The rule of law: Natural, human, and divine

2008

For many, a central task of science is the discovery and formulation of the laws of nature. This characterisation of the scientific enterprise, although almost a commonplace today, is nevertheless of recent origin, more or less contemporary with the birth of modern science. It originated in the seventeenth century, when the leaders of the scientific revolution liked to describe their procedures as a break away from Greek science, as transmitted by the medieval scholastics. Laws of nature were introduced as a rival explanation of natural phenomena, which was meant to replace the Aristotelian categories. This article explores the characteristics of the modern concept of natural law, explains its possible biblical and theological roots and asks the extent to which this background can help us gain a renewed understanding of the scientific concept.

Since the dawn of civilisation humans have grappled with the problem of the genesis of the cosmos. It could not have happened of its own accord: the origin of the earth, humankind, flora and fauna had to be accounted for. They found it in creator gods, nature, natural laws and, especially, human activity. Little was left to chance. The S&R dialogue is the latest episode in the history of genesis thinking. God’s role in the origin of the universe remains a major bugbear. The article examines episodes in genesis thinking and some important developments up to the present in physical science, philosophy, theology and jurisprudence. These sciences all passed through much the same evolution. They discovered laws that determined the origin of things and these were intimately linked with God or the supernatural. Round about the time of the scientific revolution the various sciences started making a distinction between nature and super-nature and the laws governing the order of nature were explored independently (empirically and rationally). Nowadays very few disciplines, in their respective fields, reduce the origin to law(s). Indeed, the notion of law being the origin is considered reductionist. Genesis thinking has to allow for a multiplicity of factors governing reality and find meaning in that complexity.

The British Journal for the History of Science, 2010

Fundamina, 2018

The aim of this paper is to investigate different meanings of the concept of natural law in the history of ideas since the early Greeks. Texts of Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics are briefly examined, followed by an analysis of some well-known texts of Roman law. Although natural law is generally-speaking linked with human equality, it appears from this investigation that sometimes in antiquity, natural law is also invoked to underpin human inequality. A parallel is drawn with natural-law philosophy in the twentieth century. On the one hand, we find that the link between natural law and human equality is most often maintained, but on the other hand we also find invocations of natural law to justify societal exclusion. Is this the reason for the intrinsic weakness of natural-law philosophy?

Kościół i Prawo, 2017

2009

The goal of this essay is to provide an account of the philosophy of law which establishes the moral and practical appeal of one legal theory, natural law theory, above another, legal positivism. It does not aim to definitively overturn legal positivism, to deny the value of that theory, or to establish natural law theory as the absolute paramount of legal theories. Its aim, rather, is to effectively argue that natural law theory provides a better means of achieving social happiness than legal positivism can. It is a systematic approach, rather than an historical one, although historical evidence is cited at various points. It locates the particular problems facing an account of the philosophy of law, and addresses those problems using practical reasoning. The essay consists of seven sections and a conclusion. Section one establishes the conceptual location of the philosophy of law, describes its methodology, and identifies the purpose and possible scope of that philosophy. Section two discusses the external parameters of law, focusing particularly upon the relation between law and morality as envisioned by legal positivism and natural law theory. Section three outlines the argument presented by Aristotle that natural law provides a concrete means of attaining happiness, thus providing a justification for participation in a political community as well as the adoption of natural law theory. Section four addresses the question of political obligation. Section five then provides an account of the necessary criteria of legal authority which makes that obligation binding. Section six proceeds to discuss the notion of human rights, while section seven considers the justification of punishment in the context of such rights. Finally, a conclusion is presented, which summarizes the main themes addressed and reaffirms why natural law theory is of greater moral and practical appeal.

Philosophy and Society, 2022

The concept of natural law is fundamental to political philosophy, ethics, and legal thought. The present article argues against reductionist view of natural law and shows that as early as the ancient Greek philosophical tradition, three main ideas of natural law existed, which run in parallel through the philosophical works of many authors in the course of history. The first two approaches are based on the understanding that although equipped with reason, humans are nevertheless still essentially animals subject to biological instincts. The first approach defines natural law as the law of the strongest, which can be observed to hold among all members of the animal kingdom. The second conception presents natural law as the principle of self-preservation, inherent as an instinct in all living beings. The third approach, also developed in antiquity, shifts the focus to our rationality and develops the idea of natural law as the law of reason within us. Some Christian thinkers who consider the origin of reason in us to be divine identify the law of reason inherent in us with God’s will. This paper gives a brief exposition of the development of these three concepts of natural law in the philosophical tradition with emphasis on the intertwining of these three concepts, which we, however, understand as primary and essentially independent. The paper concludes with an overview of 20th-century authors who exclusively focus on only one of the three concepts. The aim of this article is to argue against these one-sided interpretations mostly based on Thomistic tradition and to uphold the independence and distinctness of the three historical conceptions of natural law.

„Acta Iuris Stetinensis” 2024, No 3 (49), pp. 125–156, 2024

The aim of this study is to discuss information on the origins of natural law (ius naturale) in Etymologiae (Etymologiarum sive Originarum libri XX) written by St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636). Such a choice of the subject matter seems reasonable mainly because research on Christian concepts of natural law as a rule places the study of St. Thomas Aquinas's natural law theory as its focal point. Previous Christian concepts are only briefly touched upon. Meanwhile, they have immense historical significance that have determined the entire Christian reflection on the idea of natural law since as early as the 13th century. The research allows a conclusion that the definition of natural law constructed by St. Isidore of Seville, along with the examples presented in his Etymologiae, is an exceptional creation that has no clear archetype in juridical and non-juridical sources. It quite clearly presents elements taken from Ulpian. However, the very essence of natural law as a normative system, that connects all people (not people and animals) due to their "natural instinct" (instinctus naturae) and that is independent of the will of the positive legislator, remains under a marked influence of the Christian thought.