Thomas Aquinas’ notion of natural law

Introduced to:
Prof. Myra Walimson

From student:
Khaleed Abdulaziz Alawadhi
Student ID: s1423613

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 INTRODUCTION

For man to be able to live in a society there must be laws that govern
man. If these laws cease to exist, then there will be chaos. This concept of
law has drawn the attention of different scholars over time, such as Plato,
Aristotle, The Stoics, Aquinas, to mention but a few. But the one
philosopher we aim to consider in this regard is St. Thomas Aquinas.
Thomas of Aquino (ca. 1225–1274), a philosopher and theologian, was
born into an aristocratic family at Roccasecca, near Naples, Italy. He
joined the Dominican order in 1245, taking a licentia docendi at Paris in
1256. He later taught at Paris, Rome, Orvieto, and Naples. Thomas died
at the Cistercian abbey of Fossa Nuova on March 7 and was canonized in
1323 by Pope John XXII. The Summa contra Gentiles was completed
about 1264. His longest and most influential work, the Summa
Theologiae, was unfinished at the time of his death.1 His Summa
Theologiae haboured his notion of law. His contribution has remained of
paramount importance to legal philosophy.

1
www.Bookrags.com/Natural law 2011

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 Philosophy of law is also known as legal philosophy. This Aquinas
notion of law has left an indelible character on philosophy of law by
formulating a typology of law; put differently types of laws that have
remained over centuries. In philosophy of law, the philosopher applies
philosophical thinking or rationality to examine such fundamental legal
concepts and principles as justice, judicial precedent, freedom, to mention
but a few.2 The purpose of legal philosophy is to examine legal concepts
to determine their proper place in the vocabulary of the theory and practice
of law. Philosophy we have come to understand, investigates the nature
of reality and other disciplines. Here we see that law is the primary thing
under investigation, and not just investigation but how can Aquinas’s idea
of law can be useful to philosophy of law.
To be able to continue with our discussion, we shall consider the
following:
a. What is law?
b. Aquinas’ notion of law ‘as an ordinance of reason’.
c. Aquinas’ Typology of law.
d. Natural law from the scope of other scholars.
e. Understanding natural law via Aquinas’ idea in relation to legal
philosophy.
f. Reactions to Aquinas’ notion of natural law.
g. Conclusion and my own opinion.

2
Oyeshile O. and Ugwuanyi L. . Elements of Philosophy and Logic (Timeless Publications: Nigeria)2nd edition,
2007, p.55

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A. WHAT IS LAW?

This question gave rise to different legal theories; this goes to show
that it cannot be just answered like any other question. Law is a system of
rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to
govern behavior, wherever possible.3 We shall consider different scholars
opinions of law and then end with Thomas Aquinas’ notion of law which
turned out to be the background and most acceptable definition of law.
Immanuel Kant says that this question cannot be answered from the
empirical point of view, rather from the metaphysical arena. Thus for
Kant, it requires an a priori and not a posteriori approach, the only way
he sees out of this is “ an empirical theory of law”. 4 Kant says “like the
wooden head in Phedrus fable, is a head that may be beautiful but alas!
Has no brains”.5

For Jeremy Bentham and his disciple Austin, say law is essentially
a command backed by sanction or the threat of punishment, which implies
that anybody who is able to issue a command and is able to back it up with
force or the threat of punishment has, ipso facto, made a law!6 This means
that an armed robber can at gun point make people do what he so desires,

3
www.Wikipedia.com/law 2011
4
Joseph Omoregbe, An Introduction to Philosophical Jurisprudence: Philosophy of Law, (Joja Educational
Research and Publishers Ltd: Lagos) Revised and Enlarged Edition 2007, p.xi
5
Kant, Metephysische Anfangrunde der Reschtslehre, quote by A.P.D. Entreves in National Law, London:
Hutchison University Press, 1972, p.99
6
Joseph Omoregbe, An Introduction to Philosophical Jurisprudence: Philosophy of Law, p. xii

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can we then call this law? Because this is what Jeremy and Austin have in
mind when they made that statement?

