American Interpretations of Natural Law

Taylor & Francis

American Interpretations of Natural LawA Study in the History of Political Thought\nAuthor(s): Benjamin Fletcher Wright\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781138518766, 978-1138518766\nSynopsis\nThis book illustrates the deep roots of natural law doctrines in America's political culture. Originally published in 1931, the volume shows that American interpretations of natural law go to the philosophical heart of the American regime. The Declaration of Independence is the preeminent example of natural law in American political thought it is the self-evident truth of American society.\n\nBenjamin Wright proposes that the decline of natural law as a guiding factor in American political behaviour is inevitable as America's democracy matures and broadens. What Wright also chronicled, inadvertently, was how the progressive critique of natural law has opened a rift between and among some of the ruling elites and large numbers .