Natural Law and History: The Use and Abuse of Practical Reason

The new natural law theory of John Finnis and others is an ambitious but flawed reinterpretation of the natural law tradition. It dispenses with ontological or teleological commitments, appealing instead to practical reason and self-evident first principles directing one toward basic human goods as starting points for moral reflection. The new natural lawyers claim that their methods yield absolute moral norms that must never be violated, but these norms produce legalistic casuistry and undermine personal moral responsibility. Among the alternative approaches to natural law theorizing that help rectify these difficulties is the work of Jean Porter, whose interpretation of Aquinas deemphasizes natural law as a means of deriving specific universal moral principles, instead viewing the natural law as a capability for moral reflection. The work of Alasdair MacIntyre, who argues that truth emerges from within traditions, not as a universally accessible set of principles, is also valuable for this project.Such considerations direct one to Hans-Georg Gadamer, who provided an understanding of truth that is neither relativistic nor scientistic. Rather than viewing human contingency and finitude as obstacles to be overcome in the quest for truth, he regarded them as the conditions in which truth may be known. Although it is not possible to arrive at a final, universal formulation of moral truth, moral truth is not beyond our grasp. Rather, truth has the character of an encounter in the moment of moral insight or communication. Reconsidered in light of this, the natural law is best understood not as a universal set of moral principles, accessible to all reasonable people of goodwill, but the capability for true moral apprehension, communication and imagination within the contingencies and finitude of human existence.Edmund Burke is an example of a statesman who embodied this approach to the natural law. He also illustrates the too-often neglected importance of imagination to the apprehension of moral truth. While the theological side of this reconsideration of natural law remains to be explored, a beginning may be made by considering Soren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and their emphasis on the personal God of Christianity.Degree awarded: Ph.D. Politics. The Catholic University of Americ