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Document Details : Title: Vernünftige Freiheit als Kern der Moral Subtitle: Die neue Grundlegung der Ethik in Francisco Suárez' De legibus ac Deo legislatore Author(s): HONNEFELDER, Ludger Journal: Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales Volume: 91 Issue: 2 Date: 2024 Pages: 425-496 DOI: 10.2143/RTPM.91.2.3293906 Abstract : A careful re-reading of Francisco Suárez’s foundation of ethics in Book II of his De legibus ac Deo legislatore is required, for while there is no doubt about the important role it played in the formation of modern ethics through its influence on Grotius, Pufendorf, Locke, and other authors up to Kant, the interpretation of its main idea has remained controversial among recent scholars. When reconstructed in more detail, Book II reveals a profound transformation of the idea of natural law based on a complex understanding of the will and its interaction with reason. This leads Suárez to regard the idea of rational freedom (understood as the self-determination of the will to the good represented by reason) as the core of moral philosophy. Since this self-commitment must work against the natural inclinations of the will, it functions as a self-imposed law that operates like a rule of rules, recognising – long before Kant – not the pursuit of happiness as the core of morality, but the law of rational freedom. |
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