Lecture 16 Notes

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The Kinds of Law

Plan of the Lecture

I.    Eternal Law
II.   Natural Law
III. Divine Law
IV.   Human Law

I. Eternal Law (Question 93, Article 1)

A. The Plan of Creation

God created all things as an artisan makes artifices.
Therefore, God must have had a plan in mind. "And just as the type of things yet to be made by an art is called the art or exemplar of the products of that art, so too the type in him who governs the acts of his subjects bears the character of law"

B. The Common Good

The common good is reflected in various aspects of divine glory, i.e. various creatures, when they function well, reflect some aspect of it.
Since things realize their good by obeying laws, there must be a law governing all created things and leading to their end.
Therefore, there is a law that governs operations of all creation from lowest to highest, from rocks to angelic choirs.

C. Divine Providence

All things are subject to divine providence. "He governs the acts and movements [of] each single creature"

(A) + (B) + (C) = Eternal Law

II. Natural Law

A. All Creatures are Subject to Eternal Law.

All are subject to God’s original plan and governance, his continuing providence.
Human beings realize or frustrate the divine plan by acting. They govern their own action through their faculties of reason and choice. So, the good human life requires the perfection of these faculties.
This entails that human beings are subject to divine guidance in special way. God doesn’t guide human action like the acts of rocks, plants, other animals. So, if our choices are to be guided by eternal law, this guidance must appeal to our reason, the faculty by which we guides ourselves.
In other words, natural law = eternal law as it is apprehended by and guides rational creatures. Aquinas writes: "participation of eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law" (Question 91, art. 2)

B. Two Important Points

Question: how does natural law guide us? How is it known or promulgated (cf. Q. 90, art. 4) to us? Answer: a human being "has natural inclination to its proper end", i.e. we have a natural inclination to do the right thing. In other words, we are naturally so constituted that we take pleasure in it. Some details:

We can distinguish primary and secondary precepts of the natural law. Primary precepts are the rudiments of morality. Secondary precepts are more specific moral injunctions.
The inclination of the natural law needs to be trained so that we learn to recognize it and are moved by moral precepts. In other words, proper moral education is essential.
Even with a bad environment, the rudiments (primary precepts) are never eradicated from a person.

The natural law guides us only to our natural end. To achieve our supernatural end, more is needed--divine law.

III. Divine Law

A. Old Testament Law

Old Testament law governed the community of Israel before the birth of Christ.
These laws included dietary laws, laws of ritual purity and impurity, and laws governing how religious ceremonies were performed. Consult the biblical books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
These laws structure every aspect of Jewish life. Part of leading a good life as member of the community of Israel involved following these laws.
As a result, Aquinas took them very seriously. However, nothing in classical philosophy, and thus nothing in Aristotle, looks remotely like this.

B. New Testament Law

New Testament injunctions are even further from what we find in classical philosophy. Consider the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew:

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,
Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven. (Matt. 5.3-12, KJV)

There is nothing like the Beatitudes in Aristotle, yet Aquinas insists that they "contain the whole process of forming the life of the Christian" (Quest. 108, art. 3).
It therefore seems that either:

The beatitudes do not guide us to good human life.
Aristotle was wrong about what good life requires.

This creates a dilemma: clearly (1) can’t be true, and (2) doesn’t seem so great either. What is Aquinas to do?
Aquinas's Solution: Aristotle was wrong, but he didn’t make any mistakes. The Old Testament laws are to guide the community of Israel in developing and sustaining relationship with God. The New Testament laws are to guide us in seeking God's kingdom: living as well as possible in this life and attaining happiness in the next. Figuring this out was beyond the capacity of human reason--even Aristotle could not have figured it out.
The Divine Law had to be revealed by God gradually, through the Old Testament and the New Testament. Together these contain a body of precepts leading to our supernatural end.
Divine Law, too, is part of Eternal Law.

