Even those who disagree with him must acknowledge that Finnis's work--preeminently Natural Law and Natural Rights but also his other books and these essays--is among the towering achievements in Catholic intellectual life over the past 50 years.
World-wide? Even if one were to limit the area of influence to the United States, it might still be an exaggeration to claim this about the work of John Finnis. Finnis may have had disciples in the Anglophone world, but has he really persuaded non-Catholics of his version of the Natural Law? Aren't there some Catholic intellectuals who might rank a bit higher? Yves Congar? Louis Bouyer? Perhaps they belong too much to the first half of the twentieth century. How about Joseph Ratzinger, then? Or another contemporary theologian. I'm naming people who aren't Dominicans or Thomists, just to emphasize the point-why Finnis? Is he receiving credit (by a disciple) for creating a novel account of natural law and natural law morality? He doesn't present himself as a exponent of the Thomistic tradition in moral theology/philosophy. If this world continues for another 500 years, I'd be surprised if the work of Finnis (or the NNLT) continues to find readers...
Kevin Lee, A Sample of John Finnis
