NATURAL LAW

The light of reason is placed by nature in every man to guide him in his acts.
– ST. THOMAS AQUINAS –

Every culture, every people agree this universally accepted norm: “DO GOOD AND
AVOID EVIL”. We have to remember that a good lawyer must be both critical (use of reason and
a deep sense of self) and a jurist – precisely because the application of the law is a juridical
exercise, but an appropriate interpretation of the law in a particular situation must also be based
upon the lawyer’s critical/intellectual competence. Since the application of the law requires the
proper use of reason, faith is a necessary pre-requisite in addition to have a sound jurisprudence.

The moral principle – Do good and avoid evil – is somehow a template for man to act
accordingly. In fact, some people might argue that these behaviors are commonplace today. Many
people cheat on their spouses, falsify tax returns and public documents, arrange for the destruction
of their unborn babies (in the name of freedom/free choice), and even destroy the dignity of others.
Can we say that these people are fully aware of their wrongdoings? Surely –Yes – they were very
much aware of them. Many commit adultery but they don’t want to be betrayed in return. Many
are tax evaders but they do not want to be cheated by others. No abortionist wants in the
instruments of his/her trade to be turned against his/her own limbs and vital organs. So even those
who act against the most basic moral precepts bear witness to those same precepts by their own
personal aversions and by their deepest sense of justice. In other words, people may not behave
justly, but they want others to act justly toward them1.
Some people try to raise doubts about the possibility of universal moral norms. Like for
instance: your statement is not absolute it is always relative, or you should never impose your
morality on other people, faith, belief so on and so forth. Let us remember this: in rejecting
morality, people must paradoxically embrace a morality that is opposite and equally imposing 2. If
you are in court “do not immediately reject the idea of others. It is precisely because by directly

1
Cf. HAHN, S., op.cit., pp. 40-41.
2
Cf. HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 41.
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rejecting them – you are somewhat affirming the idea. You may have to say “this is the right one”
or “your idea is incorrect”.
You know people will usually recognize evil as such, even if they are reluctant to recognize
good. Some might look at an apparently heroic action and imagine a selfish motive behind it – the
desire for fame, or praise or monetary reward. Others (people) will hesitate to call evil by its
name3. If we take a look, evil is the perversion of something good, the opposite of something good,
the refusal or denial of something good. If we judged something evil, we somehow acknowledged
a TRANSCENDENT standard of GOOD. We ourselves have placed the world under a law 4. We
have to bear in mind that the notion of Transcendent Standard – is the notion that the common
good is greater than the individual good5. We are aware of the “actions universally condemned by
civil law and common morals. Such condemnations are among the moral truths that human beings
naturally know. These norms witness to something that philosophers describe as the NATURAL
LAW”6.
What is NATURAL LAW? Natural law is not only universally human; it is however
distinctively human. It is in consonant with the “law of nature” that governs the movements of
non-human creatures; but it is not identical with that law, because for other creatures, law is
inexorable. Gravity, for instance, cannot be disobeyed. Neither can animal instinct 7. Human
persons have the authority/right of choice: we, humans, can choose certain actions and avoid
others. According to NATURAL LAW, we should do good and avoid evil8.

Law – theologically → expresses the will of God9.

Law of Nature (lex naturae) → universal moral law, believed by some theologians to be
given by God to all persons or accessible to them through the use of their reason in relation to the
order found in nature10.

3
HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 42.
4
Cf. HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 42.
5
Cf. HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 42.
6
HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 43.
7
HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 43.
8
Cf. HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 43.
9
Cf. McKIM, D., op.cit., Voice: Law, p. 180.
10
McKIM, D., op.cit., Voice: Law of Nature, p. 180.
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 Natural Law (lex naturalis) → the moral law imposed by God within all persons.
Aristotelian and Stoic ethics led to a natural law theory to account for a natural moral awareness
among persons11.
Common good → the ultimate objective of juridical regulations, namely the “sum total of
social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment
more fully and more easily12. This fulfillment is the basis of natural subjective rights.

According to Russell Hittinger “Natural Law” ↔ the first grace → because it is every
human being’s direct participation in God’s eternal law 13. For Divine Law is written in the very
heart of the human person. Law is an ontological reality. It is indeed rooted in his very being.
Therefore, it is innate in the human person.

