simple essay about natural law

Natural Law: Definition and Application

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Natural law is a theory that says all humans inherit—perhaps through a divine presence—a universal set of moral rules that govern human conduct.

Key Takeaways: Natural Law

• Natural law theory holds that all human conduct is governed by an inherited set of universal moral rules. These rules apply to everyone, everywhere, in the same way.
• As a philosophy, natural law deals with moral questions of “right vs. wrong,” and assumes that all people want to live “good and innocent” lives.
• Natural law is the opposite of “man-made” or “positive” law enacted by courts or governments.
• Under natural law, taking another life is forbidden, no matter the circumstances involved, including self-defense.

Natural law exists independently of regular or “positive” laws—laws enacted by courts or governments. Historically, the philosophy of natural law has dealt with the timeless question of “right vs. wrong” in determining the proper human behavior. First referred to in the Bible, the concept of natural law was later addressed by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and Roman philosopher Cicero . 

What Is Natural Law?

Natural law is a philosophy based on the idea that everyone in a given society shares the same idea of what constitutes “right” and “wrong.” Further, natural law assumes that all people want to live “good and innocent” lives. Thus, natural law can also be thought of as the basis of “morality.” 

Natural law is the opposite of “man-made” or “positive” law. While positive law may be inspired by natural law, natural law may not be inspired by positive law. For example, laws against impaired driving are positive laws inspired by natural laws.

Unlike laws enacted by governments to address specific needs or behaviors, natural law is universal, applying to everyone, everywhere, in the same way. For example, natural law assumes that everyone believes killing another person is wrong and that punishment for killing another person is right. 

Natural Law and Self Defense

In regular law, the concept of self-defense is often used as justification for killing an aggressor. Under natural law, however, self-defense has no place. Taking another life is forbidden under natural law, no matter the circumstances involved. Even in the case of an armed person breaking into another person’s home, natural law still forbids the homeowner from killing that person in self-defense. In this way, natural law differs from government-enacted self-defense laws like so-called “ Castle Doctrine ” laws. 

Natural Rights vs. Human Rights

Integral to the theory of natural law, natural rights are rights endowed by birth and not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government. As stated in the United States Declaration of Independence , for example, the natural rights mentioned are “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In this manner, natural rights are considered universal and inalienable, meaning they cannot be repealed by human laws.

Human rights, in contrast, are rights endowed by society, such as the right to live in safe dwellings in safe communities, the right to healthy food and water, and the right to receive healthcare. In many modern countries, citizens believe the government should help provide these basic needs to people who have difficulty obtaining them on their own. In mainly socialist societies , citizens believe the government should provide such needs to all people, regardless of their ability to obtain them.

Natural Law in the US Legal System

The American legal system is based on the theory of natural law holding that the main goal of all people is to live a “good, peaceful, and happy” life, and that circumstances preventing them from doing so are “immoral” and should be eliminated. In this context, natural law, human rights, and morality are inseparably intertwined in the American legal system. 

Natural law theorists contend that laws created by the government should be motivated by morality. In asking the government to enact laws, the people strive to enforce their collective concept of what is right and wrong. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted to right what the people considered to be a moral wrong—racial discrimination. Similarly, the peoples’ view of enslavement as being a denial of human rights led to ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. 

Natural Law in the Foundations of American Justice

Governments do not grant natural rights. Instead, through covenants like the American Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution , governments create a legal framework under which the people are permitted to exercise their natural rights. In return, people are expected to live according to that framework.

In his 1991 Senate confirmation hearing, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas expressed the widely shared belief that the Supreme Court should refer to natural law in interpreting the Constitution. “We look at natural law beliefs of the Founders as a background to our Constitution,” he stated. 

Among the Founders who inspired Justice Thomas in considering natural law to be an integral part of the American justice system, Thomas Jefferson referred to it when he wrote in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence:

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Jefferson then reinforced the concept that governments cannot deny rights granted by natural law in the famous phrase: 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Natural Law in Practice: Hobby Lobby vs. Obamacare

Deeply rooted in the Bible, natural law theory often influences actual legal cases involving religion. An example can be found in the 2014 case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores , in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that for-profit companies are not legally obligated to provide employee health care insurance that covers expenses for services that go against their religious beliefs.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 —better known as “Obamacare”—requires employer-provided group health care plans to cover certain types of preventative care, including FDA-approved contraceptive methods. This requirement conflicted with the religious beliefs of the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a nationwide chain of arts and crafts stores. The Green family had organized Hobby Lobby around their Christian principles and had repeatedly stated their desire to operate the business according to Biblical doctrine, including the belief that any use of contraception is immoral. 

In 2012, the Greens sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, claiming that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employment-based group health care plans cover contraception violated the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the First Amendment and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), that “ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected.” Under the Affordable Care Act, Hobby Lobby faced significant fines if its employee health care plan failed to pay for contraceptive services.

In considering the case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide if the RFRA allowed closely held, for-profit companies to refuse to provide its employees with health insurance coverage for contraception based on the religious objections of the company’s owners. 

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that by forcing religion-based companies to fund what they consider the immoral act of abortion, the Affordable Care Act placed an unconstitutionally “substantial burden” on those companies. The court further ruled that an existing provision in the Affordable Care Act exempting non-profit religious organizations from providing contraception coverage should also apply to for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby.

The landmark Hobby Lobby decision marked the first time the Supreme Court had recognized and upheld a for-profit corporation’s natural law claim of protection based on a religious belief.

