The Cambridge Companion to

Natural Law Jurisprudence

This collection provides an intellectually rigorous and accessible

overview of key topics in contemporary natural law jurisprudence, an
influential yet frequently misunderstood branch of legal philosophy.
It fills a gap in the existing literature by bringing together leading
international experts on natural law theory to provide perspectives on
some of the most pressing issues pertaining to the nature and moral
foundations of law. Themes covered include the history of the natural
law tradition, the natural law account of practical reason, normativity
and ethics, natural law approaches to legal obligation and authority
and constitutional law. Creating a dialogue between leading figures in
natural law thought, this Companion is an ideal introduction to the
main commitments of natural law jurisprudence, while also offering
a concise summary of developments in current scholarship for more
advanced readers.

George Duke is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University. His research

interests include the political and legal philosophy of Aristotle and
natural law jurisprudence. He has published on these themes in
journals such as Legal Theory, The American Journal of Jurisprudence,
Law and Philosophy, The British Journal for the History of Philosophy,
Political Studies, The Review of Metaphysics and The Review of Politics.

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and

Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and
Institutions at Princeton University. He is also the Herbert W. Vaughan
senior fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and frequently a visiting
professor at Harvard Law School. He has served on the US Commission
on Civil Rights, the US President’s Council on Bioethics and as
Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom,
and has been honoured with the US Presidential Citizens Medal and the
Honorific Medal for Human Rights of the Republic of Poland.

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 Cambridge Companions to Law

Cambridge Companions to Law offers thought-provoking introductions to

different legal disciplines, invaluable to both the student and the scholar.
Edited by world-leading academics, each offers a collection of essays
which both map out the subject and allow the reader to delve deeper.
Critical and enlightening, the Companions library represents legal
scholarship at its best.

The Cambridge Companion to European Private Law

Edited by Christian Twigg-Flesner
The Cambridge Companion to International Law
Edited by James Crawford and Martti Koskenniemi
The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law
Edited by Mauro Bussani and Ugo Mattei
The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law
Edited by Conor Gearty and Costas Douzinas

The Cambridge Companion to Public Law

Edited by Mark Elliott and David Feldman
The Cambridge Companion to International Criminal Law
Edited by William A. Schabas
The Cambridge Companion to Natural Law Jurisprudence
Edited by George Duke and Robert P. George

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 The Cambridge Companion to
Natural Law Jurisprudence

Edited by

George Duke
Deakin University
Robert P. George
Princeton University

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107120518
DOI: 10.1017/9781316341544
© Cambridge University Press 2017
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2017
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc.
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Duke, George, 1974– editor. | George, Robert P., editor.
Title: The Cambridge companion to natural law jurisprudence / edited by
George Duke, Deakin University, Robert P. George, Princeton University.
Description: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2017. | Series: Cambridge
companions to law | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016053732 | ISBN 9781107120518 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Natural law.
Classification: LCC K460 .C36 2017 | DDC 340/.112–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016053732
ISBN 978-1-107-12051-8 Hardback
ISBN 978-1-107-54646-2 Paperback
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