Department of Law and Justice

Jahangirnagar University

Course: Jurisprudence (LL.B. 102)

Title of the Term Paper: Natural law.

Submitted To:

Suprobhat Paul

Associate Professor

Department of Law and Justice

Jahangirnagar University

Submitted By:

Rakibul Islam

Roll: 2162

Department of Law and Justice

Jahangirnagar University
Introduction
Are gay marriages immoral? Why racism is wrong? Should the law permit abortion? Moral questions
routinely tug at the sleeve of our legal and political practices. Their persistence is perhaps one of the
hallmarks of a democratic, or at least an open, society. The place and functions of morals in the law
have always been a focal concern of legal and political philosophers. So, knowing the basics of natural
law and morality is very important. Or, we will not be able to separate or understand the healthy
difference of opinion these two-term hold strongly.

So, In the study of jurisprudence, understanding natural law is one of the most fundamental topics.

What is Natural Law?

The best description of natural law we can give in the more simpler way, ‘is that it provides a name for
the point of intersection between law and morals.’ There is an unquestionable tension between what
‘is’ and what ‘ought’ to be; theories of natural law attempt to resolve this. Its principal claim is that
what naturally is, ought to be.

The idea that in reality law consists of rules in accordance with reason and nature has formed the
basis of a variety of natural law theories ranging from classical times to the present day. The central
notion is that there exist objective moral principles which depend on the essential nature of the
universe and which can be discovered by natural reason and that ordinary human law is only truly law
in so far as it conforms to these principles. These principles of justice and morality constitute the
natural law.

If we summarize natural law, we can say;

1. Natural law is a philosophical theory. It involves the idea that rights, values, and
responsibilities are inherent in human nature.
2. It doesn’t require political order or legislature.
3. Natural law contrasts with positive law.

Objections to Natural Law

One attempt to salvage the theory involves the idea of natural law with a varying content. On this
view the basic principles remain the same, but their detailed application would depend on the special
circumstances of each society. The greatest differences between one society and another might well
be simply the fact that the one accepts and the other rejects, slavery the colour bar, and so on. In such
cases to allow the content of natural law to vary according to social differences would be to abandon
any hope of objectivity in ethics or law. Also such basic theory of natural law does not carry us very
far. It provides us only with a series of blank cheques; as it were; some rules about violence, some
rules about family law but we are not told which.

All that the theory really does is to indicate topics of law rather than to provide actual legal rules.

Importance of Natural law

Natural law is important because it is applied to moral, political, and ethical systems today. It has
played a large role in the history of political and philosophical theory and has been used to understand
and discuss human nature.

Conclusion
The study of jurisprudence is sometimes hard, but why is it hard? It is hard when topics like natural
law, morality or legislation are not being understood very well. Natural law is very essential towards
the study of jurisprudence. Also it is necessary to know how these theories shaped the study of law as
it stands strongly today.