FORUM PRESENTATION A PHILOSOPHICAL RESPONSE TO THE SEVEN QUESTIONS By John M. Finnis (Great Britain) Author Professor of Law and Legal Philosophy Emeritus in the University of Oxford and Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana Abstract This is the text of a contribution to a seminar on Natural Law held under the chairmanship of Alexander Konovalov, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum in May 2015. <...> They concern the foundations of values, of notions of right and wrong, and of law, and ask whether those foundations have a rational universality that can be accepted independently of any society’s conventional beliefs or the tenets of any religious faith. <...> They extend, fi nally, into a question about public international law. <...> Keywords Law, reasons for action, first (pre-moral) principles of practical reason, morality, values, positive law, natural law, faith DOI: 10.17803/2313-5395.2015.2.4.242-250 www.kulawr.ru Volume 2 October 2015 Issue 2(4) John M. Finnis A Philosophical Response to the Seven Questions TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The foundations of law. <...> What are the roots and substance of our most cherished values? . 246 IV. <...> Are there fundamental precepts respected in every faith/society? . 247 V. Are there differences in the precepts and values of different societies and are they justified, or should anyone judge?. 248 VI. <...> Is religious faith necessary as a foundation of just law? . 248 VII. <...> How should our perception of law and morality at the level of the individual and under domestic law translate into public international law and the conduct of States? . 249 I will consider each of the seven questions proposed in the programme for our Forum discussion, but will follow a slightly different order, so as to group together the questions that seem to me to cluster together. <...> The first question has two different senses, very important to keep distinct. <...> It might be understood as asking about facts — about the factual foundations and origins of a group’s laws in the customs of and decisions made by or for that group; or similarly about the factual foundations and psychological origins that are characteristic of positive law (whether customary or statutory) in general, across all human societies that can be said to have or to have had law. <...> The very notable St. <...>