Sources and Further Reference

• “ Natural Law .” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• “ The Natural Law Tradition in Ethics .” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2002-2019)
• “Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 .” U.S. Government Publishing Office.
• What Are Natural Rights?
• National Supremacy and the Constitution as Law of the Land
• What Is the "Necessary and Proper" Clause in the US Constitution?
• Loving v. Virginia (1967)
• The Health Care System In The US
• Conservative Perspectives on Health Care Reform
• Supreme Court Decisions - Everson v. Board of Education
• Moral Philosophy According to Immanuel Kant
• Executive Orders Definition and Application
• Is Medical Help for Illegal Immigrants Covered Under Obamacare?
• Where Did the Right to Privacy Come From?
• Biography of John G. Roberts, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Due Process of Law in the US Constitution
• What Is Judicial Review?
• Meet the Female Supreme Court Justices
• Separation of Powers: A System of Checks and Balances

Legal Dictionary

The Law Dictionary for Everyone

Natural Law

Natural law is the philosophy that certain rights, moral values, and responsibilities are inherent in human nature, and that those rights can be understood through simple reasoning. In other words, they just make sense when you consider the nature of humanity. Throughout history, the phrase “natural law” has had to do with determining how humans should behave morally. The law of nature is universal, meaning that it applies to everyone in the same way. To explore this concept, consider the following natural law definition.

Definition of Natural Law

• The belief that certain laws of morality are inherent by human nature, reason, or religious belief, and that they are ethically binding on humanity.

1350-1400    Middle English

What is Natural Law

Natural law is a philosophy that is based on the idea that “right” and “wrong” are universal concepts, as mankind finds certain things to be useful and good, and other things to be bad, destructive, or evil. This means that, what constitutes “right” and “wrong,” is the same for everyone, and this concept is expressed as “morality.” As an example of natural law, it is universally accepted that to kill someone is wrong, and that to punish someone for killing that person is right, and even necessary.

To solve an ethical dilemma using natural law, the basic belief that everyone is naturally entitled to live their own lives must be considered and respected. From there, natural law theorists determine what an innocent life is, and what elements comprise the life of an “unjust aggressor.”

The natural law theory pays particular attention to the concept of self-defense, a justification often relied upon in an attempt to explain an act of violence. As has been the case with self-defense claims throughout history, it is often difficult to apply what seems to be a simple concept (right vs. wrong) to issues that are actually complex in nature.

For example, acts of violence, like murder , work against people’s natural inclination to live a good and innocent life. Therefore, in a situation where “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” and an act of violence is committed against the smaller group of people in order to save the larger one, the act still goes against human nature.

Killing another person is forbidden by natural law, no matter the circumstance, as it goes against the human purpose of life. Even if someone is, say, armed and breaking into another person’s home, under natural law the homeowner still does not have the right to kill that person in self-defense. It is in this way that natural law differs from actual law.

Natural Law in the American Legal System

Natural law in the American legal system is defined as a legal theory that considers law and morality to be so connected to one another that they are practically the same. Since natural law in the American legal system is focused on morality, as actions can be defined as both “good” and “bad,” natural law theorists believe that the laws that humans create are motivated by morality, as opposed to being defined by an authority figure like a monarch, a dictator, or a governmental organization.

This means that people are guided by their own human nature to determine what laws should be created, in accordance with what they know to be “right” and “wrong,” then proceed to live their lives in obedience of those laws once they have become legislation .

Natural law in the American legal system is centered on the belief that everything in life has a purpose, and that humans’ main purpose is to strive to live a life that is both “good” and happy. Any behaviors or actions that deliberately obstruct that one simple goal are considered to be “unnatural” or “immoral.”

Just as everything is deemed to have a purpose in natural law, so too do the legislated laws that are created. The simple purpose of legislation is to provide a way to maintain peace, and achieve justice. Natural law theorists believe that a law that fails to meet this goal is not really a law at all. Therefore, if there are any flaws determined to be present with an existing law, natural law dictates it is not a law that is to be followed. This stands in sharp contrast to legal positivism, which is the legal theory that, even if a law is deeply flawed, it is still a valid law that must be followed.

Natural Rights vs. Human Rights

It may be simple semantics, but the adjective before the word “rights,” whether that adjective is “human” or “natural,” can make a difference in how the term is defined. When asking the question of natural rights vs. human rights, consider that natural rights are those endowed by birth and are to be protected by the government. These rights include life, liberty, and property, among others.

Human rights, on the other hand, are rights deemed so by society. These include such things as the right to live in a safe, suitable dwelling, the right to healthy food, and the right to receive healthcare. In many modern societies, citizens feel that the government should provide these things to people who have difficulty obtaining them on their own.

How the Constitution Addresses Natural and Human Rights

At the time that the Declaration of Independence was drafted, the “rights” that people spoke of were thought to be natural, or God-given. However, beginning in the 20th century, the term “rights” evolved to be referred to as “human rights.” While natural rights and human rights are essentially universal, there still exist some significant differences between them.

Natural rights are not granted to people by their government. Governments simply establish the political conditions under which people are permitted to exercise their natural rights, and then the government expects its people to live according to those conditions. Conversely, human rights are those granted to people by the governmental authorities. The term “human rights” has become a catch-all term for anything that society as a whole believes to be important.

Natural rights, by their very nature, do not change with time. Everyone everywhere has always been endowed with the same right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” By contrast, human rights are subject to change and often do, with new human rights being recognized, defined, and promoted by governmental organizations.

Natural Law Examples in Religious Beliefs

An example of natural law being tested in the courts can be found in the case of Gilardi v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services . Here, two brothers – Francis and Philip Gilardi – own Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics, both of which are fresh-food processing companies located in Sidney, Ohio. The brothers are Roman Catholic, and found that the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that companies provide employee health insurance that covers birth control options conflicted with their religious beliefs. The men stood their ground to operate their companies in accordance with their religious beliefs – refusing to compensate employees for birth control options in their health insurance plans.

When the Gilardis were issued $14 million in penalties for not complying with the law, they sued the government on behalf of their companies, saying that the current mandate is trying to force them to choose between their faith and their livelihood. The Gilardi case claimed that the Affordable Care Act violated their constitutional rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution , as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act , and the Administrative Procedure Act .

