St. Thomas Aquinas' teaching
on natural law and its relation to human law has had an enormous influence, but it isn't
always easy for us to understand it unless we grasp the deep roots it has in his wider
thought, centered on God. In a previous video, we saw that
the eternal law is the highest kind of law. Aquinas says that it is the eternal plan of
order in the mind of God for the whole universe, and further, that this plan is, in a certain
way, in the creatures that God creates so that they have an inclination or tendency
to their own proper acts and ends according to where they fit in this vast and beautiful
divine plan. This eternal law, this plan of God, is imprinted
in rational creatures, like human beings, in a special way. And Aquinas calls this the natural law. He says that the natural law is the rational
creature's participation in the eternal law. What does that mean? We are capable of understanding the world
around us, grasping with our minds what is good for us to do and moving ourselves to
do it according to this rational desire, which we call our will. That means that we have a higher participation
in God's providential plan than other creatures do, because we can understand it and become
willing agents in bringing it to completion for ourselves, for others, and for our communities. Let's unpack this. Like other lower creatures, we have certain
inclinations or tendencies that are natural to us. They're a part of our natures, features of
the kind of creatures we are. The natures of inanimate things, of plants,
of animals, entirely determine their movements. A stone goes down. A tree flowers in the spring. A cow eats grass. These actions are natural to these kinds of
things. Human beings are like these things
in a certain way. We're creatures with material bodies, and
so, like other animals, we have an inclination to remain in being, to seek food and self
preservation, to reproduce and to raise offspring. Yet, unlike these creatures, we are endowed
with the power of reason, which means that we're not simply moved by brute force or instinct. We have something higher, a spiritual soul,
which gives our nature a spiritual dimension. Now, on this point, there's often
a very deep misunderstanding. Our spiritual nature is the basis for our
ability to understand and to make free choices. It gives us a higher perspective on our lower
or bodily inclinations and desires, so that, for example, we can decide at a particular
moment that we will not eat right now, even though we're hungry. But here is the key point. Our spiritual nature is not opposed to our
natural inclinations. In fact, it also has its own natural inclinations. And these inclinations, which belong to us
because of the spiritual dimension of the human person, don't determine our movements
and actions, but rather they're the source and the cause of them. Our spiritual nature lies at the root of our
freedom and gives it its vital energy. Consider what we mean when we say,
"I'm thirsting for the truth." We're using an analogy. We all know what it's like to be thirsty. A biological inclination like this sometimes
directs our appetite in a very compelling way. But is thirst contrary to our freedom? No. It's an eating and drinking that we have the
physical strength to do all the other things that we do. Is our thirst for the truth an
obstacle or limit to our freedom? Well, obviously not. What we're trying to express is actually the
root of our free desire to know the truth. And anyone who's ever been drawn to a particular
subject and who thirsts to know more about it, realizes that this thirst, this love for
the subject, doesn't decrease freedom, but actually is the root of our free activity
by which we learn more and more about what we love. In other words, our spiritual inclinations
are real. They're really a part of our spiritual nature
and they're not blind determinations that limit our freedom, rather, they're its very
source and they spur it on. Let's now return to the idea of
the eternal law. Aquinas teaches that God has imprinted in
creatures their inclinations to their proper acts and ends in accordance with God's eternal
plan. And likewise, that He's imprinted these inclinations
in human beings in a higher way, we have inclinations that belong to us in virtue of our spiritual
nature. We're now in a better position
to understand what Aquinas means by his famous claim that the precepts of the natural law
follow the order of our natural inclinations. He means that as we understand the inclinations
of our spiritual nature, we come to grasp what God made a human being to be and what
human life is ordered to. And so, we come to know what a human being
ought to do and avoid. St. Thomas lists five principle
natural inclinations. The inclination to the good, that is, to what
perfects us. The inclination to self-preservation, for
example, to seek food, shelter, clothing, to avoid threats to our life. The inclination to sexual union and the upbringing
of offspring. The inclination to knowing the truth. And the inclination to living in society,
which includes the inclination to friendship and to justice and fairness towards others. Of course, some people might sometimes
act contrary to one or another of these inclinations, and there's always the possibility that, due
to sin, our desires will become distorted. But Aquinas thinks that these five inclinations
really are features of the kind of beings that we are, and that they give us a fundamental
orientation towards what will make us increasingly happy and increasingly free. It's important to see that for Saint Thomas,
natural law is thus not imposed on us by some alien will that commands us from above. It's rather, the very design of our being. As we come to know this with our
minds, we're then able to participate intentionally and freely in this plan. We order ourselves, our actions, beings lower
than us and even our communities, according to this plan, by the use of our freedom. This is, in an important sense, the very purpose
of our freedom, that we would be the creatures that order ourselves freely and knowingly
to God, according to His plan. Let's conclude with some brief
remarks on the relation between natural law and human law. Aquinas thinks that a human law is only just
when it's in accord with a natural law. And that laws that conflict with the natural
law are not morally binding. The natural law is most clear with
respect to certain general and negative precepts. For example, the precepts of the Ten Commandments. Theft, murder, lying, adultery and other sexual
sins, suicide, these are wrong always and everywhere, because they're contrary to what
the natural law teaches us is the good for human beings. Self-preservation, sexual union and the raising
of children, truth, life together in society. Positive precepts are a different
case because they're harder to apply. We might all agree with the precepts be brave,
be just, but there are many ways we can do these things and some of them might be better
than others. That's why Aquinas thinks the negative precepts
of the natural law are more easily known and apply always and everywhere, while the positive
precepts don't necessarily apply in every circumstance. Aquinas thinks that an important
part of the job of human lawmakers is to specify and apply the general precepts of the natural
law in a particular context and for a particular community. Then, always respecting what the natural law
demands in it's negative precepts, human lawmakers should write laws that order their community
towards its common good. For readings, podcasts, and more videos like this, go to Aquinas101.com. While you're there, be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas. And don't forget to like and share with your friends, because it matters what you think.