The recovery of natural law: Hochstrasser's history of morality

This book is discussed in the context of the ongoing recovery of a distinct ively 'modern' or post-scholastic form of natural law thought. Hochstrasser 's contribution to this recovery is to stress the linguistic-conventionalis t character of post-metaphysical natural law in the German early Enlightenm ent. On this basis, he is able to show how Samuel Pufendorf and his followe rs largely escape the charges of moral arbitrariness and political tyranny levelled at them by such metaphysical rivals as Leibniz. The article conclu des by briefly indicating one of the major alternatives to Hochstrasser's i nterpretation, giving a sense of the ongoing debate surrounding the, constr uction of political legitimacy in post-scholastic natural law.