The Principles of Natural Law: In Which the True Systems of Morality and Civil Government Are Established, and the Different Sentiments of Grotius, Hobbes, Puffendorf, Barbeyrac, Lo

by Burlamaqui, J. J.

• ISBN13: 9781584772958
• ISBN10: 1584772956
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-01
• Publisher: Lawbook Exchange Ltd

Table of Contents

PART I. General Principles of Right
Of the nature of man considered with regard to right: of the understanding, and whatever is relative to this faculty	1	(12)
Design of this work: what is meant by natural law
We must deduce the principles of this science from the nature and state of man	2	(1)
Definition of man; what his nature is	3	(1)
Different actions of man: which are those that are the object of right?	4	(1)
Principal faculties of the soul	5	(1)
The understanding; truth
Principle. The understanding is naturally right	6	(1)
In what manner perception, attention, and examen, are formed	7	(1)
Evidence; Probability	8	(1)
Of the senses, the imagination, and memory	9	(1)
The perfection of the understanding consists in the knowledge of truth. Two obstacles to this perfection, ignorance and error
Different sorts of error. 1. Error of the law, and of the fact. 2. Voluntary and involuntary. 3. Essential and accidental	10	(3)
Continuation of the principles relative to the nature of man. Of will and liberty	13	(20)
The will. What happiness and good consist in
Instincts, inclinations, passions	14	(1)
Liberty: in what it consists	15	(1)
Use of liberty in our judgments in respect to truth	16	(2)
Liberty has its exercise, even in regard to things that are evident	18	(2)
Objection	19	(1)
Answer
Use of liberty with regard to good and evil
With regard to indifferent things	20	(1)
Why the exercise of liberty is restrained to non-evident truths, and particular goods	21	(2)
The proof of liberty drawn from our inward sense, is superior to any other	23	(3)
How comes it that liberty has been contested	26	(1)
Actions are voluntary, and involuntary; free, necessary, and constrained	27	(3)
Our faculties help one another reciprocally	30	(1)
Of reason and virtue
Causes of the diversity we observe in the conduct of men	31	(1)
Reason has it always in her power to remain mistress	32	(1)
That man thus constituted, is a creature capable of moral direction, and accountable for his actions	33	(3)
Man is capable of direction in regard to his conduct
He is accountable for his actions: they can be imputed to him	34	(1)
Principle of imputability. We must not confound it with imputation	35	(1)
Further inquiry into what relates to human nature, by considering the different states of man	36	(8)
Definition. Division
Primitive and original states	37	(1)
1. State of man with regard to God
2. State of society	37	(1)
3. State of solitude. 4. Peace: war	38	(1)
State of man with regard to the goods of the earth	39	(1)
Adventitious states. 1. Family. 2. Marriage	40	(1)
Weakness of man at his birth. Natural dependance of children on their parents
The state of property	41	(1)
Civil state and government
The civil state and property of goods give rise to several adventitious states	42	(1)
True idea of the natural state of man
Difference between original and adventitious states	43	(1)
That man ought to square his conduct by rule; the method of finding out this rule; and the foundations of right in general	44	(8)
Definition of a rule
It is not convenient, that man should live without a rule	45	(1)
A rule supposes an end, an aim	46	(1)
The ultimate end of man is happiness
`Tis the system of providence	47	(1)
The desire of happiness is essential to man, and inseparable from reason
Self-love is a principle that has nothing vicious in itself	48	(1)
Man cannot attain to happiness but by the help of reason	49	(1)
Reason is therefore the primitive rule of man	50	(1)
What is right in general?	51	(1)
General rules of conduct prescribed by reason. Of the nature and first foundations of obligation	52	(15)
Reason gives us several rules of conduct
First rule. To make a right distinction of goods and evils	53	(2)
Second rule. True happiness cannot consist in things that are inconsistent with the nature and state of man	55	(1)
Third rule. To compare the present and the future together	56	(1)
Fourth rule
