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50 Questions on The Natural Law: What It Is and Why We Need It
Charles Rice, professor of the jurisprudence of St. Thomas Aquinas for the last twenty years at Notre Dame Law School, presents a very readable book on the natural law as seen through the teachings of Aquinas and their foundations in reason and Revelation. Reflecting on the most persistent questions asked by his students over the years, Rice shows how the natural law works and how it is rooted in the nature of the human person whose Creator provided this law as a sure and knowable guide for man to achieve his end of eternal happiness. This book presents the teachings of the Catholic Church in her role as arbiter of the applications of the natural law on issues involving the right to live, bioethics, the family and the economy. Charles Rice has produced a firmly grounded and accessible handbook which touches on the most important topics regarding natural law that will benefit readers of all backgrounds.
414 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
32 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Charles E. Rice
23 books7 followersCharles Edward Rice was Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame law School. His areas of specialization were constitutional law and jurisprudence. He taught “Morality and the Law” at Notre Dame.
Professor Rice was born in 1931, received the B.A. degree from the College of the Holy Cross, the J.D., from Boston College Law School and the LL.M. and J.S.D. from New York University. He served in the United States Marine Corps and is a Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps Reserve (Ret.). He practiced law in New York City and taught at New York University Law School and Fordham Law School before joining, in 1969, the faculty of law at Notre Dame. He served for eight years as State Vice-Chairman of the New York State Conservative Party.
From 1981 to 1993, Professor Rice was a member of the Education Appeal Board of the U.S. Department of Education. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and to various Congressional committees on constitutional issues and is an editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence.
Among his books are Freedom of Association; The Supreme Court and Public Prayer, The Vanishing Right to Live; Authority and Rebellion; Beyond Abortion: The Theory and Practice of the Secular State; No Exception: A Pro-Life Imperative; 50 Questions on the Natural Law; and The Winning Side: Questions on Living the Culture of Life. His latest books are Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There?, (2nd ed.) co-authored with Dr. Theresa Farnan, and What Happened to Notre Dame?, both published by St. Augustine’s Press in 2009.
He was a faculty advisor and assistant coach of the Notre Dame Boxing Club. He and his wife, Mary, have ten children and they resided in Mishawaka, Indiana.
(Source: http://law.nd.edu/directory/charles-r...)
Professor Rice was born in 1931, received the B.A. degree from the College of the Holy Cross, the J.D., from Boston College Law School and the LL.M. and J.S.D. from New York University. He served in the United States Marine Corps and is a Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps Reserve (Ret.). He practiced law in New York City and taught at New York University Law School and Fordham Law School before joining, in 1969, the faculty of law at Notre Dame. He served for eight years as State Vice-Chairman of the New York State Conservative Party.
From 1981 to 1993, Professor Rice was a member of the Education Appeal Board of the U.S. Department of Education. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and to various Congressional committees on constitutional issues and is an editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence.
Among his books are Freedom of Association; The Supreme Court and Public Prayer, The Vanishing Right to Live; Authority and Rebellion; Beyond Abortion: The Theory and Practice of the Secular State; No Exception: A Pro-Life Imperative; 50 Questions on the Natural Law; and The Winning Side: Questions on Living the Culture of Life. His latest books are Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There?, (2nd ed.) co-authored with Dr. Theresa Farnan, and What Happened to Notre Dame?, both published by St. Augustine’s Press in 2009.
He was a faculty advisor and assistant coach of the Notre Dame Boxing Club. He and his wife, Mary, have ten children and they resided in Mishawaka, Indiana.
(Source: http://law.nd.edu/directory/charles-r...)
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 17, 2012
This book is an amazing read, I would recommend this book to anyone serious about understanding the Natural Law from the Authentically Christian perspective. Natural Law as it was intended to be, not the Enlightenment notions, but rather the Original Cause of the Enlightenment notion of Natural Law. For those who are looking to understand and rebuke (Post-)Modernity this book is one of those core books to read as well. Each chapter builds on the previous, so its important to read the whole book, to give context to its answers.
January 18, 2009
The title may seem formidable, but Rice is actually quite readable. He digs into Aquinas quite a bit (which is a good thing), but explains things in layman's terms. He goes through things like the existence of God, the Roman Catholic magisterium, morality, and the evidence and application of natural law.
February 6, 2022
Having taught about the subject in Notre Dame Law School, Charles Rice has taken common, persistent questions from his students as a method for explaining the Natural Law. The issue is significant today because of the many different approaches to jurisprudence in America. The main champion of natural law thinking is the Roman Catholic Church, so opponents are suspect of the theory. Other, more neutral thinkers (students come in all sorts) may be uninformed and curious about the topic.
Rice starts with basic and broad topics, those mentioned in the subtitle of the book. The theory dates back before the beginning of the church, mainly in ancient Greece and Rome, though elements can be found elsewhere across the globe. The reason for its ubiquity is because natural law is embedded in human nature. We have a semi-instinctual sense for what is right and wrong because we are individual persons who are part of communities. Obligations toward the community and toward one another come along with expectations from the community and from one another. To avoid the capricious whims of rulers, laws need to be crafted and written down so that they can be applied to all--all peoples in all situations at all times. Natural law depends on an understanding of human persons and human community.
The Catholic Church has a long tradition of reflecting on the nature of persons. In resolving the various controversies about Jesus Christ's true nature (How is Jesus both man and God? How do the two natures interact in the one person? What sort of union is there/can there be between the human and the divine? Etc.) and about the nature of the Trinity (How can there be three persons in one being? Etc.). A theological culmination happened with Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican theologian from the thirteenth century who integrated much of the Church's theological reflections with the newly rediscovered systematic philosophy of Aristotle. His legal reflections take in the insights of what it means to be a person, what it means to be in a community, and what it means for humans to be made in the image and likeness of God. His legal theory (which the Church has largely adopted) looks at divine law and human law, how they interact and how they are made explicit in written divine law (revelation) and written human law.
The text moves through these general notions, eventually working down to more specific issues like the role of the Church in legal matters, the need for an authentic understanding of human nature, and the need to contextualize legal systems within the larger framework of human reality, i.e. as subjects not of just the state, but also of God. Rice also gets into specifics about capitalism vs. socialism, right to life issues, marriage issues, and other details.
The text is interesting and engaging. It's not bogged down with technical detail and the sort of arcane language that will intimidate general readers. Rice is very honest and clear in presenting his arguments. Overall, he makes a great and persuasive presentation. The main drawbacks are the book's contemporary assessment of American jurisprudence and the last handful of questions. A lot has happened in the thirty years since the 1993 publication date. The concerns over abortion and euthanasia have shifted. I'm sure if the book was written in the 2020s a few questions would be dedicated to the church's positions on gender dysphoria and on racism. The final questions in the book have a lot of long quotes from church documents and theologians, making it feel more "cut and paste" than original authorship. Otherwise, it's a brilliant work.
Highly recommended--this is a great introduction to Natural Law theory.
Rice starts with basic and broad topics, those mentioned in the subtitle of the book. The theory dates back before the beginning of the church, mainly in ancient Greece and Rome, though elements can be found elsewhere across the globe. The reason for its ubiquity is because natural law is embedded in human nature. We have a semi-instinctual sense for what is right and wrong because we are individual persons who are part of communities. Obligations toward the community and toward one another come along with expectations from the community and from one another. To avoid the capricious whims of rulers, laws need to be crafted and written down so that they can be applied to all--all peoples in all situations at all times. Natural law depends on an understanding of human persons and human community.
The Catholic Church has a long tradition of reflecting on the nature of persons. In resolving the various controversies about Jesus Christ's true nature (How is Jesus both man and God? How do the two natures interact in the one person? What sort of union is there/can there be between the human and the divine? Etc.) and about the nature of the Trinity (How can there be three persons in one being? Etc.). A theological culmination happened with Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican theologian from the thirteenth century who integrated much of the Church's theological reflections with the newly rediscovered systematic philosophy of Aristotle. His legal reflections take in the insights of what it means to be a person, what it means to be in a community, and what it means for humans to be made in the image and likeness of God. His legal theory (which the Church has largely adopted) looks at divine law and human law, how they interact and how they are made explicit in written divine law (revelation) and written human law.
The text moves through these general notions, eventually working down to more specific issues like the role of the Church in legal matters, the need for an authentic understanding of human nature, and the need to contextualize legal systems within the larger framework of human reality, i.e. as subjects not of just the state, but also of God. Rice also gets into specifics about capitalism vs. socialism, right to life issues, marriage issues, and other details.
The text is interesting and engaging. It's not bogged down with technical detail and the sort of arcane language that will intimidate general readers. Rice is very honest and clear in presenting his arguments. Overall, he makes a great and persuasive presentation. The main drawbacks are the book's contemporary assessment of American jurisprudence and the last handful of questions. A lot has happened in the thirty years since the 1993 publication date. The concerns over abortion and euthanasia have shifted. I'm sure if the book was written in the 2020s a few questions would be dedicated to the church's positions on gender dysphoria and on racism. The final questions in the book have a lot of long quotes from church documents and theologians, making it feel more "cut and paste" than original authorship. Otherwise, it's a brilliant work.
Highly recommended--this is a great introduction to Natural Law theory.
May 13, 2020
Interesting content, but written in a very condescending tone. I would not hand this to anyone who questions or argues against the existence of God or the authority of any higher being. For believers, however, t gives some solid background and explanation of natural law. Written in in the 1990s, it was sad to see how prophetic people like JPII were regarding marriage, birth control, abortion, and more.
December 4, 2017
Honestly, this one was probably somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. Very informative, tons of information, but it was just a little too much for me. Made me feel like a bit of a dummy a lot of the time. Someone more philosophical than I probably would get a lot more out of this one.
December 4, 2017
It was an excellent description of natural law from the Catholic church point of view. There was great historical reference and great tie in to the modern era.
Want to read
August 20, 2024210 RIC
January 4, 2025
Incredible, thought provoking book.
Want to read
January 7, 2010Included in the "Miscellaneous" section of Fr. John McCloskey's 100-book Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews