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The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy
Originally published in German in 1936,
The Natural Law
is the first work to clarify the differences between traditional natural law as represented in the writings of Cicero, Aquinas, and Hooker and the revolutionary doctrines of natural rights espoused by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Beginning with the legacies of Greek and Roman life and thought, Rommen traces the natural law tradition to its displacement by legal positivism and concludes with what the author calls "the reappearance" of natural law thought in more recent times. In seven chapters each Rommen explores "The History of the Idea of Natural Law" and "The Philosophy and Content of the Natural Law." In his introduction, Russell Hittinger places Rommen's work in the context of contemporary debate on the relevance of natural law to philosophical inquiry and constitutional interpretation.
Heinrich Rommen (1897–1967) taught in Germany and England before concluding his distinguished scholarly career at Georgetown University.
Russell Hittinger is William K. Warren Professor of Catholic Studies and Research Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa.
Heinrich Rommen (1897–1967) taught in Germany and England before concluding his distinguished scholarly career at Georgetown University.
Russell Hittinger is William K. Warren Professor of Catholic Studies and Research Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa.
316 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 6, 2021
Anyone interested in natural law as a legal and political philosophy should start here. It's not light reading, but the effort is richly rewarded. Today, natural law comes in all shapes and sizes; this book will help you get your bearings.
At a basic level, this book refutes legal positivism and defends the natural law. I believe Rommen succeeded at both. He exposes legal positivism as a "tired agnosticism" and an inadequate legal philosophy. Because “[a]ll law requires a moral foundation,” and because morality and law, though distinct, can never be separated, the law must reach beyond the will of the sovereign (whether that be the majority in a democracy or the king in a monarchy). “It is from natural law, and from it alone, that man obtains those rights we refer to as inalienable and inviolable.” Rommen shows the content and limits of the best natural law tradition.
The book is split into two parts: (1) "the history of the idea of natural law" and (2) "philosophy and content of natural law." As to the first part, Rommen is an excellent guide through the historical development. He begins with Greece and Rome then moves to the Scholasticism of the Middle Ages and then on through the modern era. He highlights all the major players, identifies their contributions (or detractions), and shows how the natural law developed and divided. In Part II, Rommen clarifies many confusing areas. He also walks you through the philosophical debates undergirding the natural law and makes the issues understandable.
I particularly liked Rommen's explanation of the two major approaches to natural law. The first (the preferable one) is the older metaphysical natural law based on the twin pillars of God's essence (the order of earthly things grounded in God) and his will (God's revelation of good and evil). The second was a later development—a more rationalistic natural law. This modern concept of natural law is based in reason and human autonomy. He traces this hollow version from William of Occam to Hugo Grotius to Samuel Pufendorf and then to the various philosophers of the Enlightenment. As Rommen puts it, it was the 18th century when the Christian understanding of natural law experienced a "peculiar hypertrophy." With the enlightenment, the concept of natural law actually degenerated from "an objective metaphysical idea into a political theory." The end result was a natural law based on rationalism and individualism, detached from its metaphysical foundation (God) and from Scripture.
Another bright spot in the book is how Rommen connects a nation's social order with its legal philosophy. Rommen himself had fled Germany after the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. He knew totalitarianism first hand and saw how legal positivism conditioned Germany for such atrocities. When positivism pervades a country it should serve as a red flag. It may be that the nation has lost it way. The country may have become confused about right and wrong, or it may have become hopelessly divided on morality and given up the idea of absolute moral standards. Positivism may seem like a safe haven in such context, but it’s a false hope.
Rommen does offers real hope, however, for times such as ours when natural law has been cast out of the public square. "The idea of natural law may thus be compared to the seed which, buried under the snow, sprouts forth as soon as the frigid and sterile winter of positivism yields to the unfailing spring of metaphysics. For the idea of natural law is immortal." It is immortal because God is immortal and His word stands forever.
At a basic level, this book refutes legal positivism and defends the natural law. I believe Rommen succeeded at both. He exposes legal positivism as a "tired agnosticism" and an inadequate legal philosophy. Because “[a]ll law requires a moral foundation,” and because morality and law, though distinct, can never be separated, the law must reach beyond the will of the sovereign (whether that be the majority in a democracy or the king in a monarchy). “It is from natural law, and from it alone, that man obtains those rights we refer to as inalienable and inviolable.” Rommen shows the content and limits of the best natural law tradition.
The book is split into two parts: (1) "the history of the idea of natural law" and (2) "philosophy and content of natural law." As to the first part, Rommen is an excellent guide through the historical development. He begins with Greece and Rome then moves to the Scholasticism of the Middle Ages and then on through the modern era. He highlights all the major players, identifies their contributions (or detractions), and shows how the natural law developed and divided. In Part II, Rommen clarifies many confusing areas. He also walks you through the philosophical debates undergirding the natural law and makes the issues understandable.