 NATURAL LAW – the premise of the natural law is that every human being has an
intrinsic ius suum which is not of human making. In other words, there is a lasting and
constant willingness to give each one his right. For St. Thomas – what is due – a just
thing.
 POSITIVE LAW – is a concrete, historical realization of this ontological reality of
Natural Law, an objectivation of a subjective reality. We have to remember that LAW
is therefore MORAL rather than JURIDICAL. Positive Law → actualizes Natural Law
in an objective and universal will. The danger here is POSITIVISM: totalitarian
regimes like fascism or national socialism or communism make the law into an
administration of sanctions. No Positive Law, which has to be formulated in general
and abstract terms, can be considered definitive and exhaustive. This is precisely why a
JUDGE is needed: he/she interprets the LAW in a particular situation. By doing so, a
civil judge creates jurisprudence that might become law as well / or per analogia iuris.
We have to bear in mind that the human person always transcends the law; juridical
regulations cannot cover every possible situation and need flexibility and may need revision
over the time. Hence, that POSITIVE LAW must translate the fundamental rights of the

11
McKIM, D., op.cit., Voice: Natural Law, p. 208.
12
GAUDIUM et SPES 26.
13
HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 43.
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 human of the human person. It must express and value the human dignity. Positive Law
must be fragmentary because of its strict relation to the fact that human beings cannot be
fully socialized, but always retain aspects of being that are private. Positive Law → can
only regulate those personal dimensions that can be socialized. Just as many language
exist, and as a language develops over time to accommodate new needs, legislators must
constantly seek improvement.
Positive Law → is the expression of culture of a particular social group, but it
carries the note of universality from its foundation in the nature of man. Thus, at the
fundamental level of its origin because of Positive law in Natural Law (e.g. respect to
human dignity), Positive Law and Human Conscience 14 cannot be separated. If positive
laws are just, we must not receive merely nominal obedience, since the deeper purpose of
the law (that the social moral values of society be strengthened) would not be fulfilled.
However, there is always a distinction. In a totalitarian state moral conscience is placed
beneath the juridical order. If the law fails to protect human beings it is immoral/incorrect
and must be disobeyed.
Conceptually, human nature is an abstraction that transcends space and time.
However, it exists concretely within history in singular human beings. It is only on the
basis of this commonality that individual human being can be interpreted as such.
Positive Law → is a publicly expressed normative interpretation of human nature.
Since action follows being rather than vice versa, the individual personally transcends
positive law whether or not it is just.

NATURAL LAW has two dimensions:

1. ONTOLOGICAL dimension → valid for eternity, immutable.
2. HISTORICAL dimension → the reasonableness of the principles inserted in nature (by
God) in harmony with the ratio essendi of man.

14
GAUDIUM et SPES 16 «In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself,
but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when
necessary speaks to his heart: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very
dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There
he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is
fulfilled by love of God and neighbor».
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# PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO NATURAL LAW

PLATO → the idealistic thinking of Plato distinguishes the world of pure unchangeable
values and ideas and a world of observable and continuously changing objects. The world of ideas
is seen as more true, as more existing than the world of sensorial observable objects. In other
words, beauty as an idea is more real that the multitude of beautiful things around us. The world of
ideas is REAL and the things that we see around us are just mere reflections from the IDEAL
WORLD. What makes something great is that it partakes of GREATNESS itself and what makes
something just is that it partakes of JUSTICE itself. These general concepts Plato calls IDEAS.
He distinguishes what is VISIBLE (observable with the senses) and INVISIBLE (ideas).
Furthermore, Plato goes on to elaborate his theory of Forms, he introduces the concepts of
the two worlds: the world of forms (non-physical ideas) and the world of sense (reality). While the
world of forms is REAL and PERMANENT, the world of sense is TEMPORARY and only a
REPLICA of the ideal world. Plato claims that the sensible world is dependent on the ideal world
where the concept of the soul belongs. Since the soul is regarded as something permanent, man
should give more importance to it than physical body which resides in the world of sense 15. This
corresponds to the distinction of senses and soul. Plato’s philosophy, then, can be explained as a
process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul. He introduces the idea of the soul: reason,
physical appetite, and spirit or passion.

a) REASON – is the divine essence that enables man to think deeply, make wise
choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths.
b) PHYSICAL APPETITE – includes our basic biological needs such as hunger,
thirst, and sexual desires.
c) SPIRIT or PASSION – includes basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition,
aggressiveness, and empathy. These three elements of man are in dynamic
relationship with one another, sometimes in conflict.

Here, Plato believes it is the responsibility of REASON to sort things out and exert control,
restoring a harmonious relationship among the three elements of man. This harmonious integration
15
GO-MONILLA, MA. J. – RAMIREZ, N., Understanding the Self, Quezon City 2018, p. 7.
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under the control of REASON is the essence of Plato’s concept of JUSTICE. As such, if man lives
in accordance to his nature, then he is giving justice to his existence16.

