Natural Law and Moral Philosophy: From Grotius to the Scottish Enlightenment

Knud Haakonssen

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139172905

This major contribution to the history of philosophy provides the most comprehensive guide to modern natural law theory available, sets out the full background to liberal ideas of rights and contractarianism, and offers an extensive study of the Scottish Enlightenment. The time span covered is considerable: from the natural law theories of Grotius and Suarez in the early seventeenth century to the American Revolution and the beginnings of utilitarianism. After a detailed survey of modern natural law theory, the book focuses on the Scottish Enlightenment and its European and American connections. Knud Haakonssen explains the relationship between natural law and civic humanist republicanism, and he shows the relevance of these ideas for the understanding of David Hume and Adam Smith. The result is a completely revised background to modern ideas of liberalism and communitarianism.

‘… an interesting and important set of historical studies, written clearly and straightforwardly, resting on massive scholarship, and arguing for some challenging theses about matters that are still of lively theoretical interest.’

J. B. Schneewind - The Johns Hopkins University

‘ … What makes the volume much more than a collection of articles, however, is the trouble the author has taken to ensure that the argument moves forward from chapter to chapter. This, in turn, is supported by an informed sense of the argument’s relation to other interpretations of Scottish philosophy, as well as by an unusual grasp of the considerable amount of relevant scholarship published in German.’

Source: British Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies

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Natural Law and Moral Philosophy

From Grotius to the Scottish Enlightenment

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-viii

Acknowledgements
pp ix-x

Introduction: The Scottish Enlightenment in the history of ideas
pp 1-14

1 - Natural law in the seventeenth century
pp 15-62

2 - Natural law and moral realism: The civic humanist synthesis in Francis Hutcheson and George Turnbull
pp 63-99

3 - Between superstition and enthusiasm: David Hume's theory of justice, government, and politics
pp 100-128

4 - Adam Smith out of context: His theory of rights in Prussian perspective
pp 129-153

5 - John Millar and the science of a legislator
pp 154-181

6 - Thomas Reid's moral and political philosophy
pp 182-225

7 - Dugald Stewart and the science of a legislator
pp 226-260

8 - The science of a legislator in James Mackintosh's moral philosophy
pp 261-293

9 - James Mill and Scottish moral philosophy
pp 294-309

10 - From natural law to the rights of man: A European perspective on American debates
pp 310-342

Bibliography
pp 343-372

Index
pp 373-386

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Natural Law and Moral Philosophy

From Grotius to the Scottish Enlightenment

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