Treatise on Law

Rating:
Summary: A Seminal Work in the History of Natural Law
Review: Admitedly a difficult work to read, Thomas Aquinus' Treatise on Law is well worth the effort. Its difficulty stems from the strictures of its genre-- the scholastic method of dispution, important in the devolpement of modern critical thinking. The treatise is a rich work that seeks to probe the limits of human ethical knowledge. He asks us to consider the questions "what are my rights, how can I know and guarantee them, what are the limits of the state in relation to the individual." If you've ever pondered the meaning of the words "we hold these truths to be self-evident" in the Declaration of Independence, start with this book. Aquinus has few peers in his understanding of what it means to be a human-being. Agree or disagree with him, Aquinus' vision of a universe whose very fabric both constitutes and guarantees a moral order is deeply moving and ennobling. No less a person than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King acknowledged in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail his debt to the Treatise on Law. If you love freedom, read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: The reader of the cassette tape version of *Treatise on Law* does an excellent job--well-paced, clear, and natural-sounding (as natural as a medieval philosopher can be made to sound!). I listened to this a few times while commuting. That's not easy to do as the book is rather dense, and I would not recommend doing that unless you already have some familiarity with subject matter. There is one thing that makes putting Aquinas's *Summa Theologica* on tape particularly unwieldy: the objections are all stated, followed by the responsio, and then the replies. By the time you get to the replies you will probably have forgotten which objection was which, and the context of the replies does not always make this clear. I rate the production 5 stars nonetheless, because I think it would probably be taking too great of inappropriate editorial liberties to group objections with replies together--even though this would probably make them easier to understand. Obviously, you should have a copy of the text to refer to when you get home; then you can sort out confusions.

Anyone who gives classics like this fewer than 5 stars on grounds of the content of the works is being silly. I give the production itself 5 stars as well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: The reader of the cassette tape version of *Treatise on Law* does an excellent job--well-paced, clear, and natural-sounding (as natural as a medieval philosopher can be made to sound!). I listened to this a few times while commuting. That's not easy to do as the book is rather dense, and I would not recommend doing that unless you already have some familiarity with subject matter. There is one thing that makes putting Aquinas's *Summa Theologica* on tape particularly unwieldy: the objections are all stated, followed by the responsio, and then the replies. By the time you get to the replies you will probably have forgotten which objection was which, and the context of the replies does not always make this clear. I rate the production 5 stars nonetheless, because I think it would probably be taking too great of inappropriate editorial liberties to group objections with replies together--even though this would probably make them easier to understand. Obviously, you should have a copy of the text to refer to when you get home; then you can sort out confusions.

Anyone who gives classics like this fewer than 5 stars on grounds of the content of the works is being silly. I give the production itself 5 stars as well.

Rating:
Summary: As true today as it was in the 13th Century
Review: The treatise on law provides a concise definition of law, a fabulous discussion of natural law, and a view into the inner working of our own human law. A must for lawyers and legislators.

Rating:
Summary: Thomas Aquinas knows his stuff.
Review: Thomas Aquinas knows his stuff. If you find discussions on the essence of goodness or talk of why all things act as agents to a good to be of any use then Aquinas is an absorbing read. If you find this kind of cavilling to be invigorating you are a dullard and are in Good company with Aquinas.