The Affordable Care Act, colloquially referred to as “Obamacare,” derives its authority to mandate options for contraception and sterilization through natural law, seeking to provide healthcare options that are for the good of the people in general. No individuals covered by these insurance plans are required to utilize any of the services. When the case was heard by the appellate court, Judge Janice Rogers Brown ruled that the Freshway companies are not “people” as defined by the Constitution and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (i.e. individual human beings), so they are not able to exercise a religious belief and cannot claim that the mandate offends “them.”

Natural Law and the Declaration of Independence

Judge Brown is known for her arguments in favor of judges seeking out a “higher authority than precedent or man-made laws” when making her opinions. She referred to “moral” law, which makes this a good example of natural law infiltrating the justice system, in making her decision, stating that forcing the Gilardis to comply with the mandated provision of contraception methods would be a “compelled affirmation of a repugnant belief.” Brown also concluded that because the Freshway companies are run as closely held corporations, with each having only two owners, then the brothers could sue in that capacity to express their personal objections to the mandate as it conflicts with their religion.

Judge Brown isn’t the only one who feels that man’s laws must yield to a “higher authority,” and natural law beliefs. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reportedly been known to express his belief that natural law should be referred to when justices are attempting to interpret the Constitution. Thomas was even quoted during his Senate confirmation hearings in 1991 as saying:

“We look at natural law beliefs of the Founders as a background to our Constitution.”

Those who believe that natural law should be referred to in this way, and that justices should turn to a higher power, often refer to the Declaration of Independence for support. Specifically, they refer to its opening lines, wherein Thomas Jefferson referred to God’s law, as he wrote:

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Also applicable is the section that is arguably more well-known:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights , that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Related Legal Terms and Issues

• Declaration of Independence – The formal statement that declared the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from the rule of Great Britain.
• Legislation – A law, or body of laws, enacted by a government.
• Mandate – An official order to carry out a policy, or to take some action.

Thomistic Philosophy Page

Natural Law

St. Thomas Aquinas on the Natural Law.

After his Five Ways of Proving the Existence of God ( ST Ia, 2, 3 ), St. Thomas Aquinas is probably most famous for articulating a concise but robust understanding of natural law. Just as he claims and demonstrates in his proofs for God’s existence that natural human reason can come to some understanding of the Author of nature, so in his exposition of natural law, Aquinas shows that human beings can discover objective moral norms by reasoning from the objective order in nature, specifically human nature. While Aquinas believes that this objective order of nature (and the operation of human reason which discovers it) are, in fact, ultimately grounded and established by God’s intelligent willing of the good of creation (i.e., His love), Aquinas’s understands that one need not know that God’s providence underpins the objective order of nature. Thus, whether or not one believes in or rationally proves there is a God, one can recognize and be bound by the natural law for, according to Aquinas, it applies to all people at all times, and in some sense is known by all rational humans (though, of course, they do not (but should) always act in accordance with it).

Eternal Law

In his monumental Summa Theologiae , St. Thomas Aquinas , devotes relatively little space to the natural law – merely a single question and passing mention in two others. There, he bases his doctrine of the natural law, as one would expect, on his understanding of God and His relation to His creation. He grounds his theory of natural law in the notion of an eternal law (in God). In asking whether there is an eternal law, he begins by stating a general definition of all law: Law is a dictate of reason from the ruler for the community he rules.

This dictate of reason is first and foremost within the reason or intellect of the ruler. It is the idea of what should be done to ensure the well-ordered functioning of whatever community the ruler has care for. (It is a fundamental tenet of Aquinas’ political theory that rulers rule for the sake of the governed, i.e., for the good and well-being of those subject to the ruler.) Since he has elsewhere shown that God rules the world with his reason (since he is the cause of its being (cf.  Summa Theologiae I 22, 1-2) ), Aquinas concludes that God has in His intellect an idea by which He governs the world. This Idea, in God, for the governance of things is the eternal law.  ( ST I-II, 91, 1)

Defining the Natural Law

Next, Aquinas asks whether there is in us a natural law. First, he makes a distinction: A law is not only in the reason of a ruler, but may also be in the thing that is ruled. Just as the plan or rule for constructing a house resides primarily in the mind of an architect, so that plan or rule can be said also to be in the house so constructed, imprinted, as it were, into the very composition of the house and dictating how the house is properly to operate or function (cf. ST I-II, 93, 1 ).

In the case of the eternal law, the things of creation that are ruled by that law have it imprinted on the them through their nature or essence. Since things act according to their nature, they derive their “respective inclinations to their proper acts and ends” ( final cause ) according to the law that is written into their nature. Everything in nature, insofar as they reflect the order by which God directs them through their nature for their own benefit, reflects the eternal law in their own natures  ( ST  I-II, 91, 2)

The natural law is properly applied to the case of human beings, and acquires greater precision because of the fact that we have reason and free will . It is our nature as humans to act freely (i.e., to be provident for ourselves and others) by directing ourselves toward our proper acts and end. That is, we human beings must exercise our natural reason to discover what is best for us in order to achieve the end to which our nature inclines. Furthermore, we must do this through the exercise our freedom, by choosing what reason determines to be naturally suited to us, i.e., what is best for our nature.

Now among all others, the rational creature is subject to Divine providence in the most excellent way, in so far as it partakes of a share of providence, by being provident both for itself and for others. Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law . ( ST  I-II, 91, 2)

The natural inclination of humans to achieve their proper end through reason and free will is the natural law. Formally defined, the natural law is humans’ participation in the eternal law, through reason and will. Humans actively participate in the eternal law of God (the governance of the world) by using reason in conformity with the natural law to discern what is good and evil . Just as the proper functioning of the body and its organs in order to achieve an optimal physical life defines health and the rules of medicine and healthy living, so the proper functioning of all human faculties defines the human good and the rules for living well (morally, spiritually, socially, etc.). The natural law encompasses the rules and precepts by which humans do good actions and live well, individually and collectively.