IV. Human Law

A. Question: By What Laws Will We Guide our Communities?

Law is to guide us to our good by guiding communities of which we are parts to their goods, yet the communities and laws discussed so far seem insufficient for a number of reasons:

We don’t often think of ourselves as members of these communities, that is, as trying to meet their demands.
These communities don’t seem to exercise coercive force threat of which makes us obey. But the communities of which we are most obviously members are human political communities. These communities, on the other hand, exercise force necessary to compel obedience.

It is therefore important to look at laws of such communities. The laws that govern these communities, human laws, are necessary if we are to lead lives of virtue.

B. Answer: Human Law

Leading life of virtue requires moral formation and education. This takes place only in a well-structured community, with coercive power exercised to restrain the recalcitrant. Therefore proper moral education requires good laws.
Since human law is to lead human beings to virtue, law must have moral purposes. Consider the following.

It should foster religion, as much as possible, given the circumstances.
It should provide discipline: helping people to develop right habits.
It should promote the common good of political society. This includes promoting civic friendship, peace, and justice.

Human law can fulfil moral purposes only if it is based on morality, based on the precepts leading us to a good life. In other words, only if it is based on divine and natural law (Q. 95, art. 3). Some features of this relationship include:

Human law cannot be contrary to either divine law or natural law.
Insofar as human law fosters religion by requiring performance of religious ceremonies, repressing heresy, fostering the virtue of charity, it is to that extent it is based on divine law.
Human law's relationship to natural law has the following features. First, human law is derived as a conclusion of natural law. For example, the human crime of involuntary manslaughter is derived from the precept, "do harm to no one." Second, human law is a determination or specification of general precept. For example, natural law says that thieves are to be punished and human law specifies how this is to be done.

This concludes our discussion of Aquinas, ancient and medieval philosophy!