I particularly liked Rommen's explanation of the two major approaches to natural law. The first (the preferable one) is the older metaphysical natural law based on the twin pillars of God's essence (the order of earthly things grounded in God) and his will (God's revelation of good and evil). The second was a later development—a more rationalistic natural law. This modern concept of natural law is based in reason and human autonomy. He traces this hollow version from William of Occam to Hugo Grotius to Samuel Pufendorf and then to the various philosophers of the Enlightenment. As Rommen puts it, it was the 18th century when the Christian understanding of natural law experienced a "peculiar hypertrophy." With the enlightenment, the concept of natural law actually degenerated from "an objective metaphysical idea into a political theory." The end result was a natural law based on rationalism and individualism, detached from its metaphysical foundation (God) and from Scripture.
Another bright spot in the book is how Rommen connects a nation's social order with its legal philosophy. Rommen himself had fled Germany after the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. He knew totalitarianism first hand and saw how legal positivism conditioned Germany for such atrocities. When positivism pervades a country it should serve as a red flag. It may be that the nation has lost it way. The country may have become confused about right and wrong, or it may have become hopelessly divided on morality and given up the idea of absolute moral standards. Positivism may seem like a safe haven in such context, but it’s a false hope.
Rommen does offers real hope, however, for times such as ours when natural law has been cast out of the public square. "The idea of natural law may thus be compared to the seed which, buried under the snow, sprouts forth as soon as the frigid and sterile winter of positivism yields to the unfailing spring of metaphysics. For the idea of natural law is immortal." It is immortal because God is immortal and His word stands forever.
May 25, 2024
The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy by Heinrich A. Rommen
This is a fascinating and illuminating text.[1] I have an extensive background in Thomism, so reading this was like visiting with a wise, older friend who can share his wisdom and connect many dots for me. However, It may also be a good introduction for those without a background in this subject. Dr. Rommen starts with the beginning and then builds from there to his conclusions in an orderly and accessible manner.[2]
Part of the interest I had in this book was its historical provenance. Dr. Rommen was a Catholic anti-Nazi. Dr. Rommen was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1897 and died in the United States in 1967.[3] He worked for Catholic Social Action from 1928 to 1933. Hitler shut down Catholic Social Action in 1933 as part of the Nazi move to shut down all independent Catholic groups. Dr. Rommen was probably a member of the Catholic Center Party, so it is not surprising that he was arrested by the Nazis at some point. He remained under police surveillance until he left Germany in 1938. While under police surveillance, he wrote this book — The Natural Law — published in 1936.
With that background, I was surprised by how little Dr. Rommen had to say about the Nazis or totalitarianism. He would have been at great personal risk if he had condemned the Nazis in his writing. Still, it seemed to me that his general attitude was that the “perennial philosophy” would survive whatever ephemeral difficulties he was going through. His point was to elucidate the ideas of that philosophy.[4]
On the other hand, the book in its entirety can be read as a condemnation of totalitarianism in both its National Socialist and Communist incarnation. The thesis of Dr. Rommen’s book is that law is law because it is founded on reason, not on will. Dr. Rommen’s bete noir is “positivism,” which asserted that law is law because it represents the will of someone, i.e., the powerful, and can compel compliance by force. The Nazis made quite a bit of the will, as did the Communists. In his conclusion, Dr. Rommen makes this point explicit:
Modern totalitarianism with its depersonalization of man, with its debasement of man to the position of a particle of an amorphous mass which is molded and remolded in accordance with the shifting policy of the “Leader,” is of its very nature extremely voluntaristic. Voluntas facit legem: law is will. How seldom the theorists and practitioners of totalitarianism mention reason, and how frequently they glory in the triumph of the will! The will of the Leader or of the Commissar is not bound by or responsible to an objective body of moral values or an objective standard of morality revealed in the order of being and in human nature. The will is not bound by the objective, conventional meaning of words or by the relation of these to ideas and things.
Rommen, Heinrich A.. The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (NONE) . Liberty Fund Inc.. Kindle Edition.
In the first part of the text, Dr. Rommen turns to a survey of history. He explains that natural law had roots in antiquity. He points to Heraclitus, who “flashed” on the “idea of an eternal law of nature that corresponds to man’s reason as sharing in the eternal logos.” Surprisingly, the Sophists contrasted their social criticism based on what is naturally right against what is “legally right.” Callicles, who was the first to advance the idea that “might makes right,” criticized that idea.[5] In contrast to Plato and Aristotle, who justified slavery, Alcidamas wrote, "God made all men free; nature has made no man a slave.” Antiquity ends with the Stoics who fashioned a robust idea of natural law that stood outside the human order and was modeled on the Logos, the ordering of reality accessed through human reason.[6]
See rest of review here - https://medium.com/@peterseanEsq/theo...
