The Natural Law: Thomas Aquinas

The Natural
Law
Thomas Aquinas
Do you
believe that
people are
innately
good??
Why? Why not?
Albert Camus, in his book, The Myth
of Sisyphus, posed a question,
"Why will I not kill myself today?"
Rina Jimenez-David, out of her

frustration in our country
Philippines once asked,
"Why would we not just close down

the Philippines?"
Our present age is not impervious
to such attacks of absurdity,
frustration, and near desperation.
History, however, is gracefully
replete with people who have
exerted effort in pointing out a
viable way out of such darkness and
confusion.
Thomas Aquinas begins from the standpoint of
faith. His perspective presupposes the existence
of a God who is the author (source) and the goal
(end) of all reality. This creator for Thomas,
however, relates in freedom with the person and
so enables him/her in freedom to recognize
through reason. In accordance with his
foundational knowledge, the person can choose
to act in such a way that is worthy of one’s
reality. One who can reach the wisdom at the very
heart of all things is obliged to act in
accordance with his/her dignity.
The human being then is said to be gifted
with “the ability to know the highest good”
that engages him in freedom in“choosing to
act on the good that he ought to do”. Freedom
here is knowing the best goal and being able
to reach for it through decisive action.
For Aquinas God reveals His goodwill as the
Eternal Law reflected in order of reality.
Relating with the Law as governing all
things is relating with God Himself whose
will emanates to govern all that is.
The reality then of life as growth,
nutrition, and reproduction is founded on
the will that is eternal.
Human freedom, for Aquinas, therefore, is an
imprint of the divine will in the very
being of a person.
Natural law is man's participation in the
execution of the good and avoidance of evil
through the use of his/her reason and will.
Natural Law necessarily takes precedence
over positive laws. Not all that is legal in
human society reflects the law that
dictates the person as ethical in
accoradance with the natural law- -What is
legal then is not always necessarily moral.
Esti Deus non daretur
This is an expression that highlights the

validity of this ethical system with or without
faith in the Creator God. Literally, esti Deus
non daretur means "even if there is no God."
This implies that the wisdom of the ethical
system that is natural law is valid and binding
for people even if we bracket belief in God.
Conscience and
Natural Law
The ability of man to know is important in

his/her acting ethically. One cannot do the
right even if one does not know what it is. Even
if one does not know, he/she is obliged to know.
If one acts badly out of ignorance and does not
act to rectify the situation by bothering to
learn, that a person is to be held accountable
according to the angelic doctor.
Conscience and
Natural Law
While the conscience absolutely binds us in

doing the good and avoiding evil, conscience
as reason is also absolutely asked to be given
formation.
The conscience therefore can be
mistaken and being so does not exempt
the person from culpability. There are
different kinds of conscience that may
lead us to wrongdoing: callous,
perplexed, scrupulous, and ignorant.
The uninformed conscience simply lacks
education, while perplexed one needs
guidance in sorting out one’s confusion.
The callous and scrupulous are binary
opposites but both are malformed in
being too lax or too strict.
The callousness of the conscience results in the
long-time persistence in doing evil that the
self is no longer concerned whether what he/she
does is good or bad.
Scrupulousness on the other hand fails to trust

one’s ability to do good and hence, overly
concerns itself with avoiding what is bad to the
point of seeing wrong where there really is
none.
Three Contemporary
Questions:
W H O DO I HOW CAN I
W A N T T0 GET
WHO AM I?

BE? THERE?

Who am I?
Assessment of one's own strengths and

weaknesses is critical in being able to do
good and avoid evil. The reality of human
identity is that it is something defined
yet also always in process.
Who do I want to be?
The person's self-knowledge is dynamic, that is,

it is always open to the direction set by what one
wants to make of himself.
Self-knowledge is malleable to self-

determination. ethical acts give direction
through freedom to build up the self towards a
particular goal.
How can I get there?
In truth, How can I get there? also fully utilizes

the sound judgment of human reason and evaluates
the best route to get to the goal decided upon.
The last question breaks down the task to be done
into the particulars of actions and daily
routine. Self-knowledge and self-determination
are bridged by self-governance.
Relational and Perfection of
Love in Aquinas
Although we suspended God-talk to make the case

that natural law is relevant even for a human
person without faith, the discussion of
Thomistic ethics is incomplete if it does not end
with the love that is directed towards God.
The autonomy of ethics from faith afforded a level
of disciplines reflection that enables man to not
only copy the perfection that is God and apply it
himself.
The subjectivity of man and one's search for

fulfillment readily rest on the decision and
voluntary will that one makes.
On the other hand, however, the Divine Will and

also the entirety of all creation cannot be limited
by the scope of satisfaction that is exclusively
chosen by man.
CONCLUSION:
Thomas Aquinas was influential in his
articulation of the theory of Natural Law. He
showed us that the universe was determined by
an order of love that ought to define the sense
of the good of human beings. Whether one
believes in a transcendent, loving God or not,
he showed how people could intuit an order to
things that were inherent to all beings that
existed. Whether one was a believer or not, one
could see that there is this order which is the
ground of people’s wholeness and self–
realization.
Many philosophers up to this day build upon
this idea of a natural order upon which is
founded a natural law. Even in legal theories,
this foundational idea is influential.
However, as the western evolved, other theories
also evolved which insisted that the
foundation of norms for the good should be
rooted in human reason alone. In this school of
thought, Immanuel Kant would be one of the most
important thinkers.

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The Natural

"Why will I not kill myself today?"

Rina Jimenez-David, out of her

"Why would we not just close down

This is an expression that highlights the

The ability of man to know is important in

While the conscience absolutely binds us in

Scrupulousness on the other hand fails to trust

Assessment of one's own strengths and

The person's self-knowledge is dynamic, that is,

Self-knowledge is malleable to self-

In truth, How can I get there? also fully utilizes

Although we suspended God-talk to make the case

The subjectivity of man and one's search for

On the other hand, however, the Divine Will and

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