Now, all these definitions lacked one thing and that is the essential
feature of law, what then can we say is the essential feature of law? If we
agree with Justice Holmes and say it is a sanction, then we begin to see
law as prediction, a systematized prediction as to what would happen to a
person (sanction) if he does a given thing that is forbidden. But sanction
is only an appendage of law, hence the only feature of law is obligation;
this obligation is gotten from natural law. This brings us to see that talking
about legal philosophy with the exclusion of Aquinas would be disastrous,
as we see the idea of natural law, which he formulated being in play here.

Aquinas is an important figure in the philosophy of law and cannot

be left out, this would bring us to understanding his idea of natural law.
But before we delve into that, we have to first consider his definition of
law “as an ordinance of reason” which would give us more insight into
his contribution to legal philosophy through his notion of natural law.

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B. AQUINAS’ NOTION OF LAW “AS AN ORDINANCE OF
REASON”.

We should be well informed that the idea of natural law did not
emanate from Thomas Aquinas; rather the natural law came to fruition in
his writings7. He synthesized the ideas of scholars before him, this include
Plato, Aristotle, stoics and even other Christian mediaeval scholars. The
doctrine of natural law is an important aspect of the ethics of Thomas
Aquinas. He defines law as ‘an ordinance of reason directed towards the
common good and promulgated by the one who has the care of the
community’.8 Given this, it is clearly obvious that law is a command, a
directive which must be reasonable (if it is contrary to reason then it
cannot qualify as a law), and must be directed towards the common good,
and not made for the private interest of a few individuals. 9 We shall see
how Aquinas tries to explain this notion of law.

In this definition of law, we must consider law in two ways, firstly

in general and secondly in parts.

7
M.P. Golding (ed) ,The Nature of Law: Readings in Legal Philosophy, (Random House Publications: New York)
1966, p. 9
8
Joseph Omoregbe, A Simplified History of Western Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, vol 1, (Joja
Educational Research and Publishers Ltd: Lagos) Reprinted 2007, p. 154
9
Ibid

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Law in General:

In this area, we have three considerations that are looking its

essence, the different kinds and the effects of law. Considering the essence
of law, we have to understand whether law is something pertaining to
reason, that is, if is there any epitome of rationality in a law. Then we shall
look at what law is focused on, in other words the end of law, thereafter
we shall look at what is responsible for the law to come into being, this
will however lead us further to the promulgation of law.10 Here we have
four things to consider under the essence of law.

Law is seen as a rule and measure of acts, whereby man is induced

to act or is restrained from acting, because it binds one to act. The rule
and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of
acts. Reason has all the authority and like I mentioned earlier, if there is
no reason, then it would affect the end-point of that particular law. Reason
has its power of moving from the will, for it is due to the fact that one
wills to the end, that the reason issues its commands as regards things
ordained to the end. But in order that the volition of what is commanded
may have the nature of law, it needs to be in accord with some rule of
reason. An in this sense it is to be understood that will of the sovereign
has the force of law; or otherwise the sovereign’s will would savour of
lawlessness rather than of law.11

10
Cf. M.P. Golding Op. cit p.9
11
Ibid p.10

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 Now what is law focused on, that is what is its end? It was Isidore,
a Spanish Encyclopaedist (c. 560-636) opined that laws are enacted for no
private profit, but for the common benefit of the citizens. It is on this
background that we shall see what Aquinas has in mind. As we have seen
above, reason is an important factor in every law; this same reason is also
on target here. Law is a principle of human acts because of rule and
measure, now reason is a principle of human acts; so in reason itself there
is something which is the principle in respect of all the rest.12 Practical
reason is the first principle here, which is the last end: and the last end of
human life is happiness or beatitude.

What we have been able to arrive here is that reason is a pre-requisite

for law, given that fact happiness is the end goal of law. Since Aquinas is
a catholic scholar, he makes use of the beatitude notably found in Matthew
5:1-12. He thus uses the format employed in the beatitude as the goal of
law; if this goal in the beatitude is not followed then we can have no end-
point of law. Law must be need concern itself with the order directed to
universal happiness13 conveyed in the beatitudes. The point that Aquinas
has in mind is thus turned towards the common good of the society, not
private good; this will lead us to the next point he aims to achieve.

