Over the years, man has embarked on explaining his relationship to the environment. There has been an increasing emergence of theories that seek to describe the social, biological, and physical environment in which man resides. These theories and school of thoughts have been instrumental in helping people to gain a better understanding of the universe and the relationship of the human race to the universe. These theories and school of thoughts are based on skills such as observation, conducting of experiments, and the analysis of these experiments. This means that the validity of knowledge regarding the relationship of the human race to the universe is based on tested and undisputable social and scientific facts. In the light of this, it is important to look at some of the ideas that are presented in the theory of natural law (TNL).
First of all, proponents of the theory of natural law are of the view that there is nothing else that is existent beyond the natural universe. This means that naturalists do not believe in the presence of supernatural powers that have the ability to influence the natural universe. Instead, naturalist theorists of the perception that man and other forces with the natural universe shape the natural universe. Bearing in mind, which the theory of natural law does not provide for gods and other supernatural beings in the natural environment, this theory therefore has a philosophical component to it. This is because it disapproves the widely held notion that there are gods and deities that are responsible for the shaping of the natural environment. In her book, the elements of moral philosophy, Rachels writes that Natural elements in the natural universe such as mass and energy are some of the scientific principles that are used to substantiate the theory of natural law. However, these scientific assertions and principles that are made regarding the natural universe must be guided by reason. James Rachels considers this to be morality. He asserts that “morality is at the very least the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason” (Rachels 13).
The central feature of the worldwide view that the theory of natural law is based is scientific methodology. Proponents of the theory of natural law assert that various events in the natural universe have a systemic and definitive pattern in which they occur. This means that these patterns can be effectively be studied and analyzed using comprehensive scientific methods. However, theorists of natural law acknowledge that man has to be empowered with knowledge for him to be able to analyze and understand and discover the various patterns in the natural universe. This means that man has to have intellect and use this intellect to create instruments and tools that will help man to be able to extend his capacity to discover more in the natural environment. This explains the increasing technology in modern time that has aided man to make trips to the moon and be able to discover elements and features that are outside the face of the earth.
Some of the examples offered in support of the world view are the idea that scientific methodology can be applied in diverse situations. This means that proponents of natural law believe that the universe is a single mass that have the same scientific rules and principles. This would mean that concepts such as the laws of Kinetics and gravitational acceleration would be applicable everywhere in the universe. It is through the same principle of gravitational acceleration by Newton that scientists have been able to explain phenomena such as the falling of different objects from the external solar system such as the moon.
Based on the scientific assumptions that are made by natural theorists, it is important to look at how this worldview leads to the conception of laws of nature as moral laws. First, it is important to realize that science like any other discipline is subject to criticism. Science cannot be used to explain everything or to find a solution to everything. Pojman explains that natural law theory gives man the freedom of reason and thought (Pojman 28). This means that scientists can make scientific inferences and conclusions are based on the evidence that is attained through scientific inquiry. However, scientists sometimes differ about the explanation of the results that they obtain through scientific evidence and inquiry. There are scientists who rely on qualitative hints and data such as history in informing the inferences that they create. However, there are scientists who are of the view that on quantitative data can be relied up because it is value-free and not reliant on personal opinions and values. Scientific research and findings also involve peer reviewing and critic of some of the works that have been produced by scientists regarding the natural universe. It is through the critiquing process that scientists are able to develop a morality in the field of natural sciences. For any finding or scientific research to be considered as being scientifically valid there has to be an understanding within the scientific community about what constitutes scientific validity.
Unlike other disciplines, scientific conclusions are not based on a single scientific research or investigation; instead there are multiple inquiries that are made before a definitive scientific pattern is identified. It is prudent to understand that scientific inquiry does not have a fixed methodology and approach to do things. There is not correct way that can be described as being unerring. However, a definitive scientific thinking and approach is paramount in making scientific inquiries. Therefore, the flexibility of research methodology and the constructive criticism of scientific methodology lead to the conception of natural laws as being moral laws that are not based on personal interests, but on collective understanding.
Science-based worldview differs from the worldview underlying TNL because science as a discipline does not take an authoritarian approach. This means that science is flexible to the changes that result or are discovered over time. However, the worldview underlying TNL assumes that the prepositions of the theory are absolute truth and that there are no other theories that can be used to disapprove the idea that there is nothing else that is existent beyond the natural universe. New ideas that do not agree with the original tenets of TNL theory are likely to receive huge criticism and many cases fail to be supported or embraced. On the contrary, science-based worldview continually seeks to mesh new ideas with the already existent world view in order to create a valid knowledge base.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that scientific discovery is a process that grows and develops by the day. Scientific inferences that are made by scientists are based on careful observations that are obtained from the evidence at hand. However, one of the problems that faced TNL’s reliance on a science-based world view is the fact that scientific knowledge changes over time. Despite the careful observations that scientists might put in place there is always a possibility that other theories describing a given phenomenon will come up in the up in the future. Scientific evidence improves by the day through continuous observation and testing. This means that old theories are sometimes rendered obsolete for the newly emerging theories regarding the natural universe. In the light of this, reliance of TNL theory on science-based world view means that the prepositions of this theory might be discarded in the future because there is no absolute truth in scienc
Works Cited
Rachels, James. The elements of moral philosophy. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print.
Pojman, Louis P. Moral Philosophy : A Reader. 4th ed. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Inc., 2009. Print.
