Thomistic Natural Law I General Definition of Law: A Dictate of reason B For the common good C Given by the one who has care for the community (legitimate authority) D Promulgated II Kinds of Law A Eternal Law 1 In the Mind of God Since the intelligent order of creation which God first conceived is in his intellect, it is eternal as he is eternal (Moreover, since God is his intellect, and the object of his intellect, in a sense the Eternal Law is God, as the pattern for the order found in creation) 2 The Eternal Law is law because it is the rational plan by which God cares for the universe, and so it fulfills the four requirements in the definition of law 3 The Eternal Law is found in the universe imprinted in the nature with which God created each thing In this way, Aquinas says that everything shares in the Eternal Law by way of Asimilitude,@ ie in their natures, but not necessarily through knowledge B Natural Law is man=s participation, through reason, in the God=s plan of creation, the Eternal Law 1 The natural law is based in human nature, ie man as rational animal a It is grounded in man=s rational nature according to the rational power, ie the power apprehending truth intellectually A person=s reason provides a subjective basis for discovering the natural law, in the sense that a person has to learn for him or herself what is universally and truly (objectively) good (1) Universal good as object of will is apprehended by reason AGood is to be done and pursued and evil avoided@ is the First Principle of Practical Reason / First Precept of Natural Law (2) Reason makes particular judgments about what is good by determining what is perfective of a thing=s nature The human good is what contributes to the perfection of human nature b Natural law is also grounded in human nature as a rational animal Human nature, as
apprehended by reason, provides the objective standard of human activity As human nature and its natural inclinations are complex, so the commands of the natural law manifold (1) Human nature has inclinations which are common to all substances, eg inclinations for preserving life and preventing its destruction (2) We have inclinations which are common to animal nature: for reproduction and for caring for young (3) There are also inclinations proper to human nature: for knowing the truth about God and for maintaining social order c Aquinas theory of natural law describe various levels of precepts which are clearer at higher levels of generality, but which reason has to apply to particular cases First Principle of Practical Reasoning: AGood is to be done and pursued and evil avoided@ Inclinations Common to substances: Common to animals: Proper to humans Primary Precepts Preserve human life Procreate Educate the young Know truth about God Preserve social harmony Secondary Do not kill Protect the weak Honor your parents Do not commit adultery Shun ignorance Avoid giving offense Tell the truth intermediate levels Particular Action Save my friend, David Leave the bedroom Tell the soldiers where David is 2 Application of the Natural Law as an Absolute / Objective Standard a The natural law provides a standard for judging just and unjust laws (1) Whatever judges a system of laws must stand outside that system The laws of Nazi Germany which prescribed the execution of Jews and dissidents and forbade their protection constituted Acrimes against humanity,@ not because these laws were in violation of other laws of Germany, or the laws of France or the United States The reason that the attempted destruction of the Jews was wrong, was not even because the
whole rest of the world thought it was wrong The crimes of Nazi Germany could be judged as crimes because they were violations of a law that stand apart from and above the laws of every nation; they were violations of the natural law Natural law is the standard against which we determine whether human positive laws are just or not (2) One can see these principles put to use in ALetter from Birmingham City Jail@ by Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (a) As King says: AAny law that uplifts human personality is just Any law that degrades human personality is unjust All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority, and the segregated a false sense of inferiority@ (b) The justification to which King appeals in order to show that segregation laws are unjust is not other laws of Alabama or of the United States, but the natural law as it is founded in human nature Human nature demands a true sense of equality and dignity, and because segregation laws violate that equality and dignity, they are unjust i) Segregation laws clearly diminished the dignity, and thus damages the personality of blacks in Alabama ii) Interestingly, King asserts that segregation laws were harmful to the white majority, distorting their proper dignity and damaging their personality as well b The natural law applies to all people, at all times - q 94, a 4 (1) Aquinas examines with the question whether the natural law can be changed