TY - BOOK ID - 3190069 TI - The disintegration of natural law theory : Aquinas to Finnis PY - 1998 VL - 84 SN - 09208607 SN - 9004109994 9004247386 9789004109995 9789004247383 PB - Leiden Brill DB - UniCat KW - Natural law KW - Law KW - Droit naturel KW - Droit KW - History. KW - Philosophy KW - History KW - Histoire KW - Philosophie KW - -Law of nature KW - Natural rights KW - Nature, Law of KW - Rights, Natural KW - -History KW - -Law KW - Law of nature KW - Natural law - History KW - DROIT NATUREL KW - HISTOIRE UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:3190069 AB - John Finnis's proposal to rehabilitate Aquinas's natural law theory as an appropriate foundation of legal and moral theory rests on the assumption that Aquinas's theory can be restored by eliminating the mistaken interpretations of subsequent natural law theorists. This book challenges that assumption. After a brief analysis of Aquinas, the theories of Suárez, Grotius, and Pufendorf are investigated. It is argued that their theories are no 'mistakes', but attempts at solving problems inherent in natural law theory. As these attempts all fail, tensions remain, and ultimately lead to the demise of the theory. Finally it is argued that Finnis, running into the same problems, cannot hope to restore Aquinas's theoretical edifice. ER -