Copyright 2008, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. administrator. (2006, September 19). Lecture 16 Notes. Retrieved December 02, 2008, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-to-philosophy-1/Lecture%2016%20Notes.html. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Course Contents Introduction to Philosophy Home About the Professor Syllabus Calendar Lectures Sample Writing Assignments Exams	Personal tools Log in Register You are here: Home → Philosophy → Introduction to Philosophy → Lecture 16 Notes
	Info Lecture 16 Notes Document Actions — filed under: Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophy The Kinds of Law Plan of the Lecture I. Eternal Law II. Natural Law III. Divine Law IV. Human Law I. Eternal Law (Question 93, Article 1) A. The Plan of Creation God created all things as an artisan makes artifices. Therefore, God must have had a plan in mind. "And just as the type of things yet to be made by an art is called the art or exemplar of the products of that art, so too the type in him who governs the acts of his subjects bears the character of law" B. The Common Good The common good is reflected in various aspects of divine glory, i.e. various creatures, when they function well, reflect some aspect of it. Since things realize their good by obeying laws, there must be a law governing all created things and leading to their end. Therefore, there is a law that governs operations of all creation from lowest to highest, from rocks to angelic choirs. C. Divine Providence All things are subject to divine providence. "He governs the acts and movements [of] each single creature" (A) + (B) + (C) = Eternal Law II. Natural Law A. All Creatures are Subject to Eternal Law. All are subject to God’s original plan and governance, his continuing providence. Human beings realize or frustrate the divine plan by acting. They govern their own action through their faculties of reason and choice. So, the good human life requires the perfection of these faculties. This entails that human beings are subject to divine guidance in special way. God doesn’t guide human action like the acts of rocks, plants, other animals. So, if our choices are to be guided by eternal law, this guidance must appeal to our reason, the faculty by which we guides ourselves. In other words, natural law = eternal law as it is apprehended by and guides rational creatures. Aquinas writes: "participation of eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law" (Question 91, art. 2) B. Two Important Points Question: how does natural law guide us? How is it known or promulgated (cf. Q. 90, art. 4) to us? Answer: a human being "has natural inclination to its proper end", i.e. we have a natural inclination to do the right thing. In other words, we are naturally so constituted that we take pleasure in it. Some details: We can distinguish primary and secondary precepts of the natural law. Primary precepts are the rudiments of morality. Secondary precepts are more specific moral injunctions. The inclination of the natural law needs to be trained so that we learn to recognize it and are moved by moral precepts. In other words, proper moral education is essential. Even with a bad environment, the rudiments (primary precepts) are never eradicated from a person. The natural law guides us only to our natural end. To achieve our supernatural end, more is needed--divine law. III. Divine Law A. Old Testament Law Old Testament law governed the community of Israel before the birth of Christ. These laws included dietary laws, laws of ritual purity and impurity, and laws governing how religious ceremonies were performed. Consult the biblical books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. These laws structure every aspect of Jewish life. Part of leading a good life as member of the community of Israel involved following these laws. As a result, Aquinas took them very seriously. However, nothing in classical philosophy, and thus nothing in Aristotle, looks remotely like this. B. New Testament Law New Testament injunctions are even further from what we find in classical philosophy. Consider the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth, Blessed are they which hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven. (Matt. 5.3-12, KJV) There is nothing like the Beatitudes in Aristotle, yet Aquinas insists that they "contain the whole process of forming the life of the Christian" (Quest. 108, art. 3). It therefore seems that either: The beatitudes do not guide us to good human life. Aristotle was wrong about what good life requires. This creates a dilemma: clearly (1) can’t be true, and (2) doesn’t seem so great either. What is Aquinas to do? Aquinas's Solution: Aristotle was wrong, but he didn’t make any mistakes. The Old Testament laws are to guide the community of Israel in developing and sustaining relationship with God. The New Testament laws are to guide us in seeking God's kingdom: living as well as possible in this life and attaining happiness in the next. Figuring this out was beyond the capacity of human reason--even Aristotle could not have figured it out. The Divine Law had to be revealed by God gradually, through the Old Testament and the New Testament. Together these contain a body of precepts leading to our supernatural end. Divine Law, too, is part of Eternal Law. IV. Human Law A. Question: By What Laws Will We Guide our Communities? Law is to guide us to our good by guiding communities of which we are parts to their goods, yet the communities and laws discussed so far seem insufficient for a number of reasons: We don’t often think of ourselves as members of these communities, that is, as trying to meet their demands. These communities don’t seem to exercise coercive force threat of which makes us obey. But the communities of which we are most obviously members are human political communities. These communities, on the other hand, exercise force necessary to compel obedience. It is therefore important to look at laws of such communities. The laws that govern these communities, human laws, are necessary if we are to lead lives of virtue. B. Answer: Human Law Leading life of virtue requires moral formation and education. This takes place only in a well-structured community, with coercive power exercised to restrain the recalcitrant. Therefore proper moral education requires good laws. Since human law is to lead human beings to virtue, law must have moral purposes. Consider the following. It should foster religion, as much as possible, given the circumstances. It should provide discipline: helping people to develop right habits. It should promote the common good of political society. This includes promoting civic friendship, peace, and justice. Human law can fulfil moral purposes only if it is based on morality, based on the precepts leading us to a good life. In other words, only if it is based on divine and natural law (Q. 95, art. 3). Some features of this relationship include: Human law cannot be contrary to either divine law or natural law. Insofar as human law fosters religion by requiring performance of religious ceremonies, repressing heresy, fostering the virtue of charity, it is to that extent it is based on divine law. Human law's relationship to natural law has the following features. First, human law is derived as a conclusion of natural law. For example, the human crime of involuntary manslaughter is derived from the precept, "do harm to no one." Second, human law is a determination or specification of general precept. For example, natural law says that thieves are to be punished and human law specifies how this is to be done. This concludes our discussion of Aquinas, ancient and medieval philosophy! Copyright 2008, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. administrator. (2006, September 19). Lecture 16 Notes. Retrieved December 02, 2008, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-to-philosophy-1/Lecture%2016%20Notes.html. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.	Reuse Course Download this course

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