Fifth rule
Sixth rule. To give the goods that excel most, the preference	57	(1)
Seventh rule. In some cases possibility only, and by a much stronger reason probability, ought to determine us	58	(1)
Eighth rule. To have a relish for true goods	59	(1)
Our mind acquiesces naturally to these maxims; and they ought to influence our conduct	60	(1)
Of obligation generally considered	61	(2)
Obligation may be more or less strong	63	(1)
Dr. Clark's opinion on the nature and origin of obligation	63	(1)
Monsieur Barbeyrac's opinion concerning this subject	64	(2)
Two sorts of obligations; internal and external	66	(1)
Of right considered as a faculty, and of the obligation thereto corresponding	67	(9)
The word right is taken in several particular senses, which are all derived from the general notion
Definition of right, considered as a faculty	68	(1)
We must take care to distinguish between a simple power, and right	69	(1)
General foundation of the rights of man	70	(1)
Right produces obligation
Right and obligation are two relative terms	71	(2)
At what time man is susceptible of right and obligation
Several sorts of rights and obligations	73	(3)
Of law in general	76	(5)
As man by nature is a dependent being, the law ought to be the rule of his actions
Definition of law	78	(1)
Why law is defined a rule prescribed
What is understood by a sovereign, sovereignty, and the right of commanding	79	(2)
Of the foundation of sovereignty, or the right of commanding	81	(17)
First remark. The question is, in regard to a necessary sovereignty
Second remark. There is neither sovereignty nor necessary dependance between beings perfectly equal	82	(1)
Different opinions on the origin and foundation of sovereignty	83	(1)
Examen of those opinions. 1. The sole superiority of power is insufficient to found a right of commanding	84	(2)
2. Nor the sole excellence or superiority of nature	86	(1)
3. Nor the sole quality of creator	87	(2)
True foundation of sovereignty; power, wisdom, and goodness joined together	89	(1)
Explication of our opinion	90	(2)
We must not separate the qualities which form the right of sovereignty	92	(2)
Definition of subjection. Foundation of dependance	94	(1)
The obligation produced by law, is the most perfect that can be imagined	95	(1)
Obligation is internal and external at the same time	96	(2)
Of the end of laws; of their characters, differences, &c	98	(27)
Of the end of laws, either in regard to the subjects, or in respect to the sovereign
The end of laws is not to lay a restraint upon liberty, but to direct it in a proper manner	99	(1)
Examen of what Puffendorf says concerning this subject	100	(1)
Of the distinction of law into obligatory, and that of simple permission	101	(1)
The opinion of Grotius and Puffendorf upon this subject
The rights which men enjoy in society, are founded on this permission	102	(1)
The matter of laws	103	(1)
Internal conditions of a law; that it be possible, useful, and just
External conditions of a law; that it be made known; and accompanied with a sanction	104	(2)
Whether the promise of recompence is equally capable, as the commination of punishment, to constitute the sanction of law	106	(1)
Who those are whom the law obliges. Of dispensation	107	(1)
Of the duration of laws, and how they are abolished	108	(1)
How many sorts of laws	109	(2)
Of the morality of human actions
In what the morality of actions consists	111	(1)
Actions are 1. either commanded, or forbidden, or permitted
Remarks on permitted actions	112	(1)
2. Actions are good or just, bad or unjust, and indifferent	113	(1)
Conditions requisite to render an action morally good	114	(1)
Of the nature of bad or unjust actions	115	(1)
All just actions are equally just; but unjust actions are more or less unjust	116	(1)
Essential character of unjust actions	117	(1)
Of indifferent actions
Division of good and bad actions	118	(1)
Of justice and its different kinds	119	(2)
Of the relative estimations of moral actions	121	(1)
Morality is applicable to persons as well as actions	122	(3)
PART II. Of the Law of Nature
In what the law of nature consists, and that there is such a thing. First considerations drawn from the existence of God and his authority over us	125	(12)
Subject of this second part
Whether there are any natural laws	126	(1)
Of the existence of God	127	(1)
First proof. The necessity of a self-existent and intelligent being
We must not seek for this being in this universe	128	(1)
Second proof. The necessity of a first mover	129	(1)
Third proof. The structure, order, and beauty of the universe	130	(1)
The world is not the effect of chance	131	(1)
It is not eternal	132	(1)
God has a right to prescribe laws to man	133	(1)
This is a consequence of his power, wisdom, and goodness	134	(3)
That God, in consequence of his authority over us has actually thought proper to prescribe to us laws or rules of conduct	137	(8)
God exercises his authority over us, by prescribing laws to us
First proof, drawn from the very relations of which we have been speaking
Second proof, drawn from the end which God proposed to himself with respect to man, and from the necessity of moral laws, to accomplish this end	138	(1)
Confirmation of the preceding proofs	139	(2)
Third proof, drawn from the goodness of God	141	(1)
Fourth proof, drawn from the principles of conduct which we actually find within ourselves	142	(1)
These principles are obligatory of themselves	143	(1)
They are obligatory by the divine will, and thus become real laws	144	(1)
Of the means by which we discern what is just and unjust, or what is dictated by natural law; namely, moral instinct, and reason	145	(8)
First means of discerning moral good and evil, namely, instinct or inward sense
Examples	146	(1)
Whence these sensations proceed
Of what use they are to us	147	(1)
Objection: these sensations are not found in all men. Answer: 1. We find some traces of them among the most savage people	148	(1)
2. We must not distinguish between the natural state of man, and that of his depravation	149	(1)
3. If there be any monsters in the moral order, they are very rare, and no consequence can be drawn from them
Second means of discerning moral good and evil; which is reason	150	(1)
First advantage of reason in respect to instinct; it serves to verify it	151	(1)
Second advantage: it unfolds the principles, and from thence infers proper consequences
Third advantage: reason is an universal means, and applicable to all cases	152	(1)
Of the principles from whence reason may deduce the law of nature	153	(28)
From whence are we to deduce the principles of the law of nature?
Preliminary remarks. What we understand by principles of natural law	154	(2)
Character of those principles
Whether we ought to reduce the whole to one single principle	156	(2)
Man cannot attain to the knowledge of natural laws, but by examining his nature, constitution, and state
Three states of man	158	(1)
Religion: principle of the natural laws, that have God for their object
Consequences of this principle	159	(2)
Self-love: the principle of those natural laws which concern ourselves	161	(1)
Natural laws derived from this principle	162	(1)
Man is made for society	163	(1)
1. Society is absolutely necessary for man	164	(2)
Man by his constitution is very fit for society	166	(1)
3. Our natural inclinations prompt us to look out for society	167	(1)
Sociability. Principles of natural laws relative to other men	168	(1)
Natural laws which flow from sociability	169	(2)
The public good ought always to be the supreme rule	170	(1)
The spirit of sociability ought to be universal
To observe a natural equality
To preserve a benevolence even towards our enemies. Self-defence is permitted, revenge is not
Particular consequences	171	(2)
These three principles have all the requisite characters	173	(1)
Remarks on Pussendorf's system	174	(1)
The critics have carried their censures too far against him in this respect
Of the connexion between our natural duties	175	(1)
Of the opposition that sometimes happens between these very duties	176	(2)
Natural law obligatory, and natural law of simple permission. General principle of the law of permission	178	(1)
Two species of natural law; one primitive, the other secondary	179	(2)
That natural laws have been sufficiently notified; of their proper characters, the obligation they produce, &c	181	(12)
God has sufficiently notified the laws of nature to man
Men may assist one another in this respect
The manner in which the principles of the laws of nature have been established, is a fresh proof of the reality of those laws	182	(1)
