Kant's Formula of Universal Law
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The Naturalistic Fallacy and Natural Law Methodology
The Naturalistic Fallacy and Natural Law Methodology W. Matthews Grant It is customary to divide contemporary natural law theorists-at least those working broadly within the Thomistic tradition-into two main camps. In one camp are those such as John Finnis, Germain Grisez and Robert George, who deny that a natural law ethics need base itself on premises supplied by a methodologically prior philosophical anthropol ogy. According to these thinkers, practical reason, when reflecting on experience and considering possible ends of action, grasps in a non-in ferential act of understanding certain basic goods that ought to be pursued. Since these goods are not deduced, demonstrated, or derived from prior premises, they provide a set of self-evident or per se nota primary pre cepts from which all other precepts of the natural law may be derived. Because these primary precepts or basic goods are self-evident, natural law theorizing need not wait on the findings of anthropologists and phi losophers of human nature. 1 A rival school of natural law ethicists, comprised of such thinkers as Russell Bittinger, Ralph Mcinerny, Henry Veatch andAnthony Lisska, rejects the claims of Finnis and his colleagues for the autonomy of natural law I. For major statements and defenses of this position see John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, I980); Germain Grisez, The Way of the Lord Jesus~ vol. I, Christian Moral Principles (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, I983);. Robert P. George, "Recent Criticism of Natural Law -
Jurisprudence--Philosophy Or Science Henry Rottschaefer
University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository Minnesota Law Review 1927 Jurisprudence--Philosophy or Science Henry Rottschaefer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Rottschaefer, Henry, "Jurisprudence--Philosophy or Science" (1927). Minnesota Law Review. 1465. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/1465 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Minnesota Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Minnesota Law Review collection by an authorized administrator of the Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MINNESOTA LAW REVIEW Journal of the State Bar Association VOLUI%1E 11 MARCH, 1927 No. 4 JURISPRUDENCE- PHILOSOPHY OR SCIENCE By HENRY ROTTSCHAEFER* T WOULD perhaps be practically impossible to secure for any definition of the term Jurisprudence any very general accep- tance. It is doubtful whether there exists even any general agree- ment as to what subjects are within its scope. The problem of whether, and in what sense, it is to be considered philosophy or science, cannot, however, be discussed without adopting at least some tentative notion of its meaning that shall serve as the basis for the discussion. This can be more effectively done by a general description of the types of problem usually dealt with in treatises and courses on Jurisprudence than by framing a logically correct definition that secured accuracy and completeness by resort to a convenient vagueness. Investigation discloses its use to denote lines of inquiry having little in common other than a professed interest in general questions and problems concerning law and justice. -
Kant's Categorical Imperative: an Unspoken Factor in Constitutional Rights Balancing, 31 Pepp
UIC School of Law UIC Law Open Access Repository UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship 1-1-2004 Kant's Categorical Imperative: An Unspoken Factor in Constitutional Rights Balancing, 31 Pepp. L. Rev. 949 (2004) Donald L. Beschle The John Marshall Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.uic.edu/facpubs Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Law and Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Donald L. Beschle, Kant's Categorical Imperative: An Unspoken Factor in Constitutional Rights Balancing, 31 Pepp. L. Rev. 949 (2004). https://repository.law.uic.edu/facpubs/119 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UIC Law Open Access Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of UIC Law Open Access Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Kant's Categorical Imperative: An Unspoken Factor in Constitutional Rights Balancing Donald L. Beschle TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. CONSTITUTIONAL BALANCING: A BRIEF OVERVIEW III. THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE: TREATING PEOPLE AS ENDS IV. THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE AS A FACTOR IN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS CASES V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION In 1965, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut,' invalidating a nearly century old statute that criminalized the use of contraceptives, even by married couples, "for the purpose of preventing conception."2 Griswold injected new life into the largely 3 dormant notion that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment could effectively protect substantive individual rights, beyond those specifically enumerated in the Constitution, against state legislative action. -
Western Philosophy Rev
