Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law

Melissa Moschella is a professor of the practice in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame's McGrath Institute for Church Life. She is the author of To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education, and Children's Autonomy.Russell Hittinger, the recipient of the 2025 Religious Liberty Scholarship Award, is the Executive Director of the Institute for Human Ecology and co-founder of the Program on Catholic Political Thought at the Catholic University of America.

"This is a great book. . . . I hope this book finds a wide readership outside of the circle of aficionados." - The Heythrop Journal"This is splendid material, rigorously argued and presented in a clear, lively manner. While traditional Thomists have shown little interest in the 'new natural law,' this engaging study might persuade them to take a closer look. . . . Highly recommended." - Choice"Natural law has gone without serious treatment in universities, law schools, and courts. The first step toward recovering it has to be introducing it plainly to new audiences. Prof. Moschella's book does that." - Reading Wheel Review"[Moschella] shows how [New Natural Law Theory] is also positively transformative for individuals and political communities who have not given up on the idea that there is moral truth and that we can know it. That is no small thing in a world seemingly paralyzed by perpetual doubt." - Civitas Outlook"Melissa Moschella's Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law is the most readable and accessible articulation of 'New' Natural Law Theory I have read in the field. I recommend the volume to ethics enthusiasts everywhere, but especially to Protestant audiences that tend to produce a voluntarist and divine command account of ethics to the neglect of articulating how and why God's moral decrees are also eminently reasonable." - Andrew T. Walker, author of Faithful Reason"Is it the case, and, if so, how is it the case, that the human intellect can grasp reasons—including moral reasons—for choice and action? In Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law, Melissa Moschella provides persuasive answers to these questions as well as a cogent account of those reasons. Her book represents the clearest, most readable exposition and defense of contemporary natural law theory yet to appear." - Robert P. George, author of Conscience and Its Enemies"The ability to achieve this combination of philosophical rigor and clear, accessible presentation is rare. . . . It will be appreciated across the spectrum of intellectual sophistication, schools of thought, and political ideology." - Daniel Philpott, author of Religious Freedom in Islam"Moschella's book . . . is a short, accessible articulation and defense of contemporary natural law theory, featuring chapters on first principles, moral principles, the social and political dimensions of human flourishing, and human flourishing as it relates to morality and God." - Religion & Liberty"Moschella's timely new summary and defense of the NNL approach to ethics, law, and public policy has the potential, therefore, to help recall the liberal tradition to its best self." - Law & Liberty

• Foreword, by Russell HittingerAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Natural Law Ethics as "Commonsense Morality"1. Basic Human Goods: The First Principles of Ethics2. Moral Principles3. The Social Dimension of Human Flourishing4. The Political Dimension of Human Flourishing5. Human Flourishing, Morality, and GodAppendix: Annotated Resource BibliographyBibliographyIndexExtended Table of Contents