Keywords
Law of nature
Human reason
Light of nature
Private interest
Private property
Categories
How to Cite
Abstract
The Essays on the law of nature of John Locke (1632-1704), written in 1664, unpublished until the mid-twentieth century, is a key text of the modern natural law doctrines. The article critically examines capital aspects of the Essays: the relationship between God and the natural law, and between human reason and the natural light of reason; the darkness of the natural law; the knowledge of the law of nature; and the problem posed by Carneades around the private interest as the core of law. In all cases, Locke is judged in attention to authors of the rationalist and voluntarist modern school (Hooker, Grotius, Hobbes, Culverwell, Pufendorf) and the teachings of the Catholic school represented by Holy Thomas of Aquinas, to conclude by pointing out his break with the classical and medieval tradition.
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