Natural Law

In philosophy, natural law refers to an intrinsic system of values derived from God, nature, or reasoning, rather than from legislation created in society, that all beings inherently possess in governing their ethics. Technically, the term “natural law” is ambiguous. It refers to a kind of moral theory as well as a kind of legal theory. Although these kinds of theories are independent, they occasionally (or perhaps often) overlap. In the theory of morality, the standards of morality are derived from the nature of the world and human beings. In particular, St. Thomas Aquinas defines moral law as the rational nature of human beings, stating that “the rule and measure of human acts is the reason”. It is only morally appropriate for human beings to act in a way that logically suits their rationality since they are rational beings by nature. Hence, according to Aquinas’s definition, natural law is essentially moral law derived from the nature of human beings. On the other hand, the theory of law deals with the relationship of morality to law. According to this theory, there is no apparent line between the concept of law and the concept of morality. This theory argues that there are at least some laws that existed before human convention - there are particular laws and norms that may command high authority in their logical relationship to morality, even where there is no official human convention that validates this law and moral merit legally. This is called the Overlap Thesis. Strictly speaking though, these theories are independent. John Austin, in particular, supported the natural law theory of morality yet denied the theory of law. It is worth noting that Austin, as a utilitarian, accepted an objectivist moral theory and that utilitarians occasionally seem to suggest that they derive their utilitarianism from facts about human nature. According to Jeremy Bentham, the founder of modern utilitarianism, “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure” and it is these concepts of human nature that command our standards of right and wrong. Hence, from this logic, one supporting the natural law theory of morality is also denying the natural law theory of law. In general, what follows the natural law is right and whatever opposes the natural law is essentially wrong.