Medieval Philosophy

by Peter S. Adamson

action; laws have the goal of securing the good for the whole group, or “community,” subject to them; laws derive from a legislator, the one who oversees that community; and a law must be made known to those subject to it, or “promulgated.” In the case of the natural law the legislator is God Himself and it is promulgated when its precepts are implanted in each human mind (90 a4 obj 1). As the term “natural law” suggests, we have it from our very nature, getting it “for free” so to speak. This doesn’t mean that people always adhere to the natural law, sadly, because humans do not always follow practical reasoning, as when they are overwhelmed by their irrational desires (Q94 a6 resp). So that’s why natural law qualifies as a type of “law.” But it is only one of four kinds of law recognized by Aquinas. The supreme law is what he calls “eternal law,” which is nothing but the principles by which God governs the whole universe. Eternal law touches all things, even if they are inanimate or irrational, not because things like stones or giraffes consciously try to put God’s law into practice but because they fall within His providential oversight (Q93 a4 resp). The natural law exists only within us as rational creatures, being our way of participating in this most general, eternal law. Natural law is thus the “impression of the divine light” in us (Q91 a2 resp and repl obj 1). Fundamental though it is for our ability to reason about the good and bad, the natural law is still not ...