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Natural Law |
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The theory of natural law, in political science, suggests that all legal systems are attempts by fallible human beings to reach the legal system which would be adopted by rational human beings, a theory which in the eyes of its critics creates more problems than it solves. The theory of natural law is a species of moral realism: it implies that there is an objectively discoverable set of principles of right moral conduct. For natural law theorists the test of positive law—the actual set of laws in a given state—is whether or not it matches the obligations or standards set by natural law. They believe that natural law is ultimately normatively superior to positive law. For this reason they may argue that bad positive law is not in fact law—a position contrary to that maintained within legal positivism—although some regard natural law as a standard of evaluation rather than as a test of legal validity.
The most famous adherents of the philosophy of natural law are Thomists—disciples of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who synthesized Catholic theology and Aristotelian metaphysics. Aquinas\'s view is that the contents of natural law are present in the minds of all human beings through the actions of God and they can be known by rational introspection and dialogue. The principles of natural law, on this understanding, are immutable though the Saint allowed that its doctrines might be variously developed at different times and places. BO\'L
Further reading J.M. Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights. |
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| Other Terms : Wave-Particle Duality Of Light | Laffer Curve | Computational Linguistics |
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