In the fifth book of his legal-theological summa ›De legibus ac Deo legislatore‹ from 1612, Francisco Suárez develops the basis for a theory of punishment. In doing so, the Conimbricensian theologian, philosopher and jurist succeeds in defining and justifying punishment in its legal-theoretical essence and its legal-practical function by deriving the »poena« as a necessary moment of every theory of law. The complex relationship between punishment and sin is also precisely defined. Book V of ›De legibus‹, presented here for the first time in German translation, documents the innovative conceptions of a philosophy and theology of punishment that was to influence the early modern development of political theory in reception and criticism up to the 18th century.

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Ulrich Lehner, Theological Studies

»I can only hope that now theologians, and not just philosophers, will return to Suárez and see the great riches of his thought, and realize that much of the criticism of his work relies on polemics rather than an engaged reading of his texts.«

Ulrich Lehner,

Theological Studies

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Francisco Suárez: De legibus ac Deo legislatore. Liber quintus. Über die Gesetze und Gott den Gesetzgeber. Fünftes Buch. Teil I

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