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Thomas E. Davitt — “St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law”
Short version:
1. Meaning of Law
For Aquinas, law is not merely written rules but a rational ordering in the mind of someone with authority, directing means toward the common good and then promulgated. A speed-limit example shows that the true “law” is the legislators’ rational judgment that a certain speed promotes safety.
2. Meaning of “Natural”
“Natural” refers to the nature of a thing—its built-in principles directing it to fulfillment. These appear as dynamic inclinations (e.g., a rosebush’s drive to produce roses). Human nature likewise expresses itself through characteristic inclinations.
3. Human Inclinations and the Structure of Natural Law
Aquinas identifies three levels of human inclinations:
- • Shared with all beings: drive to perfection/happiness.
- • Shared with animals: self-preservation, sexual union, species survival.
- • Properly human: life in community, use of intellect and will.
These inclinations reveal an ordered structure aimed at personal flourishing and the good of the community. Because ordered tendencies require an intellectual cause, Aquinas infers that this order reflects the Eternal Law, the rational plan of the Creator. Natural law is thus the promulgation of the Eternal Law in human inclinations themselves.
4. How Natural Law Is Known
Humans recognize natural law through connatural knowledge: by knowing their inclinations, they judge immediately that what fulfills them is good (e.g., preserving life, living socially, respecting property, regulating sexuality, using reason rightly). Anthropology shows the universality of these elementary judgments.
5. Does Natural Law Change?
The inclinations do not change, but judgments about how to apply them may vary:
- • They may be distorted by bad education, habits, or cultural influence (e.g., suicide cults).
- • They may legitimately vary when goods are weighed through reason (e.g., self-sacrifice for a greater good).
Thus the first principles are constant, while secondary applications adapt to circumstances.
6. Natural Law vs. Revealed Law
Natural law does not depend on Scripture or religious authority; it is known by reason, and its core principles were recognized by thinkers like Plato and Cicero. Revelation may coincide with natural law, but it does not define it.
7. Natural Law and Human Legislation
Natural law provides basic direction, not detailed rules. It functions like a compass: it tells lawmakers why to make laws (e.g., protect life), but not how (e.g., what exact speed limit to set). Legislators must use reasoning, precedent, and empirical study to specify laws.
8. Broader Legal Implications
Natural law grounds fundamental rights, supports personal responsibility in crime (mens rea), guides balances in tort and property law, and underlies equity—the resort to principles deeper than statutes when justice requires.
9. Final Insight
Attempts to reject natural law usually smuggle it back in under new terms (“fundamental principles,” “jural postulates”). Aquinas’s account remains a foundational “compass” for moral and legal reasoning because it is rooted in real features of human nature.
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Full version:
Thomas E. Davitt, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law
I. Introduction
A. Purpose of the essay
- • • Clarify Aquinas’s precise meaning of law and natural.
B. Approach
- • • Start with observable phenomena → analyze inclinations → identify rational order → arrive at natural law.
II. What Aquinas Means by “Law”
A. Initial descriptive sense
- • • Law as a rule/measure of action.
B. Deeper analysis: essence of law
- • • Not merely written words → law is an ordering of means to an end in the mind of one with authority.
C. Illustrative example: speed limit
- 1. 1 Legislators aim at the common good (public safety).
- 1. 2 They judge a particular speed as the proper means.
- 2. 3 The directive judgment is the law; promulgation makes it known.
D. Summary
- • • Law = rational ordering for the common good + authority + promulgation.
III. What Aquinas Means by “Natural”
A. Nature as intrinsic principle
- • • That which makes a thing what it is and directs its development.
B. Dynamic inclinations
- • • Internal tendencies toward fulfillment and toward needed means.
- • • Example: rosebush producing roses.
IV. Foundations of Natural Law
A. Method: start with human inclinations
B. Three categories of human inclinations
- 1. 1 Shared with all beings
- • ◦ Drive to perfection/happiness (ultimate good).
- 1. 2 Shared with animals
- • ◦ Self-preservation, sexual union, preservation of species.
- 2. 3 Proper to rational beings
- • ◦ Desire to live in community; use of intellect and will.
C. Why inclinations matter
- • • They reveal order toward goods, both individual and communal.
V. Deriving Natural Law from Natural Order
A. Observed order requires an intellectual cause
- • • Complex, recurrent order → not by chance → must come from reason.
B. No human created this order → cause is divine
- • • Order in inclinations reflects the Eternal Law (divine reason).
C. Definition
- • • Natural Law = the promulgation of the Eternal Law through human inclinations.
VI. How Humans Know the Natural Law
A. Connatural knowledge
- • • Humans intuit that fulfilling natural inclinations is good; contradicting them is bad.
B. Immediate basic moral judgments
- • • Preserve life; avoid random killing.
- • • Regulate sexuality; avoid promiscuity.
- • • Live in community; respect “mine” and “thine.”
- • • Use reason properly.
C. Universality
- • • Anthropology confirms these judgments across cultures.
VII. Does the Natural Law Change?
A. Inclinations themselves are unchanging.
B. Judgments can vary in two ways:
- 1. 1 Corrupted judgments
- • ◦ Due to education, environment, or habit (e.g., suicide cult).
- 1. 2 Legitimate variation through reasoning
- • ◦ Goods must be weighed (e.g., self-sacrifice for the common good).
C. Conclusion
- • • First principles unchangeable; secondary applications adaptable.
VIII. Distinguishing Natural Law from Revealed Law
A. Natural law ≠ commandments of Scripture
B. Known by reason alone; accessible to all cultures.
C. Thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Grotius, Locke recognized natural law independently of revelation.
IX. The Natural Law as Compass, Not Rulebook
A. Natural law gives general directives, not precise legal rules.
B. Legislators must determine specifics through:
- • • Reasoning (deductive & inductive)
- • • Experiments, precedent, empirical study
C. Example: Natural law says “protect life,” not “speed limit = 40 mph.”
D. Analogy
- • • Compass → points direction; navigator must chart course.
X. Paradox of Denying Natural Law
A. Attempts to reject natural law reintroduce it under new labels
- • • “jural postulates,” “self-evident principles,” “substantial justice,” etc.
B. Shows the inescapability of basic moral judgments.
XI. Implications for Legal Fields
A. Constitutional law
- • • Fundamental rights grounded in nature; not easily altered.
B. Criminal law (mens rea)
- • • Individual responsibility based on free will.
C. Torts (civil wrongs)
- • • Balance between private and common good; real liability requires free action.
D. Property rights
- • • Grounded in natural distinction between “mine” and “thine” and human capacity to add value.
E. Equity
- • • Natural law as final recourse where statutes fail.
XII. Concluding Reflections
A. Aquinas’s concept of law is uniquely clear and foundational.
B. Later natural-law theorists often distorted his original meaning.
C. Natural law persists in legal thought because it corresponds to a real moral structure in human nature.
D. Aquinas provides a “compass” for legal and moral reasoning still relevant today.