Speaking about the common good is the third issue Aquinas aims to
achieve. To order anything to the common good belongs either to the

12
Ibid
13
Ibid p.11

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whole people, or to someone who is the vicegerent of the whole people.
A simple example is the idea of Nigerian government constructing roads
or road network not for themselves alone but for the entirety of the
Nigerian populace. Hence the making of a law belongs either to the whole
people or to a public personage who has care of the whole people; for in
other matters the directing of anything to the en concerns him to whom
the end belongs.14 What Aquinas has in mind is clearly obvious, because
if laws are to be made, it should be made in a particular person’s favour
else it ceases to function. And that even if a particular person is to receive
it, it should be in favour of the entire community. Furthermore a particular
person has no authority to impose any rule or anything on any member of
the community. This goes to individuals who have the intent of
acquisition of a community’s resources and dictating for the other
members how these resources can be evenly shared. This will clearly go
against the “happiness or beatitude”.

He then turned towards how these laws are promulgated. Given the
very fact that a law is imposed as a rule or measure, it is imposed by being
applied to those who are ruled and measured by it. In other words, before
a law can acquire the binding force, it must be applied to the men who
have to be ruled by it. This is what is known as promulgation. However,
we have been able to see that the explanations of these four items have
aided us in understanding “law as an ordinance of reason”. Bear in mind

14
Ibid

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 that this very definition provided by Aquinas in the medieval era has
remained an important element in legal philosophy and many scholars
make reference and even use it. Some see it as the best that legal
philosophy can hold for a long period of time.

C. AQUINAS’ TYPOLOGY OF LAW.

Still looking at law in general, let us see the various kinds of law
that Aquinas has in mind. Aquinas outlined four kinds of law. The eternal
law, the natural law, the divine law and the human law.

The eternal law is the rational order that the creator established for
his creation. All things are therefore subject to the eternal law.15 The
eternal law is nothing other than the exemplar of divine wisdom, as
directing all actions and movements.16 For Aquinas all of nature follows
the eternal law blindly but we humans have the ability to display the
morality of God’s law and we alone have the capacity to obey and disobey
it.17 The second law which Aquinas talked about is the natural law, but we
shall not dwell on it as we already have a space prepared for it because it
involves virtually every part of this work. However it is the law of reason
that governs human moral behavior.

15
William F. Lawhead, The Voyage of Discovery: An Introduction to Philosophy (Wadsworth/Thomson Learning:
USA) Second Edition, 2002. P.179
16
M.P. Golding Op. cit p.16
17
William F. Lawhead, Op. cit p.179

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 The third law, the divine law is that which is given to us in
revelation. It goes beyond natural law by rendering us with guides on how
to gain or achieve eternal happiness. Thus natural virtues are surpassed by
the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. These can only be attained
by cooperating with the grace of God. (ST 1-2, 62.1).

The fourth law which is the human law is that kind of law instituted
by governments. Hence if such law is legitimate, it too is rooted in God’s
eternal law. Thus obedience to such human law is obedience to God. Bear
in mind that we still have an unfinished business concerning the natural
law, which happens to be the focus of this work; it would be detrimental
to leave it out.

D. NATURAL LAW FROM THE SCOPE OF OTHER SCHOLARS.

Natural Law is a moral theory of jurisprudence, which maintains

that law should be based on morality and ethics. Natural Law holds that
the law is based on what’s “correct.” Natural Law is “discovered” by
humans through the use of reason and choosing between good and evil.
Therefore, Natural Law finds its power in discovering certain universal
standards in morality and ethics.18

It is worthy of note that Aquinas was not the first to approach this
idea of natural law; this shows that this concept of natural law is as old as
Western philosophy, so for the sake of history, let us have an idea of the

18
www.AllAboutPhilosophy.org, 2002-2011

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scholars before him. The Sophists made a distinction between laws of the
State and nature, but placed laws of nature on higher priority over laws of
the State. They said laws of the State must conform to laws of nature. In
other words the laws of nature are the ideal. The laws of the State make
men do things that are unnatural. The laws of nature make no distinction
between Greeks and barbarians rather the laws of the State would.