Natural laws are the effect of the divine goodness	183	(1)
The laws of nature do not depend on an arbitrary institution	184	(2)
Our opinion is not very wide from that of Grotius	186	(1)
The effect of the laws of nature, is an obligation of conforming thereto our conduct	187	(1)
Natural laws are obligatory in respect to all men	188	(1)
Grotius's opinion with regard to divine, positive, and universal law	189	(1)
Natural laws are immutable, and admit of no dispensation	190	(3)
Of the eternity of natural laws
Of the law of nations	193	(9)
How civil societies are formed
The civil state does not destroy but improve the state of nature
True ideas of civil society	194	(1)
States are considered under the notion of moral persons
What is the law of nations	195	(1)
Certainty of this law	196	(1)
General principle of the law of nations; what polity consists in
Inquiry into Grotius's opinion concerning the law of nations	197	(2)
Two sorts of law of nations; one of necessity and obligatory by itself; the other arbitrary and conventional	199	(1)
Use of the foregoing remarks	200	(2)
Whether there is any morality of actions, any obligation or duty, antecedent to the laws of nature, and independent of the idea of a legislator	202	(17)
Different opinions of ethic writers with respect to the first principle of morality
Principles relating to this question	203	(2)
Three rules of human actions. 1. Moral sense. 2. Reason. 3. The divine will	205	(1)
These three principles ought to be united
Of the primitive cause of obligation	206	(2)
All rules are of themselves obligatory
Obligation may be more or less strong	208	(1)
Reason alone is sufficient to impose some obligation on man	209	(1)
Objection. No body can oblige himself	210	(1)
Answer	211	(1)
A fresh objection	212	(1)
Duty may be taken in a loose or strict sense	213	(1)
Result of what has been hitherto said	214	(2)
This manner of establishing morality does not weaken the system of natural law	216	(1)
Grotius's opinion examined	217	(1)
In order to have a perfect system of morality, we should join it with religion	218	(1)
Consequences of the preceding chapter: reflexions on the distinctions of just, honest, and useful	219	(6)
There is a great deal of ambiguity and mistake concerning this subject
Of just, honest, useful, order, and fitness	220	(1)
Just, honest, and useful, are distinct things, and must not be confounded	221	(2)
But tho' they are distinct, yet they are naturally connected
Whether an action is just, because God commands it?	223	(2)
In what the beauty of virtue and the perfection of man consists?
Of the application of natural laws to human actions; and first of conscience	225	(12)
What is meant by applying the laws to human actions
What is conscience	226	(1)
Conscience supposes a knowledge of the law
First rule	227	(1)
Second and third rules	228	(2)
Antecedent and subsequent conscience. Fourth rule	230	(1)
Subsequent conscience is either quiet, or uneasy	231	(1)
Decisive and dubious conscience. Fifth, sixth, and seventh rule	232	(2)
Scrupulous conscience. Eighth rule	234	(2)
Right and erroneous conscience. Ninth rule
Demonstrative and probable conscience. Tenth rule	236	(1)
Of the merit and demerit of human actions; and of their imputation relative to the laws of nature	237	(11)
Distinction of imputability and imputation. Of the nature of a moral cause
Of the nature of imputation. It supposes a knowledge of the law as well as of the fact	238	(1)
Examples	239	(1)
Principles. 1. We ought not to infer actual imputation from imputability only	240	(1)
2. Imputation supposes some connexion between the action and its consequences	241	(1)
3. Foundations of merit and demerit	242	(1)
In what merit and demerit consists	243	(1)
4. Merit and demerit have their degrees; and so has imputation	244	(1)
5. Imputation is either simple or efficacious	245	(1)
6. Effects of one and the other
7. If all those who are concerned, do not impute an action, it is supposed not to have been done	246	(1)
Difference between the imputation of good and bad actions	247	(1)
Application of those principles to different species of actions, in order to judge in what manner they ought to be imputed	248	(18)
What actions are actually imputed?