The Human Good

In applying this universal notion of natural law to the human person, one first must decide what it is that (God has ordained) human nature is inclined toward. Since each thing has a nature (given it by God), and each thing has a natural end, so there is a fulfillment to human activity of living. Even apart from knowing about this dependence on God, one can discover by reason what the purpose of living is, and so he or she will discover what his or her natural end is. Building on the insight of Aristotle that “happiness is what all desire,” a person can conclude that they will be happy when he or she achieves this natural end, specifically “a life of virtuous activity in accordance with reason” ( Nicomachean Ethics , I, 7 ; see Aquinas, Commentary, Bk. I, C h. 10, nos. 127-8 ). The commands or precepts, then, that lead to human happiness or flourishing is what Aquinas means by the natural law.

Aquinas distinguishes different levels of precepts or commands that constitute or comprise the natural law. The most universal is the command “Good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided ” ( ST I-II, 94, 2 ). This applies to everything and everyone, so much so that some consider it to be more of a description or definition of what we mean by “good.” For these philosophers, a thing is “good” just in case it is pursued or done by someone. Aquinas would agree with this to a certain extent; but he would say that that is a definition of an  apparent  good. Thus, this position of Aquinas has a certain phenomenological appeal: a person does anything and everything he or she does only because that thing at least “appears” to be good. Even when I choose something that I know is bad for myself, I nevertheless chooses it under some aspect of good, i.e., as some kind of good. I know the cake is fattening, for example, and I don’t choose to eat it  as  fattening. I do, however, choose to eat it as tasty (which is an apparent, though not a true, good). A true good is an object of desire which reason determines to be appropriate or fitting to a given person, in certain circumstances, in light of their universal human nature ( ST I-II, 94, 3 , esp. ad 3). Sometimes this will include eating cake, but not too much of it.

Precepts of the Natural Law

The precepts of the natural law are commands derived from the inclinations or desires natural to human beings; for Aquinas there is no problem in deriving “ought” from “is.” Since the object of every desire has the character or formality of “good,” there are a variety of goods we naturally seek. They are all subsumed under the First Principle of Practical Reasoning: The good is to be done and pursued, and evil avoided. This first principle is operative in all the precepts that comprise the natural law. Subsequent precepts of the natural law derive first from various sorts of inclinations as humans share these with other sorts of natural things, and second, as one discovers these goods in greater specificity ( ST I-II, 94, 2 ).

On the level that we share with all substances, the natural law commands that we preserve ourselves in being. Therefore, one of the most basic precepts of the natural law is to not commit suicide. (Nevertheless, suicide can, sadly, be chosen as an apparent good, e.g., as the cessation of pain; often it is not chosen at all, but the result of mental illness.) On the level we share with all living things, the natural law commands that we take care of our life, and transmit that life to the next generation. Thus, almost as basic as the preservation of our lives, the natural law commands us to rear and care for offspring. On the level that is most specific to humans, the fulfillment of the natural law consists in the exercise those activities that are unique and proper to humans, i.e., knowledge and love , and in a state that is also natural to human persons, i.e., society. The natural law, thus, commands us to develop our rational and moral capacities by growing in the virtues of intellect (prudence, art, and science ) and will ( justice , courage, temperance) ( ST I-II, 94, 3 ). Natural law also commands those things that make for the harmonious functioning of society (“Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal”). Human nature also shows that each of us have a destiny beyond this world, too. Man’s infinite capacity to know and love shows that he is destined to know and love an infinite being, God, and so, natural law commands the practice of religion.

All of these levels of precepts so far outlined are only the most basic. “The good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided” is not very helpful for making actual choices. Therefore, Aquinas believes that one needs one’s reason to be perfected by the virtues , especially prudence, in order to discover precepts of the natural law that are more proximate to the choices that one has to make on a day-to-day basis. As is indicated in the table above, particular precepts, as they derive from more general ones in issuing forth in action, can conflict with each other. The command to save David might conflict with the apparent injunction that one ought not to lie to soldiers bent on unjustly executing him, but might cohere with the injunction not to give them information they have no just right to. Applying the natural law to cases, then, is more open to error, even though the general principles are true and apparent, and there is, in fact, a true and most rational application to certain particular circumstances ( ST I-II, 94, 3 ).

Application of the Natural Law as an Absolute / Objective Standard

Given that the natural law depends on the inclinations inherent in human nature (as ordained by the intelligent, loving providence of God, i.e., the Eternal Law) it applies to all people, at all times. Yet Aquinas readily acknowledges that the laws and morals of people can vary wildly. Rather than succumbing to moral relativism (where what is morally good and right is merely what each society or person thinks is such), Aquinas seeks both to uphold the objective and universal basis of morality in the natural law, and to explain the variety of moral and legal injunctions. Despite his belief that the natural law applies universally, Aquinas explains how this variety arises, first from the perspective of the generality of the precepts, and then from the perspective of the knowledge an individual has of the precepts.

From the perspective of the generality of the precepts, Aquinas reasons that the more general a precept is, the less is it open to exceptions. The general principles of both speculative reasoning (e.g., mathematics and the sciences) and practical reasoning (arts, ethics and politics) are necessary, and so the primary precepts of the natural law apply in all cases. The good is always to be done; life is always to be preserved. Yet, as one seeks to apply the general principles to particular cases, the particular circumstances necessitate greater variety in the kinds of actions required by the principle. Preserving life in the community may require the execution of murderers .

Although there is necessity in the general principles, the more we descend to matters of detail, the more frequently we encounter defects. … In matters of action, truth or practical rectitude is not the same for all, as to matters of detail, but only as to the general principles: and where there is the same rectitude in matters of detail, it is not equally known to all . ( ST I-II, 94, 4 )

From the perspective of the knowledge an of individual, the variety of ways of applying the natural law also leads to variability in knowing how to so apply the principles. The more general a precept is, the more likely it is to be known by a greater number of people. The more particular a precept of the natural law (or the application of a general precept to a particular case) is, the more likely it is that a particular individual will get it wrong.

