Date of Publication: 2008-08-01

Indeed, the threats and challenges as result of multiculturalism, plural societies and global changes have generated a renewed attention to natural law theory. Clearly, it offers solid basis as possible framework to a better understanding of human goods without contradictions and partial bias.

The purpose of the present volume is to provide an overview of the history of this concept (Cicero, St. Paul, Aquinas, Melanchthon, Montaigne, Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, Burke, Kant, MacIntyre, etc.) as well as a deep understanding of ongoing research, both in Europe and in America. Furthermore, the specificity of these studies will be of particular value to philosophers, law-philosophers, historians, anthropologists, sociologists and theologians, and those concerned on such issues as the relation between law and moral norm, law and practical reason, and the presence of the idea of natural law in several prominent thinkers. It includes a selected bibliography on natural law.

The book also provides an excellent introduction to several of the major topics in natural law theory making it useful both as a reference text and as a sourcebook for academics alike.

García Martínez, Alejandro Néstor

PhD. in Philosophy. Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Navarra. Visiting Scholar at University of York (2008). Research interests: social theory, sociology of culture, consumption and lifestyles. He has published several books, chapters and articles, including: La teoría de los procesos de civilización en la sociología de Norbert Elias (Civilising Process Theory in Elias’ Sociology), Eunsa, Pamplona: 2006; Distinción social y moda (Social Distinction and Fashion), Editor, Eunsa, Pamplona: 2007; “The Proliferation of Fashion and the Decline of its Code of Meanings”, in Fashion, Image, Identity, STI, New York - Barcelona: 2007.

Šilar, Mario

Research Assistant and Assistant Lecturer in Ethics in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Navarra. Visiting Scholar at the University of Reading in 2007. Research interests: moral and social philosophy, natural law in Thomas Aquinas, the philosophy of law, and the relations between culture and philosophy. Select publications include: Metodología de investigación y técnicas para la elaboración de tesis, (Hispania: 2006) and “Trascendentales, encuentro entre ética y religión” (Eunsa, Pamplona: 2007).

Torralba, José M.

PhD. in Philosophy. Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Navarra. Visiting Scholar at Oxford University (2003) and at University of Munich (2005–2006). Research interests: moral philosophy, theory of action and theory of judgment. In addition to a number of articles on modern philosophy, he has published the following books: Acción intencional y razomaniento práctico según G.E.M. Anscombe, (Eunsa, Pamplona: 2005); La facultad del juicio en la filosofía práctica de Kant, G. Olms, Hildesheim - Zürich - New York, forthcoming; and edited Two Hundred Years Later: Returns and Re-interpretations of Kant (CAF, Pamplona, 2005).

It is a a pleasure for me to endorse the publication of this collection of essays on natural law,

In the last decades we are wittnessing a renewed interest in natural law, which, of itself, is an unavoidable concept in any history of western moral and political thought. Hence, the present collection is bound to find an echo not only among schollars but also among the general learned public, interested in ethics, moral theology, political and legal philosophy.

The present collection is remarkable not only because of the relevance of issues addressed, but also because of the variety of approaches it encompasses.

While the historical covers an extensive range of authors, from Cicero and Saint Paul, through Aquinas up to Inmanuel Kant, the section devoted to the contemporary reception of natural law theory is highly original, since it is focused on the reception on natural law thinking by contemporary philosophers and methodologies.

Likewise the systematic section constitutes a valuable attempt to reflect on the objections raised against natural law theory as well as to clarify the concepts involved in the very notion of a natural law.

The inclusion of a juridical section certainly increases the value of the collection, since it shows the practical-juridical relevance of discussions around natural law. I am sure many people will benefit from the publication of this book.

Prof. Ana Marta González, University of Navarra