Actions of such as have not the use of reason
Of what's done in drunkenness
Of things that are impossible. Of the want of opportunity	249	(1)
Of natural qualities
Of events produced by external causes	250	(1)
Of what is done thro' ignorance or error
Of the effect of temperament, habits, or passions	251	(1)
Of forced actions	252	(1)
Forced actions are in themselves either good, bad, or indifferent	253	(2)
Why a bad action, tho' forced, may be imputed	255	(2)
Pussendorf's opinion	257	(1)
Of actions in which more persons than one are concerned	258	(2)
Three sorts of moral causes; principal, subaltern; and collateral	260	(4)
Application of these distinctions	264	(2)
Of the authority and sanction of natural laws: and of the good and evil that naturally and generally follows from virtue and vice	266	(14)
What is meant by the authority of natural laws
The observance of natural laws forms the happiness of man and society	267	(1)
Explications on the state of the question
Proof of the above mentioned truth, by reason	268	(1)
Proof's by experience. 1. Virtue is of itself the principle of an inward satisfaction; and vice a principle of disquiet and trouble	269	(1)
Of external goods and evils, which are the consequence of virtue and vice	270	(1)
These different effects of virtue and vice are still greater among those who are invested with power and authority	271	(1)
Confirmation of this truth by the confession of all nations	272	(1)
Confirmation of the same truth by the absurdity of the contrary
Answer to some particular objections	273	(2)
The advantage always ranges itself on the side of virtue; and this is the first sanction of the laws of nature	275	(1)
General difficulty drawn from the exceptions, which render this first sanction insufficient	276	(3)
The goods and evils of nature and fortune are distributed unequally, and not according to each person's merit
The evils produced by injustice fall as well upon the innocent as the guilty
Sometimes even virtue itself is the cause of persecution	277	(2)
The means which human prudence employs to remedy those disorders, are likewise insufficient
The difficulty proposed, is of great consequence	279	(1)
Proofs of the immortality of the foul. That there is a sanction properly so called in respect to natural laws	280	(17)
State of the question
Division of opinions. How is it possible to know the will of God in respect to this point
Whether the soul is immortal?	282	(1)
First proof. The nature of the soul seems intirely distinct from that of the body
Death does not therefore necessarily imply the annihilation of the soul	283	(1)
Objection. Answer	284	(1)
Confirmation of the preceding truth. Nothing in nature is annihilated
Second proof. The excellency of the soul	285	(1)
Confirmations. Our faculties are always susceptible of a greater degree of perfection	286	(1)
Objection. Answer	287	(1)
Third proof, drawn from our natural dispositions and desires	288	(1)
The sanction of natural laws will shew itself in a future life	289	(1)
First proof, drawn from the nature of man considered on the moral side	290	(1)
Second proof, drawn from the perfections of God	291	(4)
The objection drawn from the present state of things serves to prove the sentiment it opposes	295	(1)
The belief of a future state has been received by all nations	296	(1)
That the proofs we have alledged have such a probability and fitness, as renders them sufficient to fix our belief, and to determine our conduct	297	(1)
The proofs we have given of the sanction of natural laws are sufficient
Objection. These proofs contain no more than a probability or fitness. General answer
What is meant by a probability or fitness	298	(1)
General foundation of this manner of reasoning	299	(1)
This kind of fitness is very strong in respect to natural law	300	(1)
This fitness has different degrees. Principles to judge of it
Application of these principles to our subject	301	(2)
Comparison of the two opposite systems
The system of the sanction of natural laws is far preferable to the opposite system	303	(1)
Objection. Answer	304	(2)
Of the influence which those proofs ought to have over our conduct. We should act in this world on the foundation of the belief of a future state
'Tis a necessary consequence of our nature and state	306	(1)
Reason lays us under an obligation of so doing	307	(1)
'Tis a duty that God himself imposes on us	308
Conclusion	109
That which is already probable by reason only, is set in full evidence by revelation