The Journal of Natural Law is a new peer-reviewed journal “committed to publishing the best interdisciplinary research on natural law in philosophy, theology, and legal theory.”

The journal is edited by Brian Besong (St. Francis University).

He authors a surprisingly polemical introduction to the journal in its first issue. Here’s an excerpt:

Ours is an age marked by profound intellectual losses and gains. Dazzled by progress in the empirical sciences, and perhaps hoping to emulate it, many philosophers and theologians cast aside their patrimony in favor of novelty. Nowhere is this more visible than in moral philosophy, which has seen the construction of an edifice at once highly sophisticated and manifestly barren. While moral philosophers have stubbornly resisted the corrosive effects of moral relativism, the normative conclusions drawn can be even more startling. Nearly a quarter-century ago, The New Yorker dubbed Peter Singer the most influential philosopher alive. His influence has only grown as the intellectual grandfather of the increasingly visible Effective Altruism movement. This is, of course, the same Peter Singer who has defended, among other things, sex with animals, corpses, and the severely mentally disabled, as well as infanticide—while staunchly opposing the eating of meat.

Given his publication record, Peter Singer is an easy target. Though he remains the most iconoclastic of contemporary moralists, even the more cautious voices in philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence have steadily drifted away from the ethical tradition that once undergirded Western civilization and constituted one of its greatest intellectual achievements. For notwithstanding its diversity of formulations and conclusions, the basic principles of natural law have formed the cornerstone of Western moral and political thought for more than a millennium, informing discussions on the nature and existence of human rights and of legal authority, the principles of just war and morally sound economic policy, and the principles of international law, to name a few. Natural law stands alone among moral theories in its classical pedigree—rooted in the teleological ethics of Plato and Aristotle, developed by the Stoics, advanced by Cicero, and given theological depth by Augustine of Hippo, to say nothing of its later systemization. Its advocates are still found in the top courts and universities worldwide.

If we wish to restore to prominence what has been lost or at least neglected, we must look beyond the dominant academic channels that have amplified voices like Singer and others while suppressing dissent from the new moral hegemony. The Journal of Natural Law aims to provide a venue for restoration, dedicated to developing and advancing the natural law tradition.

The journal is published biennially by the Catholic University of America Press. It does not appear to be an open-access journal.

The first issue, which came out recently, is here.