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March 11, 2016

The Place of Natural Law in Jewish Thought

It goes back to Genesis.

While Aristotle, the ancient Stoics, and many medieval thinkers believed that moral distinctions between right and wrong are deeply rooted in nature, modern philosophers have tended to reject this line of argument. Where does Judaism stand on the issue? Lenn Goodman argues that both the Torah and Talmud, although lacking a term equivalent to “natural law,” embrace their own version of the concept, and it can be found in the creation narrative itself. (Video, about one hour.)

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