Piazza, Vittorio2025-06-032025-06-032025-05-19https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/67171ABSTRACT In reading John Finnis' account of Natural Law theory, it became very clear to me that while his view had a good structure, its details needed more refinement- specifically pertaining to his basic goods which set a foundation for the rest of his theory. Finnis' basic goods include life, play, knowledge, aesthetic experiences, sociability, practical reasonableness, and religion, which he argues are all valued in themselves and are thus considered "basic". My central pushback on Finnis' model is in questioning the goods' basicness, as far as he presents them. Instead, I believe that they require further justification, and thus ought to be shifted up in his hierarchy of legal justification. I aim to strengthen his account, not reject it entirely. Thus, I propose a modification of his view where instead of the seven basic goods presented, we propose two: knowledge and flourishing. I find Finnis' argument for knowledge to be convincing, as he demonstrates its basicness via a reductio ad absurdum, showing that the denial of its basicness requires its value is presupposed. Thus, I maintain it as properly basic and turn my attention to the others for further analysis. My arguments and methodology consist in questioning the basicness of the goods by asking if we really value these goods in themselves, or for some other reason. If there is another reason, then it seems the goods are not properly basic and instead we should consider if the reason why we value these goods act as a more fundamental justification. When I considered life, play, aesthetic experiences, sociability, practical reasonableness, and religion, it is my argument that we value these things because they contribute to a flourishing life, which as Aristotle famously argued is the most basic good. In that regard, Finnis' basic goods ought to be knowledge and flourishing, which then allows him to maintain the rest of his system while strengthening his foundation.Natural LawFlourishingJohn FinnisAristotleHaybron