241. Natural Law: Universality and Changeability

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Universality of Natural Law: Whether natural law is one and the same for all peoples across time and circumstance
• Changeability of Natural Law: Whether natural law can be modified, deleted, or corrupted
• First Principles vs. Particular Precepts: The distinction between universal common beginnings and particular conclusions that may vary
• Addition and Subtraction: Two modes by which natural law can be understood to “change”
• Divine Command and Natural Law: How God’s commands to Abraham and Hosea relate to natural law
• Property and Possession: Whether common possession and private property are natural law

Key Arguments #

Against Universality of Natural Law #

• Different peoples have different customs (e.g., island peoples wear no clothes; this is not vicious for them)
• The Gospel is not common to all, yet supposedly contains natural law
• Diverse men are naturally inclined to different things (some to pleasure, others to honor)
• Therefore, natural law cannot be the same for all

Thomas’s Resolution on Universality #

• Natural law is universal in its common beginnings (first principles), analogous to how speculative reason proceeds from common principles
• In speculative matters: principles like the Pythagorean theorem are true for all, even if not all know them
• In practical matters: common principles (e.g., “act according to reason”) are the same for all and equally known
• Particular conclusions from these principles are the same ut in pluribus (for the most part) but admit exceptions
• Example: “Deposits should be returned” is true in general but fails when returning would harm someone (returning a knife to a man in rage, returning car keys to a drunk man)

Objections to Unchangeability of Natural Law #

• God commanded Abraham to kill his innocent son (Genesis 22)
• God commanded the Jews to take spoils from the Egyptians
• God commanded Hosea to marry a fornicator (Hosea 1-2)
• Common possession and liberty are natural law, yet changed by human laws regarding property
• Therefore, natural law is changeable

Thomas’s Resolution on Changeability #

• Natural law is unchangeable in its first principles (e.g., “do good, avoid evil”)
• Natural law can be understood to change in two ways:
  1. By addition: Things useful for human life are added to natural law (e.g., Sunday worship, specific positive precepts). This is a strange use of “change” since nothing is actually removed.
  2. By subtraction: Particular precepts that were once natural law cease to be so
• Regarding divine commands that appear to violate natural law:
  • Killing the innocent: God is Lord of all life and can command death without injustice; all die by divine power on account of original sin
  • Taking spoils: God is Lord of all possessions; whatever is taken by God’s command is not taken without the will of the owner
  • Marrying a fornicator: When commanded by God, the act does not violate natural law because its wrongness depends on divine prohibition, not intrinsic nature
• Regarding property: Common possession is “natural law” only in the sense that nature does not specify which person owns which land. The distinction of possessions comes through human reason and law, not nature. Thus this can change through human tradition without changing natural law itself.

Important Definitions #

• Natural Law (lex naturalis): The participation of eternal law in rational creatures; known through reason’s natural inclination to good and justice
• Common Beginnings: Universal first principles of practical reason known to all (e.g., “do good, avoid evil”)
• Particular Precepts: Conclusions derived from common beginnings that apply in general but may fail in specific circumstances
• Ut in pluribus: “For the most part”; indicates a precept is generally binding but admits exceptions due to particular impediments or circumstances
• Speculative Reason (ratio speculativa): Reason concerned with necessary things; its conclusions (like geometric theorems) are true always and everywhere
• Practical Reason (ratio practica): Reason concerned with contingent human operations; its conclusions vary more in particulars due to changeable circumstances
• Determination: A specification of natural law that has no force from natural law itself but only from human authority (e.g., which side of the road to drive on)
• Conclusion: A precept derived from natural law principles (e.g., “do not steal” from “do not harm”)

Examples & Illustrations #

Exceptions to General Precepts #

• Returning deposits: Generally obligatory (ut in pluribus), but not when:
  • The borrower wants to use it to harm (e.g., returning a knife to someone intending to commit murder)
  • The borrower is in a rage with his wife and wants his gun back
  • Someone becomes drunk at a party and wants back car keys loaned for a specific purpose

Military Academy Example #

• Berquist did not mark a soldier absent during an inspection to preserve the company’s honor before visiting officers, even though this violated the rule of reporting
• The exception served a higher good (the company’s standing)

Custom and Nature vs. Human Determination #

• Clothing: Different peoples have different customs regarding clothing; natural law does not specify what must be worn, only that modesty (acting according to reason) should guide such choices
• Property: Nature does not divide the earth into specific possessions for specific people; human reason and law make these divisions
• Days of worship: The natural law requires worship of God; the specific day (Sunday for Christians, Saturday for Jews, Friday for Muslims) is a human determination

Edge Cases Showing Universality of Principles Despite Custom Variation #

• Even though island peoples wear no clothes (acceptable for them), and European peoples wear clothes (necessary for them), both are following the principle of modesty according to their circumstances
• Adam and Eve: In the circumstance of being the only two humans, reproduction between them (and even closer relations) would be lawful, though such would be unlawful in normal circumstances
• Marriage age: Varies by time and place, yet the principle of appropriate maturity for marriage remains constant
• Hair length: While the specific length varies by time and culture, the principle that women naturally have longer hair than men reflects something of the order of nature

Property and Possession #

• Natural law aspect: Nature does not specify that “this land is mine and that land is yours”
• Human law aspect: The distinction between mine and yours comes through human reason as useful for human life
• Universality: While specific property arrangements vary, the principle that people should have means of livelihood and some stable ordering of possession is natural

Notable Quotes #

“The natural law, as regards the first common beginnings, is the same before all. But as regards some particular things, which are, as it were, conclusions of the common beginnings, is the same among all, ut in pluribus, and according to rectitude and according to knowledge.”

“Without any injustice, according to the command of God, death can be inflicted upon any man, either innocent or not innocent.”

“The law of nature is able to be understood to be changed in two ways: in one way through this that something is added to it… in another way by way of subtraction.”

“The common possession of all, the vulnerability of all, is said to be of the natural law, that the natural law doesn’t specify… [but] the distinction of possessions and… service… are not induced by… nature, but through the reason of man as being useful for… life.”

Questions Addressed #

1. Is natural law the same for all peoples? Yes in its common principles and first beginnings (e.g., “act according to reason”), which are universal and equally known. Particular precepts derived from these are the same ut in pluribus (for the most part) but admit exceptions when particular circumstances impede their observance.

2. Can natural law be changed? The first principles cannot be changed. Particular precepts can be understood to change through addition (new determinations added for human life) or subtraction (a precept ceasing to apply). What appears as violation of natural law (divine commands to kill the innocent, take spoils, marry a fornicator) is not truly a violation because: (a) God is Lord of life and possessions, and (b) the act’s wrongness depends on divine prohibition, not its intrinsic nature.

3. Why do customs vary if natural law is universal? Because natural law specifies principles (e.g., “act with modesty”), not the particular determinations. Different circumstances, times, and places require different applications, just as speculative reason proceeds from universal principles to particular conclusions that vary.

4. What is the relationship between property and natural law? Nature does not create private property or specify divisions of possession. Rather, nature does not determine these things (non inducit ratio naturae), leaving it to human reason to order them for the common good. Thus common possession is “natural” only negatively—nature doesn’t forbid it and doesn’t specify particular boundaries.