Dignitatis Humanae and John Finnis’s understanding of religious freedom

Abstract

This paper aims to encourage the reader to deepen his understanding of the elements of natural law inserted in the thought of John Finnis, especially in what concerns the human right of religious freedom. This is due to the fact that this author presents a unique perspective on religion, in order to consider it as one of the fundamental basic human goods. Before being a human right protected in international treaties and in the Constitutions of various countries, religion, according to its theory, is a human good that must be protected. Such protection is essential for the fulfillment of all the potentialities of each human being, so that it is possible to reach its human flourishing and, thus, the common good. Thus, it will be discussed in this paper whether religious freedom, from the perspective of John Finnis, is universal and should thus be endorsed and universally applied throughout the world, using as an example the document of the II Vatican Council – Dignitatis Humanae (1965). Also, a bibliographical analysis of the author’s works on this topic will be carried out in order to identify what are, and if they exist, principles of religious freedom that are universally applicable throughout the world and especially in the West. Thus, the identification of these principles will be recognized the relevance of protection and encouragement to the exercise of this right in the public space, given the natural character relative to the human good of religion, in view of the theory presented by John Finnis.