Aquinas thus concludes that the greater the detail, the more likely it will be that people disagree about what the natural law requires:

Consequently, we must say that the natural law, as to general principles, is the same for all, both as to rectitude and as to knowledge. But as to certain matters of detail, which are conclusions, as it were, of those general principles, it is the same for all in the majority of cases, both as to rectitude and as to knowledge; and yet in some few cases it may fail, both as to rectitude, by reason of certain obstacles (just as natures subject to generation and corruption fail in some few cases on account of some obstacle), and as to knowledge, since in some the reason is perverted by passion, or evil habit, or an evil disposition of nature. ( ST I-II, 94, 4 )

Even though it is true that as one makes more particular applications of the general precepts of the natural law, the form that application takes is likely to be displayed in a greater variety of actions, nevertheless, the same natural law is being applied in each case, and the same natural law commands a variety of actions as given situations demand. What is the right thing to do might vary according to a variety of circumstances, yet in each case, the right thing to do is objective and necessary, a rational deduction of the certain general principles of moral action.

Just and Unjust Laws

Aquinas thus argues that the natural law cannot be changed, except by way of addition. Such additions, he says, are “things for the benefit of human life [which] have been added over and above the natural law, both by Divine law and by human laws ” ( ST I-II, 94, 5 ). Nothing can be subtracted from the natural law with regard to the primary precepts, and thus, no human law which commands something contrary to the natural law can be just. Interestingly, he notes, that certain features of society, while not being provided to humans by nature, accord with the natural law under the general principle of being “devised by human reason for the benefit of human life” ( ad 3 ). He includes among such non-natural features as consonant with natural law: clothing, private property and slavery. Yet by introducing the condition that just additions to the natural law must be for the benefit of human life, he allows, as we’ll see below, that should they fail this condition, they would thereby be subtractions from the natural law and so, unjust.

Given the universality and objective character of the natural law, Aquinas unsurprisingly asserts that it cannot be forgotten or “abolished from the human heart” ( ST I-II, 94, 6 ). Nevertheless, he recognizes that many people act as though they do not recognize this universal and objective standard of morality since they are inhibited by the influence of concupiscence or other passions , by an error of reasoning , or “by vicious customs and corrupt habits.” Indeed, as the third objection notes, there are whole societies which operate according to laws at variance with the natural law, declaring their departures as “just.” Aquinas responds that such laws abolish only the “secondary precepts of the natural law, against which some legislators have framed certain enactments which are unjust.” ( ST 94, 6 ad 3 ). This nuanced understanding of the natural law, then, provides a standard for judging just and unjust laws. He makes this criterion of just laws explicit when he turns to the origin of human law.

Consequently, every human law has just so much of the nature of law, as it is derived from the law of nature. But if in any point it deflects from the law of nature, it is no longer a law but a perversion of law.” ( ST I-II, 95, 2 )

Aquinas, thus, seems to grant that whatever judges a system of human laws must stand outside and above that system. The laws of Nazi Germany which prescribed the execution of Jews and dissidents and forbade their protection constituted “crimes against humanity,” not because these laws were in violation of other laws of Germany, or the laws of France or the United States. The reason that the attempted destruction of the Jews was wrong was not even because the whole rest of the world thought it was wrong. The crimes of Nazi Germany could be judged as crimes because they were violations of a law that stands apart from and above the laws of every nation; they were violations of the natural law. Natural law, then, serves as the standard against which we determine whether human positive laws are just or not.

One can see these principles at work in “ Letter from Birmingham City Jail ” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As King says:

I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.

The justification to which King appeals in order to show that segregation laws are unjust is not other laws of Alabama or of the United States, but the natural law as it is founded in human nature. Human nature demands a true sense of equality and dignity, and because segregation laws violate that equality and dignity, they are unjust. Segregation laws clearly diminished the dignity, and thus damage the personality of blacks in Alabama. Interestingly, King asserts that segregation laws were harmful to the white majority, distorting their proper dignity and damaging their personality as well. In both cases, segregation laws are an affront to human dignity, founded as it is in our common human nature.

The Thomistic notion of natural law has its roots, then, in a quite basic understanding of the universe as caused and cared for by God, and the basic notion of what a law is. It is a fairly sophisticated notion by which to ground the legitimacy of human law in something more universal than the mere agreement and decree of legislators. Yet, it allows that what the natural law commands or allows is not perfectly obvious when one gets to the proximate level of commanding or forbidding specific acts. It grounds the notion that there are some things that are wrong, always and everywhere, i.e., “crimes against humanity,” while avoiding the obvious difficulties of claiming that this is determined by any sort of human consensus. Nevertheless, it still sees the interplay of people in social and rational discourse as necessary to determine what in particular the natural law requires.

Updated February 24, 2024

Revised and expanded August 26, 2021

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15 Natural Law Examples

Natural law is a theory asserting that certain natural rights or values are inherent by virtue of human nature and can be universally understood through human reason (Coyle, 2023).

Rooted deeply in various religious and philosophical traditions around the world, Natural Law is presented as a universal guideline for human behavior (for example, the concept of Dharma in Hinduism or the teachings of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics).

Different perspectives interpret natural law in diverse ways, raising debates about its origin, applications, definition, and implications (d’Entreves, 2017).

From ancient civilizations to our modern socio-political context, understanding Natural Law adds depth to the discourse on morality, ethics, and human rights.

Definition and Overview

Natural law, in its simplest form, refers to a type of moral theory that asserts the existence of objective, universal moral laws that we can decipher through plain reason and logic.

This means that these laws aren’t forged by humans but are inherently a part of human nature and the natural order of things, like the innate understanding that stealing is wrong.

This concept has deep historical roots.

Historically, the concept of natural law is tied to ancient philosophy and underpins many world religions, such as the Ten Commandments in Christianity. It posits that there is a higher moral order that transcends human-made laws (like those against infidelity which exist across various cultures and societies).