ARISTOTLE → he argued the idea of Plato. He said ideas should not be placed in a
transcendental reality, but in the things themselves. He believes that the soul is merely a set of
defining features and does not consider the body and soul as separate entities. He suggests that
anything with life has a soul. Aristotle holds that the soul is the essence of all living things. Thus,
the soul is the essence of the human person. However, humans differ from other living things
because of their capacity for rational thinking. His discussion about the human person centers on
the kinds of soul possessed by man. Thus, he introduces the three kinds of soul: vegetative,
sentient, and rational.

a) Vegetative soul – includes the physical body that can grow.

b) Sentient soul – includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions.
c) Rational soul – is what makes man truly human. It includes the intellect that allows
man to know and understand things.

Thus, Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of human person is to lead a good,
flourishing, and fulfilling life (self-actualization). The pursuit of happiness is a search for a good
life that includes doing virtuous actions. In saying this, he posits that part of the rational soul is
characterized by moral virtues such as justice and courage17.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS → Natural Law – nature as a teleological order, in which

certain truths or ideas are immanent. The striving power towards an end he calls the inclination
naturalis. The general pattern in which all thing strives for their end, present in the mind of God as
a divine plan. He calls the lex aeterna – God is the one who lays out NATURAL LAW.
↔ Thomas sees man as standing on the separating line between the two worlds of ideas and
senses. He says that man is distinct from the rest of nature through REASON and FREEDOM.
Man knows that there is a direction in nature, lex naturalis, and he has the freedom to follow it or

16
GO-MONILLA, MA. J. – RAMIREZ, N., op. cit., pp. 6-7.
17
GO-MONILLA, MA. J. – RAMIREZ, N., op. cit., pp. 7-8.
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not. The highest principle of lex naturalis is to do good and avoid evil. Good, for example,
searching for the truth about God, living in community with others, the unity of man (husband) and
woman (wife) in marriage and raising children.

# ST. THOMAS ON NATURAL LAW

St. Thomas posits the idea of Natural law as human participation in the eternal law. All
creatures are ordered to an end, have natures whose fulfillment is what it is because of those
natures. It is not peculiar to man that he is fashioned so as to find his good in the fulfillment of his
nature. Man indeed is free to direct himself or not to his true end. For Thomas, good means what
is sought as fulfilling of the seeker. The first judgment: the good should be done and pursued and
evil is avoided. Natural law consists of the criterions of goodness; we have the natural inclinations
to such goods: existence, family, society. Natural law, however, refers to objects of natural
inclinations to overall or integral good. Moral philosophy reposes on natural law precepts as
common presuppositions.
By following Aristotle’s idea, St. Thomas says man is by nature a social or political animal
– he does not mean that each of us has a tendency to enter into social contracts. The nature in this
sense is what is not CHOSEN, but GIVEN, and what is given about human life is that we are in the
first place born into the community of the family are dependent on it for years in order to survive,
and that we flourish as human beings within various larger social and political communities.

# THEOLOGICAL VIEW: NATURAL LAW, DIVINE LAW and POSITIVE

LAW

Natural law → → → is written into man’s heart (Rom 2:15) and can be known by reason.
Thomas Aquinas posited the idea that our reason participates in the same reason that
belongs to God who created us in His own image and likeness. Thus, natural law is
an “ontological reality” (part of who we are).

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 ↓→ → → made concrete in positive law, even though in a fragmentary and incomplete
way. A juridical order is just only if it is according to Divine Law, both natural and
revealed, historically comprehended and actualized by man with the grace of God.

Positive law → → → is the first social knowledge of the Natural Law: it regulates man’s
socialization within the community and helps him become more human.
The full realization of the person will come at the eschaton – end and fulfillment of
his being and full enrichment of his humanness. Only then will each person be fully
human, that is, completed in communion with God and others.

Divine law → → → pertains to the essence of the Church/community and is given to men through
the revelation expressed by its Founder, while positive law pertains to the
historical institution forms that the Church/community assumes. To frame positive
laws that promote and protect the essence of the Church/community requires an
understanding of what the essence of Church/community means.

CONCLUSION

The natural law is a beautiful reality, an empirically verifiable fact of creation 18. Natural
law is the foundation of every positive law, whether within or outside. Natural law therefore exists
in order to prepare human beings for supernatural grace. Grace does not destroy nature, but builds
and enhances upon it, repairs its very privation, perfects it, and then elevates it 19. It is our common
nature that gives us a common language for conversation. And it is in this common language that
we can begin to proclaim our reasons to believe20.

18
HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 44.
19
Cf. HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 54.
20
HAHN, S., op.cit., p. 55.
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