This volume contains ten new essays focused on the exploration and articulation of a narrative that considers the notion of order within medieval and modern philosophy—its various kinds (natural, moral, divine, and human), the different ways in which each is conceived, and the diverse dependency relations that are thought to obtain among them. Descartes, with the help of others, brought about an important shift in what was understood by the order of nature by placing laws of nature at the foundation of his natural philosophy. Vigorous debate then ensued about the proper formulation of the laws of nature and the moral law, about whether such laws can be justified, and if so, how-through some aspect of the divine order or through human beings-and about what consequences these laws have for human beings and the moral and divine orders. That is, philosophers of the period were thinking through what the order of nature consists in and how to understand its relations to the divine, human, and moral orders. No two major philosophers in the modern period took exactly the same stance on these issues, but these issues are clearly central to their thought. The Divine Order, the Human Order, and the Order of Nature is devoted to investigating their positions from a vantage point that has the potential to combine metaphysical, epistemological, scientific, and moral considerations into a single narrative.

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Excerpt from Thoughts on the Moral Order of Nature, Vol. 1 of 3 I was first led to give my thoughts that direction that has finally conducted me to this publication, by the melancholy in which, owing to the disturbed state of Ireland, I wore out my youth. While the anxieties and regrets which darkened so many minds in the counties most given up to the horrors of a civil war, cast a lowering cloud over the retirement in which Hired - which was seated within the precincts of the scene where it fiercely raged - often did my imagination, wearied with the uninterrupted contemplation of terrible disorder. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Thoughts on the Moral Order of Nature, Vol. 2 of 3 Had I not been accustomed, many years, constantly to feel, and calmly to reflect on, the sensations which I am going to describe, 1 might hesitate in mentioning them, fearing that they might have no existence but one derived from fancy. But having been constantly in the habit, in Ireland, for great part of my life, daily to take a solitary walk, with a mind at ease, and continually attentive to the sensations kept alive in me by the surrounding atmosphere, I have ample motive to be convinced that the manner in which it acted on me did really excite them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Thoughts on the Moral Order of Nature, Vol. 3 of 3 Yes, she has the same passions, and requires, like him, to have them corrected; not by repressing them, but by calling them forth, and teaching her, resolutely, to encounter them. Where you attempt to stifle them in her breast, you only con tract her mind, you cannot purify it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.