My opinion is that I support the natural law. I support the natural law because it is through the natural law that human beings understand the morally accepted acts and behaviors in the society. It guides the human beings in reasoning and differentiating right from wrong. The natural law is above all the human being’s law. This is because natural law originates from God. God created human beings and gave them reasoning ability. Therefore, natural law is a set of rules that enable human beings to flourish and prosper with their lives. This is because when human beings have guiding principles they do morally accepted activities in the society.
Customs and rules that do not conform to the natural law are false laws and are therefore morally unaccepted in the society. Human beings are expected to follow and abide by the rules and laws that respect other people’s rights and lives. Disobeying such rules will lead to morally unaccepted acts in the society. Activities such as murder are morally unaccepted in the society. This is because morally God created human beings and gave them equal chance of surviving. He is however, the only one who is supposed to take life of an individual.
Human beings are rational beings. They use reasoning capacity to think and act morally. Virtuous are morally accepted in the society. It is said that virtuous acts belong to the natural law. Natural law involves everything, which a human being is inclined to do according to the nature. Everything is inclined to perform the work it is suppose to perform according to its form. For example, fire is supposed to provide heat. Morally the rational soul is the proper form of a human being and therefore they are inclined to act according to reason, which means to act according to virtue.
The contra argument that is presented against the thesis is that natural law is not the same for all men. The argument has its main basis on the statement that natural law is that, which is contained in the gospel and the law. Since such law and gospel is not common to all men, then the universality of natural law is not credible and thus it is not fare for it to apply to all men because not all men obey the gospel. The objection of natural law universality is furthered by the argument that everything that is subject to law are said to be just. However, it is stated in the same book that nothing is so just because things are dynamic.
Natural law is common to all nations. Natural law is based on things that man is inclined naturally. The main inclination of men is acting based on reason. As it is stated in physics, reason proceeds from what is common to what is proper. It is out of practical reason that men derive speculative reasoning. The main concern of speculative reasoning is on things that are considerably necessary and concluded necessary without objection. Practical reasoning is concerned with matters considered contingent. Contingent matters are those that are the domain of human doing. As in accordance with matters of speculation, what is considered true is the same for all men both as to conclusions and as to principles although not everybody could be aware of the truth as regard to conclusions but only concerning common notions. However, in matters of practical rectitude, action or truth is not common to all concerning what could be specific for a situation but only as the common principles where it is equally known. It therefore true that common principle whether based on practical reason or speculative reason, rectitude or truth is known and the same for all.
Bibliography
Aquinas, Saint Thomas. Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. 1945.
