Leonardus Lessius: De iustitia et iure caeterisque virtutibus cardinalibus. Über die Gerechtigkeit und das Recht und die übrigen Kardinaltugenden

Lessius’ ›De iustitia et iure caeterisque virtutibus cardinalibus‹ (1605) is a major work of the Counter-Reformation natural law discourse of the ›seconda scolastica‹ (during Lessius’ lifetime, ten editions were published followed by many reprints up to the nineteenth century). Like the other works of the same title by Domingo de Soto, Petrus de Aragón or Ludovico Molina, his text is a commentary on the ›Secunda secundae‹ of Thomas Aquinas’ ›Summa theologiae‹. It therefore discusses legal justice with a special focus on business ethics. The work offers an important and innovative contribution to both the history of economic thought and economic law. Furthermore, it concisely summarises the complex teachings of the »seconda scolastica« and its detailed references render accessible the sixteenth century Catholic natural law discussion. As one of the main sources of Hugo Grotius, the work connects the scholastic natural law discourse with the law of reason of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Lessius’ text thus represents a main source not only for legal and economic historians, but especially for the history of political philosophy.