John Finnis
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John Mitchell Finnis, , (born 28 July 1940) is an Australian legal philosopher, jurist and scholar specializing in
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
and the
philosophy of law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...
. He is the Biolchini Family Professor of Law,
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
, at
Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...
and a Permanent Senior Distinguished Research Fellow at Notre Dame's de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. He was Professor of Law & Legal Philosophy at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
from 1989 to 2010, where he is now professor emeritus. He acted as a constitutional adviser to successive Australian Commonwealth governments in constitutional matters and bilateral relations with the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. His academic focus is in the areas of jurisprudence, political theory, and constitutional law, while his practice at the English Bar saw him in cases at the High Court and at the Court of Appeal. He is a member of
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
. He was appointed an honorary
Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
in 2017. In 2019 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian award.


Early life and education

Finnis was educated at St. Peter's College, Adelaide and the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
, where he was a member of St. Mark's College. He obtained his
Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
(LL.B.) degree there, winning a
Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
to
University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
, in 1962, where he obtained his
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
degree with a thesis on the concept of judicial power, with reference to Australian federal constitutional law. Also in 1962, Finnis converted to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. Finnis was a friend of
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...
, also an Oxford graduate; and, in 1989, Finnis nominated her for the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
. Aung San Suu Kyi won the prize but did not receive it until June 2012, when she recalled how her late husband,
Michael Aris Michael Vaillancourt Aris (27 March 1946 – 27 March 1999) was an English historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor ...
, had visited her under house arrest and brought her the news "that a friend, John Finnis" had nominated her for the prize.


Career

Finnis is a legal philosopher and author of ''
Natural Law and Natural Rights ''Natural Law and Natural Rights'' (1980; second edition 2011) is a book by John Finnis first published by Oxford University Press, as part of the Clarendon Law Series. Finnis develops a philosophy of Law in the tradition of Aristotle and Thomas ...
'' (1980, 2011), a seminal contribution to the
philosophy of law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...
and a restatement of
natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
doctrine. For Finnis there are seven basic goods; life, knowledge, play, aesthetic experience, sociability of friendship, practical reasonableness and religion. In his book on Finnis' student
Neil Gorsuch Neil McGill Gorsuch ( ; born August 29, 1967) is an American lawyer and judge who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 31, 2017, and has served since ...
while at Oxford University, John Greenya has described Finnis's views by stating: "Some of John Finnis's views are very controversial. For example, in defending his long-held position against same-sex marriage and same-sex coupling, he once compared them to bestiality." Philosopher Stephen Buckle sees Finnis's list of proposed basic goods as plausible, but notes that "Finnis's account becomes more controversial when he goes on to specify the basic requirements of practical reasonableness". He sees Finnis's requirement that practical reason requires "respect for every basic value in every act" as intended both to rule out
consequentialism In ethical philosophy, consequentialism is a class of normative, teleological ethical theories that holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a ...
in ethics and also to support the moral viewpoint of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
on a range of contentious issues, including
contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
and
masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...
, which in his view undermines its plausibility. Finnis's work on natural law ethics has been a source of controversy in both
neo-Thomist Neo-scholasticism (also known as neo-scholastic Thomism Accessed 27 March 2013 or neo-Thomism because of the great influence of the writings of Thomas Aquinas on the movement) is a revival and development of medieval scholasticism in Catholic t ...
and analytical circles. Craig Paterson sees his work as interesting because it challenges a key assumption of both neo-Thomist and analytical philosophy: the idea that a natural law ethics must be based upon an attempt to derive normative (or "ought") statements from descriptive (or "is") statements. According to Andrew Sullivan, Finnis has articulated "an intelligible and subtle account of homosexuality" based on the new natural law, a less biologically-based version of
natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
theory. Finnis argues that the state should deter public approval of homosexual behaviour while refusing to persecute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation, basing this position not on the claim that homosexual sex is unnatural but on the idea that it cannot involve the union of procreation and emotional commitment that heterosexual sex can, and is therefore an assault on heterosexual union. Sullivan believes that such a conservative position is vulnerable to criticism on its own terms, since the stability of existing families is better served by the acceptance of those homosexuals who are part of them. Other scholars, such as Stephen Macedo and
Michael J. Perry Michael J. Perry is an American legal scholar, specializing in constitutional law, human rights, and law and religion. Career Perry was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He did his undergraduate studies, majoring in philosophy and minoring ...
, have also criticised Finnis's views. He has supervised several doctoral students including
Neil Gorsuch Neil McGill Gorsuch ( ; born August 29, 1967) is an American lawyer and judge who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 31, 2017, and has served since ...
, Justice
Susan Kenny Susan Coralie Kenny AM (born 29 November 1953) is a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, and formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, where she was the first woman to serve on the Court of Appeal. Early life and education Ken ...
of the Federal Court of Australia, Robert P. George of Princeton University, and John Keown of Georgetown University. In 2013 George and Keown summarised some of Finnis's media work as "He has, for example, debated embryo research with
Mary Warnock Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, (née Wilson; 14 April 1924 – 20 March 2019) was an English philosopher of morality, education, and mind, and a writer on existentialism. She is best known for chairing an inquiry whose report formed the ...
on BBC's ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' and with Jonathan Glover in the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
Debate; discussed euthanasia with a leading Dutch euthanasiast on the same channel's '' After Dark'', and written on eugenic abortion in ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
''". In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for Australia, Finnis was appointed a Companion in the General Division of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
, the country's highest civilian honour, for his eminent service as a jurist and legal scholar.


Publications


Books

In May 2011,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
published a five-volume collection of essays by John Finnis and a second edition of ''Natural Law and Natural Rights''. Their release was marked by an all-day conference at the Notre Dame Law School on 9 September 2011. * ''Natural Law and Natural Rights,'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980; 2nd ed., 2011. . * ''Fundamentals of Ethics,'' Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1983. . * ''Nuclear Deterrence, Morality, and Realism'', with J. M. Boyle Jr. and Germain Grisez, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987. . * ''Natural Law'', 2 vols (as editor), New York: New York University Press, 1991. and . * ''Moral Absolutes: Tradition, Revision and Truth,'' Washington D.C.:
Catholic University of America Press The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the publishing division of The Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941,Roy J. Deferrari ''Memoirs of the Catholic Univer ...
, 1991. . * ''Aquinas: Moral, Political, and Legal Theory,'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. . * ''The Collected Essays of John Finnis'', 5 vols, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. .


Articles


Aquinas' Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy

The Profound Injustice of Justice Posner on Marriage

Natural Law: The Classical Tradition
PDF (Internet Archive)
The Priority of Persons
PDF *
The Good of Marriage and the Morality of Sexual Relations
PDF
Law, Morality and "Sexual Orientation"
PDF


Video lectures


God and Man

Religious Liberty


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnis, John 1940 births 20th-century Australian philosophers 21st-century Australian philosophers Australian legal scholars Australian political philosophers Fellows of University College, Oxford Living people Philosophers of law Catholic philosophers Adelaide Law School alumni University of Notre Dame faculty Notre Dame Law School faculty Legal scholars of the University of Oxford Companions of the Order of Australia Honorary King's Counsel Fellows of the British Academy Alumni of University College, Oxford Australian Rhodes Scholars University of Malawi faculty