Plato was one of the founders of philosophy of law and natural law
doctrine. For him, laws are only necessary when reason fails, for the law
of reason is the ideal law. This clearly shows he is the originator of the
natural law which sees the law of nature as law of reason. Plato condemns
positive laws which are only used when men are weak; he says thus that
if men are perfectly rational and ready to submit to the law of reason, there
would be no need for positive laws.

Now, the idea of Aristotle follows from that of his master, Plato. He
makes use of the law of reason. His teleological concept of nature is
important for natural law theory. Teleologically, there is always some end
to natural phenomena. By studying a thing we come to know what it is
intended for by nature. Each being has its own proper end intended for it
by nature. What Aristotle has in mind is to bring natural law to this idea.
That is natural law is nothing else than this “intention” of nature of things
expressed through the natural tendency of things.19

19
Joseph Omoregbe, An Introduction to Philosophical Jurisprudence: Philosophy of Law, Op cit p.6

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 And for the Stoics, their natural law was indifferent to the divine or
natural source of the law: the Stoics asserted the existence of a rational
and purposeful order to the universe (a divine or eternal law), and the
means by which a rational being lived in accordance with this order was
the natural law, which spelled out action that accorded with virtue20

E. UNDERSTANDING NATURAL LAW VIA AQUINAS’ IDEA IN

RELATION TO LEGAL PHILOSOPHY.

We have taken a look at the scholars before Aquinas, it is worthy of

note that it doesn’t end with Aquinas, other philosophers also wrote on
this doctrine of natural law. Yet our concern still remains on Aquinas’
notion. In all of those who wrote on this issue, Aquinas still remain the
best, this does not mean that it does not have any epitome of difficulties.
Aquinas’ idea was clearly influenced by Aristotle and the Roman lawyers
like Ulpian.

Given the very fact that Aquinas’ notion of law has already been treated
that resulted in the kinds of law where we decided to treat his natural law
thoroughly. His idea of natural law emanated from the eternal law. The
eternal law comes the divine reason and man shares from this divine
reason by being a rational being. This makes eternal law a law of reason,
which is precisely a natural law, that is why he describes natural law as
“nothing else but a participation of the eternal law in a rational creature”.

20
www.Wikipedia.com/natural law 2011

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Put differently, what we have as natural law is the impression of the divine
light in us. Thus the most fundamental principle of natural law is to do
well and avoid evil. There are other precepts or principles of natural law
by Aquinas, these precepts are “Whatever is a means of preserving human
life and of warding off its obstacles belongs to natural law"; in other
words, a good justification for a moral or legal rule is that it promotes the
preservation of human life.21 This principle of preservation of life would
be affected not only by murder but also by suicide. In other words suicide
violates natural law. Behind this is the fact that all living beings possess
an inclination for survival [corresponding to the nutritive faculty of the
soul, as Aristotelians apprehend it].

Another precept is "Sexual intercourse, education of offspring," and the

life has a proper place in human life, as in other animal life [corresponding
to the sensitive faculty]. The third principle is that Corresponding our
peculiar possession of reason, humans are under an obligation "to avoid
ignorance" (and to seek to know God) and to avoid offending those among
whom one has to live.

[These pertain uniquely to the rational faculty.] In other words, we are to

live harmoniously in the society.