Prominent scholars, such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, were influential in developing and refining the concept of natural law (Crowe, 2016).

Aristotle was the first to introduce the concept of ‘natural justice,’ while Aquinas expanded this concept to merge Christian theology with Greek philosophical thought. Aristotle argued for ‘telos’ or purpose in all natural things, while Aquinas emphasized God as the divine lawgiver.

Furthermore, natural law was invoked by enlightenment philosophers and even America’s founders, where they embraced liberal ideals such as the right to free speech , freedom of religion , and freedom of assembly .

The universality of natural law can be seen in different cultures and legal systems worldwide.

Despite its various interpretations, paradigms of natural law, emphasizing a universal moral order beyond human legislation, are apparent in diverse traditions and societies (such as the concept of ‘Maat’ in ancient Egyptian civilization, which reflects a cosmic order transcending human authority).

Natural Law Examples

1. human dignity.

Throughout cultures and histories, there exists the idea that every human being should be treated with dignity and respect just due to their nature as humans.

This principle, inherently known and accepted, is an example of natural law (Jensen, 2015). It transcends artificial boundaries and forms the basis for many human rights policies today.

Even in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, prescribed by the United Nations, the ethos of human dignity is cemented in the preamble itself: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world” (Universal declaration, 1948).

This embodies the concept of natural law, as it puts forth a universal moral code applicable to all mankind.

See More: Examples of Human Dignity

2. Prohibition of Theft

Man made criminal laws universally acknowledge that stealing or theft is inherently morally wrong, which is in line with natural law.

Whether it’s modern jurisdictions like U.S. law that has categorized theft under various degrees (like petty theft and grand theft), or ancient civilizations like Hammurabi’s Code which prescribed explicit punishments for theft, the principle against stealing is inherently accepted across different cultures and timelines (Finnis, 2017; Haakonssen & Seidler, 2015).

This universal agreement on the moral invalidity of theft illustrates the existence of a higher moral order beyond human-made laws, presenting a real-world example of natural law.

3. Prohibition of Murder

The prohibition of murder is a clear embodiment of natural law. This law, unlike civil or criminal laws, is universally accepted and understood without the need for formal legislation.

It is inherently understood that taking another human life unjustly is morally wrong.

Whether expressed in the commandment “Thou shall not kill” in the Bible and Torah or in the laws of ancient societies like the Roman Empire that held ‘unlawful killing’ as a grave offence, the prohibition of murder illustrates the concept of natural law.

4. Right to Self-Defense

Another real-world application of natural law is the concept of self-defense. This universally accepted principle dictates that a person has the right to protect himself or herself from harm.

While different legal systems have various nuances in laws concerning self-defense, the core understanding remains consistent: everyone has a right to protect their own life when threatened (Finnis, 2015).

The United Nations’ “Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials” recognizes self-defense as a basic human right (Principle 9, UN BPOFFLEO, 1990). This common understanding, superseding man-made laws, asserts the presence of natural law.

5. Duty to Honor Promises and Contracts

The duty to honor promises and contracts, a pillar of trust and cooperation in human societies, suffices as an evident example of natural law.

This universally recognized principle implies that when individuals make promises or sign contracts, they are ethically and morally bound to keep their word.

Experience shows that societies function smoothly when this principle is adhered to, since it forms the bedrock of personal, professional, and legal relationships (Crowe, 2016; d’Entreves, 2017).

For example, modern legal systems enforce contractual obligations through the law of contracts, and breaching such obligations can result in substantial penalties. This reflects a commitment to the natural law principle of keeping one’s word, a concept ingrained in human relationships and dealings for centuries.

6. The Moral Law of Truth

The universally accepted principle that deception or lying is intrinsically wrong serves as another enacted facet of natural law.

The moral admonishment of lying can be found in both human legislations (for example, the perjury laws across multiple jurisdictions such as the UK’s Perjury Act of 1911) and religious and philosophical teachings (like Buddhism’s adherence to speaking the truth as part of the Eightfold Path).

This universal understanding further accentuates the concept of natural laws transcending human-made laws and societal norms.

7. Principle of Restitution

The principle of restitution, or the concept of compensating for a wrong committed, is an often cited example of natural law.

This concept states that if you harm someone either physically, emotionally, or monetarily, there is an inherent, universal obligation to make amends for the damage done.

Across the world, we see this principle in action within legal systems with laws dealing with compensation for injury or loss (Haakonssen & Seidler, 2015). For example, the U.S. legal system includes tort law, which allows victims of harm to seek compensation from the perpetrators.

8. Principle of Confidentiality and Privacy

Over the span of time and across numerous societies, a universal agreement prevails regarding the respect for an individual’s privacy.

This principle of confidentiality and privacy essentially means that there are certain aspects of one’s life that are private and should be respected by others.

Recognition of this principle is evident in both ancient cultural norms and modern legal precedents. Even under the umbrella of international law, Article 12 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes the fundamental right to privacy (stating “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy”).

These examples illuminate the role of natural law in shaping our societal, ethical, and legal outlook.

9. Principle of Justice and Fairness

The principle of justice and fairness, which argues that all individuals should be treated equally and without prejudice, mirrors the concept of natural law (d’Entreves, 2017; Finnis, 2015).

This principle means that every person, irrespective of their race, religion, gender, or socio-economic status, deserves to be treated justly and fairly (for example, the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’, prevalent in numerous jurisdictions, stands as a testament to this inherent understanding of justice).

10. Principle of Compassion and Kindness

The universal value of compassion and kindness towards fellow living beings, often described as empathy, underscores the understanding of natural law.

Whether it’s cultural, religious, or philosophical traditions advocating for compassion (like the Golden Rule present in many religions – ‘Treat others as you would like to be treated’), or scientific studies highlighting empathy as a inherent human trait, this deep-seated understanding reflects a universal natural law.

