What Is Natural Law?
"The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it … and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind …
that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions … "
- John Locke, Second Treatise on Civil Government, 1690
The American Revolution of 1776 Was Grounded in Natural Law
John Locke reminds us, “Where there is no law, there is no freedom.” This was at the heart of the American Revolution, grounded in Natural Law.
Indeed, the first two paragraphs of the American Declaration of Independence are powerful statements of Natural Law and its importance in a free and just society.
Most modern Americans have never studied Natural Law, therefore, we are mystified by the constant reference to Natural Law by the Founding Fathers.
The Golden Rule?
Natural Law is a moral theory of jurisprudence which maintains that law should be based on Morality and Ethics.
It holds that the law is based on what’s “correct,” and is “discovered” by humans through the use of Reason and choosing between good and evil. Therefore, Natural Law finds its power in discovering certain universal standards
in Morality and Ethics …
"... One eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and for all times, and there will be one master and one rule, that is, God,
over us all, for He is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE)
The Founders’ Favorite Expositor of Natural Law
Certain Moral Laws Transcend Time,
Culture, and Government
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle emphasized the distinction between “Nature” (physis, φúσις) and “law,” “custom,” or “convention” (nomos, νóμος). What the law commanded varied from place to place, but what was “by Nature” should be the same everywhere … In the end, where does law come from?
The Theory of Natural Law maintains that certain moral laws transcend time, culture, and government. There are universal standards that apply to all mankind throughout all time. These universal moral standards are inherent in and discoverable by all of us, and form the basis of a just society …
The Founders Studied All the World's Philosphers
Lesson 3, "The Founding Fathers' Basic Beliefs," explains that America’s Founders knew that the only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law..
As you will discover, the Founders studied all the philosophers and had quite a few favorites–-including Polybius, Sir Edward Coke, Algernon Sidney, John Locke, de Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and Sir William Blackstone. However, high on their list of great political thinkers was Marcus Tullius Cicero.
"True Law is Right Reason In Agreement With Nature..."
In Cicero’s writings the Founders saw the necessary ingredients for their model society which they eventually hoped to build. To Cicero, the building of a society on principles of Natural Law was nothing more nor less than recognizing and identifying the rules of “right conduct” with the laws of the Supreme Creator of the universe, the brilliant Intelligence of a Supreme Designer with an ongoing interest in both human and cosmic affairs.
Cicero’s compelling honesty led him to conclude that once the reality of the Creator is clearly identified in the mind, the only intelligent approach to government, justice, and human relations is in terms of the laws which the Supreme Creator has already established. The Creator’s order of things is called Natural Law.
"The harmony of Natural Law reveals an Intelligence of such superiority that compared with it,
all systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection."
- Albert Einstein