Keeping the Peace in the Village: Conflict and Peacemaking in Germany, 1650–1750, written by Marc R. Forster

infrequently advert to their relationship to civil laws and how they are fashioned and applied, the achievement of justice and equity within society is absolutely dependent upon reason-based right order within the legal establishment that shapes their lives.There are no shortcuts to the achievement of the common good; it is through civic dialogue and broad participation in forging prudent public laws, rather than through the unilateral fiat of absolutist executives, that government promotes true human flourishing.Readers of this journal may be heartened to witness this reminder of the pivotal role once played (and if Kincaid is to be believed, must continue to be played) by this early Jesuit scholar of law.In calling for a retrieval of neglected aspects of the legal theory of Surez, the author is pointing the way toward a healthier version of democracy, where the principle of consent of the governed finds full expression in just laws, properly constructed and promulgated.The life of Surez may have ended over four hundred years ago, but his legacy lives on in this renewed wave of scholarship on his work and influence, of which this new volume of Kincaid is an especially fine representative.