natural law - supplementary

8/12/2019 Natural Law - Supplementary

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T H E I N T E L L E C T U A L I N F L U E N C E O F

N A T U R A L L A W

Natural Law - supplementary


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Intellectual Influence of Natural Law

The Stoicsancient Greek and Romanphilosophical movement, placing emphasis onliving in accord with nature; we are able to learn

the lessons of nature, the Stoics believed, by thepower of reason

the active man should be able to take thingseasily, while the man who is inclined to repose

should be capable of action. Ask nature; she willtell you that she made both day and night.(Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 3)


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The Stoics

The person in tune with nature avoids becoming sentimentally attached tothe ways and world of men, in particular the sophisticated social worldwith its emphasis on status, wealth and all the habits and customs whichserve only to mask mans direct connection with nature

Self-sufficiency, avoidance of over-emotional attachment to things orpeople

You ask what is the proper limit to a persons wealth? First, having what isessential, and second, having what is enough. (Seneca, Letters from aStoic, Letter 2)

Key assumptionmankind has a core essencewhich will be the same forall peoples and at all times, though this may be reflected more or lessclosely in different cultures at different times

This was certainly also the opinion of Aristotle;

Of political justice, part is natural, part legal natural, that whicheverywhere has the same force and does not exist by peoples thinkingthis or that. (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Bk 5, section 7)


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The Stoics

In contrast to Aristotle, whose philosophy soughtout the differences between things in order toisolate their essence, the Stoics emphasised a

unity of essence throughout the cosmosaninterconnectednesshuman nature was one partof the cosmic order

Their cosmology placed rational order at the

heart of things; human reason was thus a sparkof the creative fire, Logos, which ordered andunified the cosmos


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Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106Bc43BC)philosopher, lawyer, consul in Rome, laidfoundations of justice in Roman law

True law is right reason in agreement with nature: it is of universal application,unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands and averts fromwrongdoing by its prohibitionsWe cannot be freed from its obligations by senateor people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter

of it. (Cicero, De Re Publica, III, xxii) Note the common theme in Natural Law which is inherently radical;

Aristotle: *Natural justice+ everywhere has the same force and does not exist bypeoples thinking this or that. (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)

Aquinas: A tyrannical law, since it is not in accord with reason, is notunconditionally a law, but is, rather, a perversion of law (Aquinas, SummaTheologiae, IaIIae, 92.1)

Positive law, the institutions, interests and governments which are underpinned byit, is vulnerable to dissent and potential overthrow by those among the populationwho are convinced that there is a higher, natural justice

Strands of this tradition were upheld and elaborated by, among others, Grotiusand John Locke


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The Universal Declaration

of Human Rights PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the humanfamily is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged theconscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech andbelief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyrannyand oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental humanrights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and havedetermined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, thepromotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the fullrealization of this pledge,


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The Universal Declaration

of Human Rights

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMANRIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that everyindividual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive byteaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressivemeasures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition andobservance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples ofterritories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason andconscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction

of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or socialorigin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of thepolitical, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs,whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.


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Culture and Natural LawFrankenstein

(Romanticism after the Enlightenment)

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley

It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of lifearound me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at myfeet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes,

and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguishedlight, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsivemotion agitated its limbs.

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretchwhom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were inproportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! Hisyellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was ofa lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriancesonly formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of thesame colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelledcomplexion and straight black lips.

I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into aninanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it withan ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty ofthe dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.


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Culture and Natural Law - Metropolis

Dystopic film of 1927, Fritz

Lang , depicting a technical

society divorced from nature


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The Importance of Purpose (telos) in

Aquinas thought Distinction between primary and secondary precepts

secondary precepts derived from primary, positive lawsderived from natural laws

E.g.The primary, natural precept, Self preservation and

the preservation of the innocent gives us, among othersecondary precepts, Do not abort the unborn.

The primary precepts are those which can be read directlyfrom nature, the secondary are inferred from these. It ismore certain to infer positives (self-preservation) from theorganization of nature than negatives (no abortion)

Natures Purpose, End, Telos, is always implied and takesprecedence


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Aristotles Metaphysics God as Cause

Yet if God is the first mover, this must mean that in (him) there is nopotential for action, only full actualityotherwise there would have hadto have been something outside, before him to actualise the potential

So in what sense is he the cause of anything at all?

*The Good+ seems different in different actions and different arts *skills+;it is different in medicine, in strategy and the other arts likewise. Whatthen is the good of each? Surely that for which the sake of everything elseis done. In medicine, this is health, in strategy victory, in architecture ahouse (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1.7)

It is in this sense, as an End (that for the sake of which everything else isdone) which is the nature of Gods causation

God is in effect like the plan for a building; the bricks are moved, cementmixed, wages paid and all, for the sake of the plan. Each thing in nature,strives to perfect its own essence the closer to take part in the plan; he isthat special form of cause which Aristotle designates the final cause

natural law - supplementary

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