Designed by John Cornet, Phoenix HS (Ore) Western Philosophy rev. September 2012 The very process of philosophy has been a driving force in the tranformation of the world. From the figure who dwells upon how to achieve power, to the minister who contemplates the paradox of the only truth (their faith) yet which is also stagnent, to the astronomers who are searching the stars for signs of other civilizations, to the revolutionaries who sought to construct a national government which would protect the rights of the minority, the very exercise of philosophy and philosophical thought is at a core of human nature. Philosophy addresses what are sometimes called the "big questions." These include questions of morality and ethics, ideology/faith,, politics, the truth of knowledge, the nature of reality, and the meaning of human existance (...just to name a few!) (Religion addresses some of the same questions, but while philosophy and religion overlap in some questions, they can and do differ significantly in the approach they take to answering them.) Subject Learning Outcomes Skills-Based Learning Outcomes Behavioral Expectations and Grading Policy Develop an appreciation for and enjoyment of Organize, maintain and learn how to study from a learning, particularly in how learning should subject-specific notebook Attendance, participation and cause us to question what we think we know Be able to demonstrate how to take notes (including being prepared are daily and have a willingness to entertain new utilizing two-column format) expectations perspectives on issues. Be able to engage in meaningful, substantive discussion A classroom culture of respect and Students will develop familiarity with major with others. -
Civil Disobedience
Civil Disobedience Henry David Toreau Civil Disobedience Henry David Toreau Foreword by Connor Boyack Libertas Institute Salt Lake City, Utah Civil Disobedience Thoreau’s essay is out of copyright and in the public domain; this version is lightly edited for modernization. Supplemental essays are copyrighted by their respective authors and included with permission. The foreword is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. LIBERTAS PRESS 770 E. MAIN STREET, SUITE 255 LEHI, UT 84043 Civil Disobedience / Henry David Toreau — 1st ed. First printing, June 2014 Cover Design by Ben Jenkins Manufactured in the United States of America For bulk orders, send inquiries to: [email protected] ISBN-13: 978-0-9892912-3-1 dedicated to Edward Snowden for doing what was right “Te most foolish notion of all is the belief that everything is just which is found in the customs or laws of nations. Would that be true, even if these laws had been enacted by tyrants?” “What of the many deadly, the many pestilential statutes which nations put in force? Tese no more deserve to be called laws than the rules a band of robbers might pass in their assembly. For if ignorant and unskillful men have prescribed deadly poisons instead of healing drugs, these cannot possibly be called physicians’ prescriptions; neither in a nation can a statute of any sort be called a law, even though the nation, in spite of being a ruinous regulation, has accepted it.” —Cicero Foreword by Connor Boyack Americans know Henry David Thoreau as the author of Walden, a narrative published in 1854 detailing the author’s life at Walden Pond, on property owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson near Concord, Massachusetts. -
Kant's Schematized Categories and the Possibility of Metaphysics
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PhilPapers Metaphysics Renewed: Kant’s Schematized Categories and the Possibility of Metaphysics Paul Symington ABSTRACT: This article considers the significance of Kant’s schematized categories in the Critique of Pure Reason for contemporary metaphysics. I present Kant’s understanding of the schematism and how it functions within his critique of the limits of pure reason. Then I argue that, although the true role of the schemata is a relatively late development in Kant’s thought, it is nevertheless a core notion, and the central task of the first Critique can be suf- ficiently articulated in the language of the schematism. A surprising result of Kant’s doctrine of the schematism is that a limited form of metaphysics is possible even within the parameters set out in the first Critique. To show this, I offer contrasting examples of legitimate and illegitimate forays into metaphysics in light of the condition of the schematized categories. LTHOUGH SCHOLARSHIP ON KANT has traditionally focused on Kant’s ATranscendental Deduction of the a priori categories, the significance and de- velopment of his schematized categories is attracting more recent attention.1 Despite interpretive difficulties concerning the schemata and its place in the overall project of the Critique of Pure Reason (henceforth, CPR), it is becoming clear that Kant’s schematized categories offer a key insight into the task of the Transcendental Doc- trine of Elements and nicely connect these purposes with John Locke’s emphasis on experience-grounded knowledge.2 I want to echo the judgment that this curious and somewhat interpolated doctrine is valuable for grasping Kant’s attempt at carving out a niche between doggedly empirical and rational considerations. -
