NATURAL LAW OF

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

WHO IS
ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS?
• He is an Italian Dominican
theologian
• He was one of the most
influential medieval
thinkers of Scholasticism
• The father of the Thomistic
school of theology.
• A prolific writer and wrote
the famous treatise: Summa
Theologica
NATURAL
LAW
 Natural Law
• As found in nature and • Directed towards
not involving anything specific ends
made or done by • Something that induces
people us to act in a certain
• A natural ability or way
characteristic is one • Something that restrain
that you were born with us from acting certain
ways
BY DEFINITION:

• The belief that certain laws of morality are inherent by

human nature, reason, or religious belief, and that they
are ethically binding on humanity.
In Philosophy:

• Natural law is the philosophy that there are moral laws

found in nature and discernable by the use of reason.
ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

• It is to do good and avoid evil. Here it is worth noting that

Aquinas holds a natural law theory of morality: what is
good and evil, is derived from the rational nature of
human beings.
• The natural law tradition has a long and venerable history.
Hints of its beginning can be found in
the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and
Aristotle, and natural law was the
dominant view of the Greek stoics.
• Natural law, as traditionally understood, has sometimes
also been called higher law, and for good reason. Traditional
natural law theorists typically believed that there is a source
of law beyond human creation. The dictates of natural law
have their source in divine command, human nature, or the
order of nature itself.
 4 KINDS OF LAW

• Eternal Law
• Natural Law
• Divine Law
• Human Law
ETERNAL LAW

• That law which exists because of God’s Divine

Providence
• As God created the Universe, the universe is
governed by His laws
• Eternal Law is the basis for all other kinds of law
NATURAL LAW

• The rational creature’s participation in Eternal law

• Rational creatures derive their acts and ends from
natural law
• Basic formulation: “do good, avoid evil”
DIVINE LAW

• Specific formulations of eternal law

• Necessary for the directing of human conduct
THE NEED FOR DIVINE LAW
• Man’s faculties are insufficient to direct him to his
proper end
• Human judgment is uncertain
• Some law must exist to govern internal actions
• All evil deeds must be punished
HUMAN (POSITIVE) LAW

• Formulations of human reason concerning

particular determinations of natural law
• Concerned with transient/contingent realities
• A means to enable man to live virtuously
WHEN ARE LAWS JUST?
• Based on right reason
• Ordained towards the common good
• Must not exceed the power of the lawgiver
• The burden of abiding by the law must be
commensurate to the attainment of the common
good