The question now is that what if our reason tells us that a particular thing
which is evil is good, then we should follow our conscience no matter the

21
Thomas Aquinas, On Law, Morality and Politics (Hackett: London),

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 cost. If our conscience is objectively mistaken, we are still judged by how
we followed the moral light as we perceived it.22

The contribution of Aquinas’ natural law affected virtually

everything in legal philosophy. An example is the idea of natural rights.
A right is granted by a law; hence every right can be traced to a law that
grants it, in this case natural law. Even natural justice emanated from
natural law. And the only reason natural has such influence on legal
philosophy is because of the impact of Aquinas. Natural right is the
foundation of all legal (civil) rights. The natural rights include the
following. (1) The right to live: this right is violated by unjustifiable
abortion, murder and suicide. (2) The right to happiness: this is violated
by any action that constitutes an obstacle to the happiness of another man.
(3) The right to peace: this is violated by any action that disturbs the peace
of another man. (4) The right to bodily integrity: any assault or deliberate
injury on another person violates this law. (5) The right to the respect due
to human dignity: any form of degradation on another human person
violates this law, such as torture, slavery, trial by ordeal, rape and so on.23
If we continue to list these rights we would see the influence of Aquinas’
natural law in each and every one of them. This goes to show his
contribution and influence on legal philosophy.

F. REACTIONS TO AQUINAS’ NATURAL LAW.

22
William Lawhead, Op. cit p.179
23
Cf. Joseph Omoregbe, An Introduction to Philosophical Jurisprudence: Philosophy of Law p.96

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 Jean-Paul Sartre sees natural law doctrine as a myth because for him
God does not exist and hence he cannot believe in it. For him, man’s only
norm of action is his freedom. If there is no God then there can be no
eternal law, and it there is no eternal law then there can be no natural law.
Another objection comes from the historic-anthropological standpoint
that salvages or primitive people are unaware of such a law. Primitive
people do not respect natural rights. They are ignorant of fundamental
human rights since they are ignorant of natural law. But it is possible to
be ignorant of natural law? Does natural law not have anything to do with
doing well and avoiding evil. This goes back to Aquinas’ notion that
conscience helps to take care of the ignorance.

The strongest attack suffered by natural law was done by the legal
positivists. For them there is nothing like natural law, the only law that
exists is positive law. Some of them like Hobbes, Bentham, Austin, see
law as essentially backed by force.

Justice Holmes conceives it as a process of authoritative decision or

“prediction”, sanction being an essential feature.24

G. CONCLUSION AND MY OPINION

It is no doubt that Aquinas is one of the greatest medieval scholars.

His notion of natural law has affected every corner of legal philosophy.
And even though there were objections to his idea, they were able to

24
Ibid p.123

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combat his. If we go by the positivists that law must be authoritative or
sanction. I don’t think that if any government of any state wouldn’t have
shut down philosophers or anyone who opposed them, perhaps we would
have known or even read their works. If such sanction behavior exist in
the society, then we would be having lot of societal problems.

It is worthy of note that Aquinas’ influence on legal philosophy has

affected every area of this discipline and this in turn have given us a
society where human rights are respected and upheld. Think of a society
without such advantage, it would be survival of the fittest and would be
detrimental to mankind. We have to be grateful to Aquinas for his
contribution to this discipline.

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REFERENCES

1. Oyeshile O. and Ugwuanyi L. Elements of Philosophy and Logic

(Timeless Publications: Nigeria) 2nd edition, 2007
2. Joseph Omoregbe, An Introduction to Philosophical Jurisprudence:
Philosophy of Law, (Joja Educational Research and Publishers Ltd:
Lagos) Revised and Enlarged Edition 2007
3. A Simplified History of Western Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval
Philosophy, vol 1, (Joja Educational Research and Publishers Ltd:
Lagos) Reprinted 2007
4. Kant, Metephysische Anfangrunde der Reschtslehre, quote by
A.P.D. Entreves in National Law, London: Hutchison University
Press, 1972,
5. M.P. Golding (ed) ,The Nature of Law: Readings in Legal
Philosophy, (Random House Publications: New York) 1966,
6. William F. Lawhead, The Voyage of Discovery: An Introduction to
Philosophy (Wadsworth/Thomson Learning: USA) Second Edition,
2002. P.179
7. Thomas Aquinas, On Law, Morality and Politics (Hackett: London),
Internet Sources
www.Bookrags.com/Natural law 2011
www.AllAboutPhilosophy.org, 2002-2011
www.Wikipedia.com/natural law 2011
www.Wikipedia.com/law 2011

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