This is a fascinating and illuminating text.[1] I have an extensive background in Thomism, so reading this was like visiting with a wise, older friend who can share his wisdom and connect many dots for me. However, It may also be a good introduction for those without a background in this subject. Dr. Rommen starts with the beginning and then builds from there to his conclusions in an orderly and accessible manner.[2]
Part of the interest I had in this book was its historical provenance. Dr. Rommen was a Catholic anti-Nazi. Dr. Rommen was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1897 and died in the United States in 1967.[3] He worked for Catholic Social Action from 1928 to 1933. Hitler shut down Catholic Social Action in 1933 as part of the Nazi move to shut down all independent Catholic groups. Dr. Rommen was probably a member of the Catholic Center Party, so it is not surprising that he was arrested by the Nazis at some point. He remained under police surveillance until he left Germany in 1938. While under police surveillance, he wrote this book — The Natural Law — published in 1936.
With that background, I was surprised by how little Dr. Rommen had to say about the Nazis or totalitarianism. He would have been at great personal risk if he had condemned the Nazis in his writing. Still, it seemed to me that his general attitude was that the “perennial philosophy” would survive whatever ephemeral difficulties he was going through. His point was to elucidate the ideas of that philosophy.[4]
On the other hand, the book in its entirety can be read as a condemnation of totalitarianism in both its National Socialist and Communist incarnation. The thesis of Dr. Rommen’s book is that law is law because it is founded on reason, not on will. Dr. Rommen’s bete noir is “positivism,” which asserted that law is law because it represents the will of someone, i.e., the powerful, and can compel compliance by force. The Nazis made quite a bit of the will, as did the Communists. In his conclusion, Dr. Rommen makes this point explicit:
Modern totalitarianism with its depersonalization of man, with its debasement of man to the position of a particle of an amorphous mass which is molded and remolded in accordance with the shifting policy of the “Leader,” is of its very nature extremely voluntaristic. Voluntas facit legem: law is will. How seldom the theorists and practitioners of totalitarianism mention reason, and how frequently they glory in the triumph of the will! The will of the Leader or of the Commissar is not bound by or responsible to an objective body of moral values or an objective standard of morality revealed in the order of being and in human nature. The will is not bound by the objective, conventional meaning of words or by the relation of these to ideas and things.
Rommen, Heinrich A.. The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (NONE) . Liberty Fund Inc.. Kindle Edition.
In the first part of the text, Dr. Rommen turns to a survey of history. He explains that natural law had roots in antiquity. He points to Heraclitus, who “flashed” on the “idea of an eternal law of nature that corresponds to man’s reason as sharing in the eternal logos.” Surprisingly, the Sophists contrasted their social criticism based on what is naturally right against what is “legally right.” Callicles, who was the first to advance the idea that “might makes right,” criticized that idea.[5] In contrast to Plato and Aristotle, who justified slavery, Alcidamas wrote, "God made all men free; nature has made no man a slave.” Antiquity ends with the Stoics who fashioned a robust idea of natural law that stood outside the human order and was modeled on the Logos, the ordering of reality accessed through human reason.[6]
See rest of review here - https://medium.com/@peterseanEsq/theo...
April 23, 2024
A few weeks ago, a host on CNN (I think) said that a group she called "Christian Nationalists" (who she roundly condemned) all had the absurd belief that rights came from God and not man. I thought to myself "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." What a Christian Nationalist nutcase. Sometime ago I heard another CNN host argue the same point with a guest. When the guest quietly pointed out that rights granted by man can, by definition be taken away by man, the host (Cuomo?) fell strangely silent. In this very difficult to read book, the author takes through the history of the concept of Natural Rights from Aristotle to the Stoics and Cicero, to St. Augustine and St. Thomas of Aquinas to the enlightenment authors. While being highly critical of "Positivism" as the origin of law, he admits that Natural Law cannot be enforced without social and legal frameworks. Basically, he argues that the Natural Law is our innate moral understanding of the world around us. What C.S. Lewis called the "Ought". I'd recommend for anyone into philosophy
Want to read
November 29, 2009Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 13, as one of Nine Books on Natural Law.
July 24, 2014
Part I of the book -History of the Idea of Natural Law- was great. Part II -Philosophy and Content of the Natural Law- was quite redundant.
July 14, 2016
This book was far above my head. I plan to read again for better understanding and will likely change my rating.
December 9, 2013
One of the classics on natural law.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews