Natural Law

Natural law is the moral law of God, which man can recognise in nature by his reason, independent of revelation

·       natural law is inherent and ontological

·       Natural law is the official ethical position of the Catholic Church

·       Natural law is universal - there is the belief that everyone can use their reason to work out what is right and wrong

"The law that is written on men's hearts {suggests something we're born with}." Cicero

"The light of reason {considered a gift, a virtue} is placed by nature [and thus by God] in every man to guide him {suggests possibility of going against natural law} in his acts." Aquinas

Aquinas is viewed as the founder of natural law theory and it is now the official ethical position of the Catholic Church. Due to Aquinas being born pre-Christian ethics there are many divergences in understanding Aquinas' natural law today.

What makes natural law perhaps even harder to understand is that it was not supposed to be written down. There are two Latin words for “law”: ius (the principle of law) and lex (the letter of the law written out). Natural law is ius. {what we know is rational, focussed on the principle of what is right and wrong}

Natural law is not absolute, but situational. Aquinas’ situationism was influenced by Aristotle. Whilst it is situational, there are precepts (general rules intended to regulate behaviour). For this reason, it is often seen as a deontological theory (considers morality of the actions, rather than the consequences). {partly teleological as not completely ignorant of the consequences}

Weaknesses of Natural law:

-          How do we know that we are acting without revelation

-          Does natural law even exist?

-          Law that is ius rather than lex is confusing as you cannot verify that what you believe natural law is, is the same for all humans

-          Why would we choose to ignore God’s revelation

-          We would need an environment devoid of taught ethics in order to verify if ethics are instinctual

Aquinas’ four tiers of law:

1.       ETERNAL LAW: principles by which God made and controlled the universe, which are only fully known to God

2.       DIVINE LAW: the law of God as revealed in the Bible, particularly in the ten commandments and the Sermon on the mount

3.       NATURAL LAW: the moral law of God, which man ca recognise in nature by his reason, independent of revelation.

4.       HUMAN LAW: the laws of nations

{emphasises that humans have free will from God and can develop their own moral laws within society}

{whilst natural law can be used without revelation, it exists due to God. Eternal law emphasises that God is still sovereign}

{God-centered commandments. How can natural law align with divine law, if natural law is free of revelation and therefore of God}

Aquinas says that “human has the quality of law insofar as it is according to right reason.” {if done right, human laws will be…