from the perspective of the generality of the precept and the knowledge an individual has of the precept (a) From the perspective of the generality of the precept, Aquinas reasons that the more general a precept is, the less is it open to exceptions i) The general principles of both speculative and practical reasoning are necessary, and the primary precepts of the natural law apply in all cases The good is always to be done; life is always to be preserved ii) AAlthough there is necessity in the general principles, the more we descend to matters of detail, the more frequently we encounter defects In matters of action, truth or practical rectitude is not the same for all, as to matters of detail, but only as to the general principles: and where there is the same rectitude in matters of detail, it is not equally known to all@ (ST I-II, 94, 4) (b) From the perspective of the knowledge an individual, the case is similar i) The more general a precept is, the more likely it is to be known by a greater number of people
ii) The more particular a precept of the natural law (or the application of a general precept to a particular case) is, the more likely it is that a particular individual will get it wrong (c) Aquinas thus concludes that the greater the detail, the more likely it will be that people disagree about what the natural law requires: AConsequently we must say that the natural law, as to general principles, is the same for all, both as to rectitude and as to knowledge But as to certain matters of detail, which are conclusions, as it were, of those general principles, it is the same for all in the majority of cases, both as to rectitude and as to knowledge; and yet in some few cases it may fail, both as to rectitude, by reason of certain obstacles (just as natures subject to generation and corruption fail in some few cases on account of some obstacle), and as to knowledge, since in some the reason is perverted by passion, or evil habit, or an evil disposition of nature@ (ST I-II, 94, 4) (2) Even though it is true that as one makes more particular applications of the general precepts of the natural law, the form that application takes is likely to be displayed in a greater variety of actions, nevertheless, the same natural law is being applied in each case, and the same natural law commands a variety of actions as given situations demand applies at all times to all people - standard by which we judge cultures/society c The natural law cannot be changed, except by way of addition (1) Additions are Athings for the benefit of human life have been added over and above the natural law, both by Divine law and by human laws@ (2) Nothing can be subtracted from the natural law with regard to the primary precepts, and thus, no law which commands something contrary to the natural law can be just (3) Aquinas offers interesting arguments to explain why certain acts recorded in Scripture are not morally wrong In effect, anything God commands does not violate the natural law since he is the author of the natural law Here is the objection, and Aquinas= reply: (a) Objection 2: Further, the slaying of the innocent, adultery, and theft are against the natural law But we find these things changed by God: as when God commanded Abraham to slay his innocent son (Gn 22:2); and when he ordered the Jews to borrow and purloin the vessels of the Egyptians (Ex 12:35); and when He commanded Osee to take to himself "a wife of fornications" (Osee 1:2) Therefore the natural law can be changed (b) Reply OBJ 2: All men alike, both guilty and innocent, die the death of nature: which death of nature is inflicted by the power of God on account of original sin, according to 1 Kgs 2:6: "The Lord killeth and maketh alive" Consequently, by the command of God, death can be inflicted on any man, guilty or innocent, without any injustice whatever In like manner adultery is intercourse with another's wife; who is allotted to him by the law emanating from God Consequently intercourse with any woman, by the command of God, is neither adultery nor fornication The same applies to theft, which is
the taking of another's property For whatever is taken by the command of God, to Whom all things belong, is not taken against the will of its owner, whereas it is in this that theft consists Nor is it only in human things, that whatever is commanded by God is right; but also in natural things, whatever is done by God, is, in some way, natural, as stated in the First Part, q 105, a 6 ad 1 d The natural law cannot be abolished from the heart of man (Q 95, a 5) (1) It is a quasi-ainnate@ sense of right and wrong The primary precepts of the natural law requires the use of reason for their discovery, but all men though the activity of living, do in fact discover them In this sense, no one is ignorant of the primary precepts of the natural law (2) In this respect, it is like what people generally mean by conscience ala Jimminy Cricket (3) In particular practice, the natural law can be blotted out due to concupiscence or some other vice