The Necessity of Nature

A study of the natural law ideas of the seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution and their impact on the philosophy of law.

Tackling issues such as money, human nature, secularism, and epistemology, which underlie the philosophy and theology of the seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution, García-Salmones explains the enduring relevance of Hobbes, and Locke's thought for international legal studies today.To understand our current world crises, it is essential to study the origins of the systems and institutions we now take for granted. This book takes a novel approach to charting intellectual, scientific and philosophical histories alongside the development of the international legal order by studying the philosophy and theology of the Scientific Revolution and its impact on European natural law, political liberalism and political economy. Starting from analysis of the work of Thomas Hobbes, Robert Boyle and John Locke on natural law, the author incorporates a holistic approach that encompasses global legal matters beyond the foundational matters of treaties and diplomacy. The monograph promotes a sustainable transformation of international law in the context of related philosophy, history and theology. Tackling issues such as nature, money, necessities, human nature, secularism and epistemology, which underlie natural lawyers' thinking, Associate Professor García-Salmones explains their enduring relevance for international legal studies today.