Table of contents

1. The ratio legis as the aim or cause of the law - 2. The equivalence between ratio and causa in medieval legal science. Causa impulsiva and causa finalis - 3. Ratio legis and logical-formal coherence. The variety of legal experience and the difficult task of interpreting the genetic principle of the norm - 4. The broader concept of ratio with profound metaphysical implications. Notes on the convergence of the two terms, ratio and lex, in medieval thought - 5. The need for the lex, as a manifestation of ratio, to be linked to the deepest roots of the canonical system