The fact that such principles are so broadly shared and understood, despite cultural, generational, and geographical differences, speaks to their roots in the intrinsic nature of being human, making them quintessential examples of natural law.

11. Right to Acquire Property

The universally recognized right to acquire, use, enjoy, and dispose of property is another manifestation of natural law and represents the liberal idea of economic freedom .

This principle is deeply ingrained in human nature and has been a critical factor in human progress and development. From ancient systems like feudalism where land was recognised as a valuable asset, to contemporary property laws which include intellectual property rights, the inherent understanding of one’s right to acquire and control property is consistently upheld.

Today, this natural law principle is recognized by international covenants such as Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.”

12. Right to Liberty

The right to liberty, understood as the freedom to live one’s life without unwarranted restraint, represents a key aspect of natural law.

This principle affirms that each individual has an inherent right to make decisions about their own life, to express themselves freely, and to engage in the pursuit of happiness, so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others.

Historically, the quest for liberty is reflected in numerous revolutions and movements, like the American and French Revolutions in the 18th century which were central around themes of liberty. Today, it is enshrined in numerous constitutions and international documents, such as Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person”.

These examples highlight how natural law principles continue to impact contemporary discourse, shaping societal norms, values, and legal frameworks worldwide.

13. Right to Defend Oneself

The inherent right to defend oneself from harm is a universally acknowledged natural law.

This principle supports an individual’s right to prevent harm to their physical integrity or personal property. Recognized universally, the right manifests in a spectrum of ways, from the most basic physical self-defense against personal attacks to more evolved forms like legal recourse against defamation.

This right’s universal application is endorsed in various legal systems (Jensen, 2015). An example is the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law in some U.S. states, which protects individuals who use force, including lethal force, to defend themselves without any duty to evade or retreat from a dangerous situation.

14. Parental Duties

Parental duties, or the responsibility of parents to care and provide for their offspring, is an excellent example of natural law.

This principle originates from an innate understanding that parents, owing to their role in their children’s creation and upbringing, have a responsibility to ensure their protection, survival, and growth (d’Entreves, 2017; Jensen, 2015).

For instance, parental duties are not limited to humans but are pervasive in the entire animal kingdom, where creatures exhibit protective behaviors towards their offspring (like a mother bear protecting her cubs from predators).

Moreover, nearly all nation-states recognize parental responsibility in legal terms, mandating provisions for child care, education, and safeguarding against neglect and abuse. These legislations often resonate with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, bolstering the common understanding of parental duties as a natural law.

15. Pursuit of Happiness

The pursuit of happiness, ingrained as an inherent human desire to seek joy and fulfillment, falls under the broad umbrella of natural law.

This principle is universally recognized as each individual’s innate right to strive toward their well-being, happiness, and personal fulfillment (Coyle, 2023).

The importance of this principle is epitomized in foundational documents such as the United States Declaration of Independence, where it is affirmed as an unalienable right alongside life and liberty. It is a commitment to individual autonomy , personal growth, and human dignity, irrespective of societal or cultural contexts – making it a core element of natural law.

Natural law encompasses universal principles and values, intrinsic to human nature, that shape our moral compass, irrespective of cultural, political or temporal differences.

From duties like making restitution or honoring contracts, to rights such as defending oneself or acquiring property, its applications are woven into the fabric of our societies, codes of law, and collective conscience.

These principles and values, often framed in scholarly discourse and applied in real-world scenarios, underline our understanding of ethics, justice, and human rights.

Dedicated exploration of natural law, thus, allows us to navigate the complexities of moral, legal, and socio-political landscapes, making it an indispensable tool in our quest to understand and enhance the human condition.

Coyle, S. (2023).  Natural law and modern society . Oxford University Press.

Crowe, J. (2016). Natural law theories.  Philosophy Compass ,  11 (2), 91-101.

d’Entreves, A. P. (2017).  Natural law: An introduction to legal philosophy . Routledge.

Finnis, J. (2015). Grounding human rights in natural law.  The American Journal of Jurisprudence ,  60 (2), 199-225.

Finnis, J. (2017). Natural law and legal reasoning. In  Law and Morality  (pp. 3-15). Routledge.

Haakonssen, K., & Seidler, M. J. (2015). Natural Law. In  A Companion to Intellectual History .

Jensen, S. (2015).  Knowing the natural law . CUA Press.

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4.4: Summary of Aquinas’s Natural Law Theory

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• Mark Dimmock & Andrew Fisher
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For Aquinas everything has a function (a telos ) and the good thing(s) to do are those acts that fulfil that function. Some things such as acorns, and eyes, just do that naturally. However, humans are free and hence need guidance to find the right path. That right path is found through reasoning and generates the “internal” Natural Law. By following the Natural Law we participate in God’s purpose for us in the Eternal Law.

However, the primary precepts that derive from the Natural Law are quite general, such as, pursue good and shun evil . So we need to create secondary precepts which can actually guide our day-to-day behaviour. But we are fallible so sometimes we get these secondary precepts wrong, sometimes we get them right. When they are wrong they only reflect our apparent goods. When they are right they reflect our real goods.

Finally, however good we are because we are finite and sinful, we can only get so far with rational reflection. We need some revealed guidance and this comes in the form of Divine Law. So to return to the Euthyphro dilemma. God’s commands through the Divine Law are ways of illuminating what is in fact morally acceptable and not what determines what is morally acceptable. Aquinas rejects the Divine Command Theory.

