Natural law theory is enjoying a revival of interest in a variety of scholarly disciplines including law, philosophy, political science, and theology and religious studies. This volume presents twelve original essays by leading natural law theorists and their critics. The contributors discuss natural law theories of morality, law and legal reasoning, politics, and the rule of law. Readers get a clear sense of the wide diversity of viewpoints represented among contemporary theorists, and an opportunity to evaluate the arguments and counterarguments exchanged in the current debates between natural law theorists and their critics. Contributors include Hadley Arkes, Joseph M. Boyle, Jr., John Finnis, Robert P. George, Russell Hittinger, Neil MacCormick, Michael Moore, Jeffrey Stout, Joseph Raz, Jeremy Waldron, Lloyd Weinreb, and Ernest Weinrib. ~ Product Description

Table of Contents

• • List of Contributors   
• I    Natural Law, Practical Reasoning, and Morality   
  • 1    Natural Law and the Ethics of Traditions    3
  • 2    Natural Law and Human Nature    31
  • 3    Natural Law and Virtue: Theories at Cross Purposes    42
  • 4    Truth, Natural Law, and Ethical Theory    71
• II    Natural Law and Legal Theory   
  • 5    Natural Law and the Separation of Law and Morals    105
  • 6    Natural Law and Legal Reasoning    134
  • 7    The Irrelevance of Moral Objectivity    158
  • 8    Law as a Functional Kind    188
• III    Natural Law, Justice, and Rights   
  • 9    That ‘Nature Herself Has Placed in Our Ears a Power of Judging’: Some Reflections on the ‘Naturalism’ of Cicero    245
  • 10    Natural Law and Rights    278
  • IV    Legal Formalism and Legal Rationality   
  • 11    Formalism and the Rule of Law    309
  • 12    Why Legal Formalism    341
  • Index    365