Ryan Balatbat

How does the Natural Law guide our human life and how does each precept of the Natural

Law (list each precept in order) follow the order of our natural inclinations?

Saint Thomas said that natural law is the rational creature's participation in the Eternal

Law. Our will is our ability to understand the world around us and grasp with our minds what is

good for us, and moving ourselves to it. We become willing agents because we have a rational

mind and help direct our communities to the Common Good, or God's providential plan. Our

natural tendencies similar to animals are "to remain in being, self-preservation, and to reproduce

and raise offspring." A difference between us and other inanimate things is that we have a

spiritual soul and nature. Our spiritual nature is the basis for where we make and understand

good choices. It is also the cause and source of our inclinations, lying at the root of our freedom

and giving it vital energy. The thirst for knowledge, for example, does not limit our freedom;

instead, it is our attempt to express our free desires to learn more. The precepts of the Natural

Law are the inclination to good, self-preservation, sexual union, knowing the truth, and to live in

a society. The inclination to good is the human's desire to attain perfection, as we're inclined to

do good over evil. The propensity to self-preservation is what we do to survive, such as food,

water, clothing, shelter, and to avoid threats to our lives. The inclination to sexual union and

offspring's upbringing is our want to preserve the species and fall in love. The inclination to

know the truth is our feeling of need to find the true meaning in the world with our freedom. The

tendency to living in society is our wishes to have relationships with other humans and justness

and fairness for everyone in the world. St. Thomas stated that these precepts are what makes us

"increasingly happy and increasingly free."