1 Unit 4 Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy
1 UNIT 4 ETHICS IN THE HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY Contents 4.0 Objectives 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Epicurus 4.3 Aristotle 4.4 Thomas Aquinas 4.5 William of Ockham 4.6 Thomas Hobbes 4.7 Jeremy Bentham 4.8 Immanuel Kant 4.9 John Stuart Mill 4.10 Emile Durkheim 4.11 Let Us Sum Up 4.12 Key Words 4.13 Further Readings and References 4.0 OBJECTIVES As Sir David Ross points out, in a classical work Foundations of Ethics, written over sixty years ago, there are, broadly speaking, two approaches to ethics. This is better known as the distinction between deontological and teleological ethics. The Greek word for an ‘end’, in the sense of a goal to be achieved, is telos. Hence, ‘teleological’ ethics comprises all those kinds of ethics which see the criterion of morality in terms of whether an action fulfills the overall total end of human life in general and of moral activity in particular. The word ‘deontological’ was coined by the British moralist, Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), from the Greek word, deon, literally, that which is binding. Deontological ethics views the morally good in terms of doing ones duty. Deontology would be the science of moral duties. We shall see that these two approaches differ more in emphasis than anything else; they are not mutually exclusive water- tight compartments. 4.1 INTRODUCTION Let us start with teleological approach. Ever since Aristotle, practically the entire Western tradition of philosophizing has accepted his contention that the ultimate human end is “happiness.” Now this could be understood as either exclusively, or with a strong stress on, individual or private happiness. -
The End of Economics, Or, Is
THE END OF ECONOMICS, OR, IS UTILITARIANISM FINISHED? By John D. Mueller James Madison Program Fellow Fellow of The Lehrman Institute President, LBMC LLC Princeton University, 127 Corwin Hall, 15 April 2002 Summary. According to Lionel Robbins’ classic definition, “Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means that have alternate uses.” Yet most modern economists assume that economic choice involves only the means and not to the ends of human action. The reason seems to be that most modern economists are ignorant of the history of their own discipline before Adam Smith or Jeremy Bentham. Leading economists like Gary Becker attempt to explain all human behavior, including love and hate, as a maximization of “utility.” But historically and logically, an adequate description of economic choice has always required both a ranking of persons as ends and a ranking of scarce goods as means. What is missing from modern economics is an adequate description of the ranking of persons as ends. This is reflected in the absence of a satisfactory microeconomic explanation (for example, within the household) as to how goods are distributed to their final users, and in an overemphasis at the political level on an “individualistic social welfare function,” by which policymakers are purported to add up the preferences of a society of selfish individuals and determine all distribution from the government downwards, as if the nation or the world were one large household. As this “hole” in economic theory is recognized, an army of “neo-scholastic” economists will find full employment for the first few decades of the 21st Century, busily rewriting the Utilitarian “economic approach to human behavior” that dominated the last three decades of the 20th Century. -
Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1
VOLUME16 ER 1 SPRING19 METHOD lournalof LonerganStudies VolumeL6 NumberLSPring199S PATRICK H. BYRNE CHARLESC. HEFLINC, JR. MARK D. MORELU Editor Eilitor Editor KERRYCRoNIN ANNE E. C/DONNELL Business Manager Editoial Manager CONTENTS Fredeick E. Crcnoe. 1 Editor's lntroduction BernardI . F. Lonergan 5 "Variations in Fundamental Theology" LouisRoy, O.P. 25 Schleiermacher'sEpistemology IamesSwindal 47 The Role of Cognitive Reflection in Bernard Lonergan's Moral TheologY 67 BooK REvIEws METHzD:lournal of LonerganStudies is published by The Lonergan Institute at Boston College METHoD: lournal of Lonergan Studies aims, first, at furthering interpretive, historical, and critical study of the philosophicaf theological, economic, and methodological writings of Bernard l,onergan. Secondly, it aims at promoting original research into the methodological foundations of the sciencesand disciplines. METHoD is published twice yearly, in April and October, by The Lonergan Institute at Boston College. SuBscRtPrtoNPRICE 1998: $16.00 yearly for individuals, $28.00yearly for institutions (U.S. currency). SUBSCRIPTIoNORDERS must be prepaid in U.S. funds and should be addressed to the Business Manager, Meruoo, Lonergan Center, Bapst Library, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02767-3806. Changes of address and other correspondence related to subscriptions and advertising should be sent to the same address. MANUScRIPTSshould be sent to Mark Morelli METHoD, Deparhent of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Blvd. at W. 80th Street, Los Angeles, CA 9fiX5 or to Kerry Cronin, METHoD,Lonergan Center, Bapst Library, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167-3806.In order to facilitate an early decisioru authors should send three copies of each manurript, double-spaced throughou! including footnotes. Submissions should be accompanied by a short biographical note. -
