Topic > Aquinas' Natural Law - 1524

Natural law can be considered the root of human morality and Aquinas's idea of ​​a natural law implies that it is divine, immutable and eternal, but also very general with many areas grey. The fact that natural law is very general means that we humans create human laws designed to handle specific cases, to which natural law may not be able to find a right solution. According to Thomas Aquinas, natural law is “general” to manage the many different situations that can be found in the legal system and human law allows us to find a clear and right answer with minimal errors; something that does not happen in natural law. Aquinas also believes that for a human law to have binding force so that people actually fail to obey the law, it means that the law is enacted. This basically means that the law must be enacted by a reasonable being with an end or objective in mind. The law must also be oriented towards the common good, therefore the law cannot help a specific group or community but must be good for everyone. The legislator, or in Aquinas's case, God, must also put the needs of the community first in making the law, rather than making a law that will only benefit themselves or a small portion of the community. Finally the law will have to be promulgated; this means that you cannot make a secret law if you want it to be considered a law, real laws must be publicized or well known throughout the community for it to be a factor is promulgation, the law must be known throughout the community community truly have a binding force. The legislator; If he wants his law to have “binding force,” he must adequately publicize or inform the people who will enforce it. This means that people cannot be expected to follow a law if we are not aware of its existence; To follow a law we must be aware of how or when we might break it. Without promulgation it is as if the law itself did not truly exist and did not have that 'binding force' that a promulgated law