization, antinatalism, and a negative attitude towards the family, in the traditional sense. The article presents a general description of the American concept of human rights.

Political Natural Law and Human Dignity: an Empiricist Perspective

Abstract This article argues that observing natural laws is crucial for preserving peace in nations across the world. Traditional natural law theories are, however, flawed and outdated. To truly modernize natural law, we propose a new concept, “political natural law” (PNL), which has the capacity of curing these flaws. We then substantiate the PNL s from the result of analyzing the institutional causes of civil wars since 1800, and link them to human dignity. Drawing partly on the Confucian scholarship on natural law and human dignity, we argue that the mutual respect of human dignity is essential to building and sustaining global peace.

Public Reason Naturalism

Abstract I will argue that the natural law theory of morality, when extended into a political theory of justice, results in a picture of political justice much like that of public reason liberalism. However, natural law political theory, I argue, need not entail a natural law theory of morality. While facts about what societies ought to do supervene upon facts about what is good for human beings, there are distinct goods involved and distinct reasons for action. Rather, considerations taken from the common good as guiding public policy results in a two-layer approach to public reasonability, resembling features of both consensus and convergence accounts of public reason. Consequently, the differences between natural law and classical public reason liberalism are significant but are not as significant as might have otherwise appeared. In fact, natural law political theory might be a more consistent development of the idea of a public reason than those of classical liberalism.

Концепт естественного права в контексте теории антисистем

The article offers and justifies a new version of the origin of the theory of natural law. The authors suggest con-sidering the ideological origins of the concept of human rights in the context of the theory of anti-systems. After all, the ideological basis of this concept both in antiquity and in the Middle Ages was precisely heretical anti-systemic movements. Analyzing the concept of natural law, the authors show that this concept is revolutionary not only in social, but also in structural terms, since its position calls into question the structural matrix of civiliza-tion, all cultural and historical institutions. Thus, this concept represents a structural revolution against a formal-ized cultural-historical existence. Besides, the article reveals the relationship between the ideology of natural law and modern “eco-ideology”, attempts to introduce digital slavery and esoterism. It justifies the idea that the concept of “natural man”, as the basis of natural law, is an esoteric mechanism when, without publicly renounc-ing the content of a cultural tradition, the main worldview issues are interpreted directly opposite to this tradition.