Thomist Natural Law
The Catholic Lawyer Volume 8 Number 1 Volume 8, Winter 1962, Number 1 Article 5 Thomist Natural Law Joaquin F. Garcia, C.M. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/tcl Part of the Catholic Studies Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Catholic Lawyer by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THOMIST NATURAL LAW JOAQUIN F. GARCIA, C.M.* N THE Summer 1960 edition of The Catholic Lawyer, Dr. R. D. Lumb, a Lecturer in Law at the University of Queensland, had an article entitled "Natural Law - An Unchanging Standard?", in which he con- sidered the doctrines of two thinkers, St. Thomas and Suarez. It is the opinion of this writer that as far as Thomist Natural Law is concerned, Dr. Lumb could have omitted the question mark. It is an unchanging standard. Dr. Lumb set himself the task of ascertaining whether the traditional Thomist system takes into account the variables to be found in any system of rules or institutions. The Thomist system of law does take account of the variables but through positive law, through the application of the universal Natural Law principles to particular changing conditions. By no means does it replace positive law. Unlike 18th century rationalis- tic Natural Law which often ignored experience, which often contained personal, social and political programs, and which often was not Natural Law at all but positive law under a Natural Law label, Thomist Natural Law offers the widest scope for positive law and stresses the importance of experience. -
Laws in Metaphysics
LAWS IN METAPHYSICS BY TOBIAS WILSCH A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School—New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Philosophy Written under the direction of Jonathan Schaffer and approved by ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May, 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Laws in Metaphysics By TOBIAS WILSCH Dissertation director: Jonathan Schaffer The first two chapters of this dissertation defend the Deductive-Nomological Account of metaphysical explanation. Chapter 1 develops the Nomological Account of ground, – p1, …, pn ground q if and only if the laws of metaphysics determine q on the basis of p1, …, pn, – and the constructional theory of the metaphysical laws, – the laws are general principles that characterize construction-operations. Chapter 2 offers an analysis of the notion of determination involved in the Nomological Account: the laws determine q based on p1, …, pn if and only if q follows from p1, …, pn and the laws in the grounding-calculus. The grounding-calculus is characterized in terms of two inference rules and a suitable notion of ‘proof’. The rules are designed to analyze the input- and output notions that are intuitively associated with laws: the laws take some facts as input and deliver some other facts as output. ii Chapters 1 and 2 also go beyond the development of the positive view. Chapter 1 shows how the Nomological Account explains general patterns among grounding-truths, the modal force of ground, and certain connections between ground and construction. Chapter 2 shows why the Deductive-Nomological Account of metaphysical explanation escapes the objections to the traditional DN-account of scientific explanation, and it also outlines two views on logical explanation that are available to the proponent of the Nomological Account. -
'The Supreme Principle of Morality'? in the Preface to His Best
The Supreme Principle of Morality Allen W. Wood 1. What is ‘The Supreme Principle of Morality’? In the Preface to his best known work on moral philosophy, Kant states his purpose very clearly and succinctly: “The present groundwork is, however, nothing more than the search for and establishment of the supreme principle of morality, which already constitutes an enterprise whole in its aim and to be separated from every other moral investigation” (Groundwork 4:392). This paper will deal with the outcome of the first part of this task, namely, Kant’s attempt to formulate the supreme principle of morality, which is the intended outcome of the search. It will consider this formulation in light of Kant’s conception of the historical antecedents of his attempt. Our first task, however, must be to say a little about the meaning of the term ‘supreme principle of morality’. For it is not nearly as evident to many as it was to Kant that there is such a thing at all. And it is extremely common for people, whatever position they may take on this issue, to misunderstand what a ‘supreme principle of morality’ is, what it is for, and what role it is supposed to play in moral theorizing and moral reasoning. Kant never directly presents any argument that there must be such a principle, but he does articulate several considerations that would seem to justify supposing that there is. Kant holds that moral questions are to be decided by reason. Reason, according to Kant, always seeks unity under principles, and ultimately, systematic unity under the fewest possible number of principles (Pure Reason A298-302/B355-359, A645- 650/B673-678).