Roots of Natural Law

Roots of Natural Law can be found in the Ancient Greek & Roman world, examples of such are;

1. "Antigone" written in the 5th Century BC, is a play describing a sister breaking the laws of Creon, ruler of Thebes, in order to bury her brother according to the immortal laws of God (nature), which required the dead to be buried.

2. The Stoics, 3rd Century BC, emphasised the importance of "logos" or the rationality that governs the world and sees human nature as part of one natural order. Considered Natural Law a law of RIGHT REASON.

3. Roman Lawyer CICERO formulated the classic description of natural law, "True law is right reason in agreement with nature".

4. Aristotle (pictured above) also around in the 3rd Century BC is pivotal in the development of natural law becaue of his ideas of an action being good if it achieves a GOOD END & the idea of PRACTICAL REASON.

- The idea that if an action achieved good it is good (some may say extrinsically) may be described as somewhat teleological as the end seems to justify the means. However as Aristotle found, there is more than one END to an action...

...eg. The use of sleeping pills aim to allow the user to benefit from good sleep. This sleep is SUBORDINATE to the overall good end of health.

Aristotle therefore concludes that all actions must aim towards an ULTIMATE GOOD that is not subordinate to any other.

- What is the ultimate good? Aristotle claims that it is difficult to establish a definite judgement as all ethics roots from "true but obscure judgements". He assumes therefore that within humans there are NATURAL TENDENCIES that guide us towards a moral life. Ethics has a natural basis rather than arbitrary and we therefore use REASON.

This natural reason known as Practical Reason relies on humans being emotionally balanced.

Emotional balance relies on; REPRODUCTION, FEELING, SENSING, THINKING, CHOOSING etc. It is these which give human virtue and allow us to be differentiated from animals. By living a life consisting of such natural activities, practical reason aids us.

- It is this idea that nature provides the tools for moral judgemeent that allowed St Thomas Aquinas to further develop NATURAL LAW into something still used today by the Roman Catholic Church.