Natural Right and Political Philosophy : Essays in Honor of Catherine Zuckert and Michael Zuckert

Inspired by the work of prominent University of Notre Dame political philosophers Catherine Zuckert and Michael Zuckert, this volume of essays explores the concept of natural right in the history of political philosophy. The central organizing principle of the collection is the examination of the idea of natural justice, identified in the classical period with natural right and in modernity with the concept of individual natural rights. Contributors examine the concept of natural right and rights in all the manifold and interdisciplinary dimensions associated with the Zuckerts oeuvre. Part I explores the theme of natural right in the ancient and medieval political philosophy of Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, and St. Augustine. Part II examines the early modern break from the classical tradition in the work of Montaigne, Spinoza, Montesquieu, Locke, and Hegel as well as the legacy of the modern natural rights tradition as explored by Leo Strauss and Pope John Paul II. Part III treats the theme of natural rights from the Puritans through the Founding period in such figures as Thomas Jefferson and Gouverneur Morris and up to the Progressive era with Booker T. Washington and Theodore Roosevelt. Part IV addresses questions of natural justice in literature, including works of Euripides, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Edith Wharton, and Tom Stoppard. "In this collection compiled in honor of Catherine and Michael Zuckert, the contributors address a wonderful variety of serious issues in important literary and philosophic texts. Their topics range from Plato on piety to Stoppard on socialist utopianism, and from Aristotle and Augustine to Euripides, Locke, Hegel, Shakespeare, and Booker T. Washington. The volume stands as an impressive introduction to the liberal arts and a lively introduction to many great issues of liberalism, Christianity, justice, and liberty; it is also a tribute to the Zuckerts' breadth of study, teaching, and influence." Robert K. Faulkner, Boston College Cover Half title Title page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Classical Natural Right Chapter One: Virtue and Self-Control in Xenophon’s Socratic Thought Chapter Two: The Complexity of Divine Speech and the Quest for the Ideas in Plato’s Euthyphro Chapter Three: Politics and Philosophy in Aristotle’s Critique of Plato’s Laws Chapter Four: Both Friends and Truth Are Dear Chapter Five: Augustinian Humility as Natural Right Part II: Modern Natural Rights Chapter Six: On the Treatment of Moral Responsibility in Montaigne’s Essays I.15–16 Chapter Seven: Benedict Spinoza and the Problem of Theocracy Chapter Eight: Criminal Procedure as the Most Important Knowledge and the Distinction between Human and Divine Justice in Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws Chapter Nine: Personhood and Ethical Commercial Life Chapter Ten: Reflections on Faith and Reason Part III: American Political Thought and Practice Chapter Eleven: Locke, the Puritans, and America Chapter Twelve: Thomas Jefferson, the First American Progressive? Chapter Thirteen: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of American Constitutionalism Chapter Fourteen: The Presidency in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 Chapter Fifteen: From Statesman to Secular Saint Chapter Sixteen: Theodore Roosevelt on Statesmanship and Constitutionalism Part IV: Politics and Literature Chapter Seventeen: Of “Demagogic Apes” Chapter Eighteen: The Inevitable Monarchy Chapter Nineteen: Preliminary Observations on the Theologico-Political Dimension of Cervantes’ Don Quixote Chapter Twenty: Custom, Change, and Character in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence Chapter Twenty-One: “What’s wrong with this picture?” Selected Publications by Catherine Zuckert and Michael Zuckert Contributors Index Inspired by the work of prominent University of Notre Dame political philosophers Catherine Zuckert and Michael Zuckert, this volume of essays explores the concept of natural right in the history of political philosophy. The central organizing principle of the collection is the examination of the idea of natural justice, identified in the classical period with natural right and in modernity with the concept of individual natural rights. Contributors examine the concept of natural right and rights in all the manifold and interdisciplinary dimensions associated with the Zuckerts' oeuvre. Part I explores the theme of natural right in the ancient and medieval political philosophy of Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, and St. Augustine. Part II examines the early modern break from the classical tradition in the work of Montaigne, Spinoza, Montesquieu, Locke, and Hegel as well as the legacy of the modern natural rights tradition as explored by Leo Strauss and Pope John Paul II. Part III treats the theme of natural rights from the Puritans through the Founding period in such figures as Thomas Jefferson and Gouverneur Morris and up to the Progressive era with Booker T. Washington and Theodore Roosevelt. Part IV addresses questions of natural justice in literature, including works of Euripides, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Edith Wharton, and Tom Stoppard. Ann Ward is associate professor of political science and philosophy at Campion College, University of Regina. Lee Ward is associate professor of political science at Campion College, University of Regina. Publisher's note