Thomas Aquinas and Viscount Stair: The Influence of Scholastic Moral Theology on Stair’s Account of Restitution and Recompense
Dot Reid (2008) Thomas Aquinas and Viscount Stair: the Influence of Scholastic Moral Theology on Stair's Account of Restitution and Recompense, The Journal of Legal History, 29:2, 189-214, DOI: 10.1080/01440360802196661
29 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2019
Date Written: July 6, 2008
Abstract
This article examines the impact of scholastic moral theology on aspects of Stair's Institutions of the Laws of Scotland. It is argued that both Stair's general concept of justice and his account of the ‘obediential’ obligations of restitution and recompense were influenced by Aristotelian philosophy and Thomist moral theology. The complex interaction in Stair's thinking of Presbyterian religion, scholastic philosophy and a commitment to the rational natural law are sketched in order to shed light on the historical and cultural context within which he wrote. The result is a more complex picture of the influences which informed the writing of the Institutions.
Keywords: Thomas Aquinas, scholastic, moral theology, legal history, Stair Institutions, Artistotle philosophy, Scots law, restitution, recompense, natural law
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