PHL 30000 The Natural Law
(GE-Phl-Rel) This course is an introduction to one of the central ideas in philosophy. The idea of a natural law is based on an understanding of the universe as rationally ordered (or ordered in a way open to reason) and that such an order has bearing on human action. The idea of a natural law has influenced philosophy from its earliest beginnings. It has influenced, among many others, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, Ibn Sina, Moses Maimonides, Thomas Hobbes, Hugo Grotius, John Locke, William Blackstone, Ghandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the development of the Hippocratic Oath and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The idea of a natural law also is a bridge to understanding non-western traditions where it is commonplace, such as in Buddhist, Hindu, Confucian thought. While the natural law has most generally been associated with ethics and political philosophy, and with their application, it has metaphysical and epistemological implications and implications for the philosophy of science. The course will focus on both the historical understanding of a natural law and on its applications.
Credits
3
Offered
Fall semester of even numbered years.