THE ESSENCE

AND VARIESTIES OF LAW

-THOMAS AQUINAS
 OBJECTIVES
AT THE END OF THE DISCUSSION
STUDENTS CAN ABLE TO;
Understand the Essence and the Varieties of
Law
Distinguish the four kinds of law: eternal law,
natural law, human law, and divine law .
Explain the Varieties of Law
THE ESSENCE OF
LAW
ESSENCE
As rational beings, we have free will. Through
our capacity for reason, we are able to judge
between possibilities and to choose to direct our
actions in one way or the other. Our actions are
directed toward attaining ends or goods that we
desire.
There are many possible desirable ends or goods,
and we act in such ways as to pursue them.
While it is possibleto first suppose that
something is good only to realize later that doing
so was a mistake. It is important for reason to
always be part of the process. Our actions are
rightly directed toward their ends by reason.
But this does not simply mean that through
reason we can figure out how to pursue
something that we already had thoughtlessly
supposed to be good for us; what is necessary is
to think carefully of what really is in fact good
for us.
 In thinking about what is good for us, it is
possible that we end up thinking
exclusively of our own good. Aquinas said it
will not do; we cannot simply act in pursuit
of our own ends or good. We are not
isolated beings, but being who belong to a
community and we consider what is good
for the community as well as our owns
good. This is called the common good.
.
 Since we must consider not only our own good
but also that of others, we cannot act in just
any which way. There would have to be some
kind of measure to our acts. We recognize the
proper measure or the limits in our actions
that would allow us to direct our acts in such
a way that we can pursue ends. Both our own
and also that of others, together. The
determine of the proper measure of our acts
can be referred to as law.
A motorist cannot just drive in any way, he likes, but
must respect traffic rules (e.g. he must place a
maximum speed he can travel on a particular road).
Such a limit or such a rule is something good, for
both him and for others as it helps prevent motor
accidents. As Aquinas puts it, law must regard
properly the relationship to universal happiness.
It is necessary for rules to be communicated to the
people involved in order to enforce them and to be
better ensure compliance. This referred to as
promulgation.
THE VARIETIES
OF LAW
 “He governs all the acts and
movements that are to be found in each
single creature, so the type of Divine
Wisdom, as moving all the things to
their due end, bears the character of
law.”
Aquinas’s Natural Law Theory
contains four different types of
law:
Eternal Law
Natural Law
Human Law
Divine Law
ETERNAL LAW
Eternal law denotes to what God wills for creation
and how each participant in it is projected to return
to Him. However, we cannot fully grasp the eternal
law given our limitations; and it is not completely
unclear to us. We should realize that first, we are
part of the eternal law, and second, we participate in
it in a special way.
“Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal
Reason, whereby it has a natural
inclination to its proper act and end:
and this participation of the eternal law
in the rational creature is called the
natural law.”
HUMAN LAW
refers to all instances where human beings make and
enforce laws in their communities
basis for assessing the validity of a human law is
whether or not it conforms to the natural law
when human law goes against what nature inclines us
toward, it is not properly speaking a law but instead
is unjust and can be called a matter of violence.
DIVINE LAW
-refers to the instances where we have principles or
instructions that come from divine revelation. For
example, we have what is handed down to us in the
sacred Scriptures (e.g., Ten Commandments)

-direct us toward our supernatural end; a

supernatural happiness that can be achieved through
the power of God alone
NATURAL LAW
Natural law holds that there are universal
moral standards that are inherent in
humankind throughout all time, and these
standards should form the basis of a just
society.
Natural law is a theory in ethics and
philosophy that says that human beings
possess intrinsic values that govern their
reasoning and behavior.
Aristotle (384–322 bce)
there was a natural justice valid
everywhere with the same force
and “not existing by people's
thinking this or that,” and that
appeal could be made to it from
positive law.
According to Plato
Natural Law is characterized by its as- sertion
that it is able to find ideal law, i.e., the rules for
the correct and just conduct not only of men but
also of things.

According to Thomas Aquinas

Good is to be done and pursued and evil
avoided.
IN COMMON WITH
OTHER BEINGS
In reading Aquinas, we have to consider how we;
Human beings, are both unique and at the same
time participating in the community of the rest
of creation.
Our presence in the rest of creation does not
only mean that we interact with creatures that
are not human, but that there is also in our
nature something that shares in the nature of
other beings.
For example:
A makahiya leaf folds inward and
protects itself when touched.
A cat cowers and then tries to run away
when it feels threatened.
Aquinas tells us that it is according to
the natural law to preserve human
life. We can thus say that it would be
a violation of the natural law, and
therefore unethical to take the life of
another. Murder, for instance, would
be a clear example of a violation of
the natural law.
On a more controversial note, it seems that
taking one's own life would be unacceptable,
even in the form of physician-assisted suicide.
On a more positive note, we can confidently
deposit that acts that promote the
continuation of life are to be lauded as ethical
because they are in line with the natural law.
IN COMMON WITH
OTHER ANIMALS
In Aquinas, it has been said that
there is in our human nature
common with other animals, a
desire that has to do with sexual
intercourse and the care of one’s
offspring.
The intrinsic connection between the
sexual act and fecundity gives rise to
a number of notions of what is
acceptable and unacceptable.

An ethical issue that is hotly

contested whether abortion is
acceptable or not.
From the stance of natural law, the act of
preventing the emergence of new life
would be considered unacceptable,
perhaps it would be the claims that we
could take more care for the young, to
make sure that they are properly fed,
sheltered and educated.
On the other hand it is bad to abuse
the young, to force children into
hard labor.

to deprive them of basic needs or

otherwise abuse them in a physical
or emotional way.
UNIQUELY HUMAN
 After the first two inclination, Aquinas presents a
third reason which states that we have an inclination
to good according to that nature of our reason. With
this, we have a natural inclination to know the truth
about God and to live in society. It is interest that
this is followed by matters of both an epistemic and
a social concern.
The epistemic concern, which is that we know we
pursue the truth, and the social concern, which is
that we know we live in relation to others.The
question of what particular act would be in line with
these or not is something that we have to determine
for ourselves through the use of reason.
 However, reason is not only another inclination
that we have in par with the others. Instead
reason is the defining part of human nature.
Recognizing how being rational is what is
proper to man. To say that the human being is
rational is to recognize that we should take up
the burden of thinking carefully how a
particular act may or may not be violation of
our nature. it is to take the trouble carefully
about how our acts would either contribute to,
or detract from, the common good.
 In making human laws, additions that are
not at all problematic for natural law are
possible, At first glance, it may seem like
there is nothing "natural'' about obeying
traffic rules or saying taxes.
However if it has been decided that these
contribute to the common good then they
could, in fact be proper extensions of the
natural law. Since our reason has found and
cam find many things that benefit individual
and communal human life.
SUMMARY
In this chapter, we have seen how the natural law theory is
instrumental to an ethics that is rooted in the Christian faith. In
elaborating this, we explored how Aquinas had synthesized
concepts of the ancient Greeks to put forward an intellectual
grounding that can overcome the limitations of a simplistic
divine command theory. Instead, we are provided an objective
basis for ethics: our own natural inclinations. Since these are
given by God, they provide us the path toward our perfection.
Our natural inclinations as enumerated by Aquinas include the
desire to preserve our being, the sexual act and its fecundity,
and our use of reason.