Download Classical Natural Law Theory

Classical Natural Law Theory
All forms of natural law theory subscribe to the Overlap Thesis, which asserts that there is some
kind of non-conventional relation between law and morality. According to this view, then, the
notion of law cannot be fully articulated without some reference to moral notions. Though the
Overlap Thesis may seem unambiguous, there are a number of different ways in which it can be
interpreted.
The strongest construction of the Overlap Thesis forms the foundation for the classical
naturalism of Aquinas and Blackstone.
Aquinas distinguishes four kinds of law:
(1) eternal law;
(2) natural law;
(3) human law; and
(4)
divine law.
Eternal law is about those laws that govern the nature of an eternal universe; as Susan
Dimock (1999, 22) puts it, one can “think of eternal law as comprising all those scientific
(physical, chemical, biological, psychological, etc.) ‘laws’ by which the universe is ordered.”
Divine law is concerned with those standards that must be satisfied by a human being to
achieve eternal salvation. One cannot discover divine law by natural reason alone; the precepts
of divine law are disclosed only through divine revelation.
The natural law comprises those precepts of the eternal law that govern the behavior of
beings possessing reason and free will. The first precept of the natural law, according to Aquinas,
is the somewhat vacuous imperative to do good and avoid evil. Here it is worth noting that
Aquinas holds a natural law theory of morality: what is good and evil, according to Aquinas, is
derived from the rational nature of human beings. Good and evil are thus both objective and
universal.
But Aquinas is also a natural law legal theorist. On his view, a human law (that is, that
which is promulgated by human beings) is valid only insofar as its content conforms to the
content of the natural law; as Aquinas puts the point: “[E]very human law has just so much of the
nature of law as is derived from the law of nature. But if in any point it deflects from the law of
nature, it is no longer a law but a perversion of law” (ST I-II, Q.95, A.II). To paraphrase
Augustine’s famous remark, an unjust law is really no law at all.
The idea that a norm that does not conform to the natural law cannot be legally valid is the
defining thesis of conceptual naturalism. As William Blackstone describes the thesis, “This law
of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in
obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no
human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their
force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original” (1979, 41).
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Divine Command Theory
As you prepare to turn to the readings included in this chapter, you might notice that
none of them articulates a view that you could suppose a lot of individuals hold,
namely that what makes an act right is God’s commanding one to do it. Nancy Gibbs
points out in her article “Love and Let Die,” that for thousands of individuals, their
stance on mercy killing is based on theological concerns. Moral theories that identify
the moral realm with the will of God are known as divine command theories. A
deontological theory, divine command theories take God’s will to be the foundation
of morality. What is right is what God commands and what is wrong is what God
forbids. Such a view is suggested by Malcolm Muggeridge’s comments in “Love and
Let Die,” when he notes, “Our Lord healed the sick, raised Lazarus from the dead,
gave back sanity to the deranged, but never did He practice or envisage killing as part
of the mercy that held possession of His heart.” Divine command theories are also
suggested by those individuals who look to religious texts such as the Bible or the
Koran as the basis for moral beliefs. For many Americans, the Ten Commandments
provide a foundation not only for one’s religious beliefs but one’s moral beliefs as
well.
Divine command theory raises an interesting and thorny issue for the student of
philosophy: whether morality necessarily rests on the will of God. As an exercise in
further developing your philosophical skills of analysis, try and identify some of the
reasons on both sides of this complex issue. What are some reasons that might lead
us to think that morality does rest on God’s will? What are the weaknesses of this
view? After examining both sides of this issue, write a brief essay that begins with
the thesis, “Morality does/does not necessarily depend on God’s commands.”
It is important to note that one need not ascribe to a divine command theory of
ethics merely because one is religious or has strong religious beliefs. In this chapter,
Bishop Joseph Butler defends a moral theory that while making room for the
significance of God doesn’t identify morality with God’s will. Similarly, Chapter Two
includes a selection from Saint Thomas Aquinas in which he spells out his natural law
theory, which maintains that by virtue of how God created us, we have access to
basic moral principles consistent with our nature.