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Locke’s Moral Philosophy

Locke’s greatest philosophical work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding , is generally seen as a defining work of seventeenth-century empiricist epistemology and metaphysics. The moral philosophy developed in this work is rarely taken up for critical analysis, considered by many scholars of Locke’s thought to be too obscure and confusing to be taken too seriously. The view is not only seen by many commentators as incomplete, but it carries a degree of rationalism that cannot be made consistent with our picture of Locke as the arch-empiricist of his period. While it is true that Locke’s discussion of morality in the Essay is not as well-developed as many of his other views, there is reason to think that morality was the driving concern of this great work. For Locke, morality is the one area apart from mathematics wherein human reasoning can attain a level of rational certitude. For Locke, human reason may be weak with regards to our understanding of the natural world and the workings of the human mind, but it is exactly suited for the job of figuring out human moral duty. By looking at Locke’s moral philosophy, as it is developed in the Essay and some of his earlier writings, we gain a heightened appreciation for Locke’s motivations in the Essay , as well as a more nuanced understanding of the degree of Locke’s empiricism. Further than this, Locke’s moral philosophy offers us an important exemplar of seventeenth-century natural law theory, probably the predominant moral view of the period.

1.1 The puzzle of Locke’s moral philosophy

1.2 critical interpretations of locke’s moral philosophy, 2.1 morality as natural law, 2.2 morality and teleology, 2.3 morality as a deductive science, 3.1 locke’s general theory of motivation, 3.2 locke’s theory of moral motivation, 4.1 locke’s ethics of belief, 4.2 the special role of sanctions, other internet resources, related entries, 1. introduction.

There are two main stumbling blocks to the study of Locke’s moral philosophy. The first regards the singular lack of attention the subject receives in Locke’s most important and influential published works; not only did Locke never publish a work devoted to moral philosophy, but he dedicates little space to its discussion in the works he did publish. The traditional moral concept of natural law arises in Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1690) serving as a major plank in his argument regarding the basis for civil law and the protection of individual liberty, but he does not go into any detail regarding how we come to know natural law nor how we might be obligated, or even motivated, to obey it. In his Essay Concerning Human Understanding (first edition 1690; fourth edition 1700, hereafter referred to as the Essay ) Locke spends little time discussing morality, and what he does provide in the way of a moral epistemology seems underdeveloped, offering, at best, the suggestion of what a moral system might look like rather than a fully-realized positive moral position. This brings us to the second major stumbling block: What Locke does provide us by way of moral theory in these works is diffuse, with the air of being what J.B. Schneewind has characterized as “brief, scattered and sometimes puzzling” (Schneewind 1994, 200). This is not to suggest that Locke says nothing specific or concrete about morality. Locke makes references, throughout his works, to morality and moral obligation. However, two quite distinct positions on morality seem to emerge from Locke’s works and it is this dichotomous aspect of Locke’s view that has generated the greatest degree of controversy. The first is a natural law position, which Locke refers to in the Essay , but which finds its clearest articulation in an early work from the 1660s, entitled Essays on the Law of Nature . In this work, we find Locke espousing a fairly traditional rationalistic natural law position, which consists broadly in the following three propositions: first, that moral rules are founded on divine, universal and absolute laws; second, that these divine moral laws are discernible by human reason; and third, that by dint of their divine authorship these rules are obligatory and rationally discernible as such. On the other hand, Locke also espouses a hedonistic moral theory, in evidence in his early work, but developed most fully in the Essay . This latter view holds that all goods and evils reduce to specific kinds of pleasures and pains. The emphasis here is on sanctions, and how rewards and punishments serve to provide morality with its normative force. Both elements find their way into Locke’s published works, and, as a result, Locke seems to be holding what seem to be incommensurable views. The trick for Locke scholars has been to figure out how, or even if, they can be made to cohere. The question is not easily settled by looking to Locke’s unpublished works, either, since Locke also seems to hold a natural law view at some times and a hedonistic view at others.

One might conclude, with J.B. Schneewind, among others, that Locke’s attempts at constructing a morality were unsuccessful. Schneewind does not mince words when he writes the following: “Locke’s failures are sometimes as significant as his successes. His views on morality are a case in point” (Schneewind 1994, 199). Schneewind argues that the two strands of Locke’s moral theory are irreconcilable, and that this is a fact Locke must have realized. This view is indeed an apt representation of the frustration many readers have felt with Locke’s moral theory. Locke’s eighteenth-century apologist, Catharine Trotter Cockburn thought Locke provided a promising, but incomplete, starting point for a positive moral system, imploring, in her work “A Defense of Mr. Locke’s Essay of Human Understanding ,”

I wish, Sir, you may only find it enough worth your notice, to incite you to show the world, how far it falls short of doing justice to your principles; which you may do without interrupting the great business of your life, by a work, that will be an universal benefit, and which you have given the world some right to exact of you. Who is there so capable of pursuing to a demonstration those reflections on the grounds of morality , which you have already made? (Cockburn 1702, 36)

Locke’s friend William Molyneux similarly implored Locke to make good on the promise found in the Essay . In a letter written to Locke on September 16 th , 1693, Molyneux presses Locke to work on a moral treatise once he has finished editing the second edition of his Essay , writing as follows:

I am very sensible how closely you are engaged, till you have discharged this Work off your Hands; and therefore will not venture, till it be over, to press you again to what you have promis’d in the Business of Man’s Life, Morality . (Locke 1742, 53)

Several months later, in December of the same year, Molyneux concludes a letter by asking Locke about what other projects he currently has on the go “amongst which, I hope you will not forget your Thoughts on Morality ” (Locke 1742, 54).

Locke never did produce such a work, and we might well wonder if he himself ever considered the project a “failure”. There is no doubt that morality was of central importance to Locke, a fact we can discern from the Essay itself; there are two important features of the Essay that serve to enlighten us regarding the significance of this work in the development of Locke’s moral views. First of all, morality seems to have inspired Locke to write the Essay in the first place. In recounting his original inclination to embark on the project, he recalls a discussion with “five or six friends”, at which they discoursed “on a Subject very remote from this” (Locke 1700, 7). According to Locke, the discussion eventually hit a standstill, at which point it was agreed that in order to settle the issue at hand it would first be necessary to, as Locke puts it, “examine our own Abilities, and see, what Objects our Understandings were, or were not fitted to deal with” (Locke 1700, 7). This was, he explains, his first entrance into the problems that inspired the Essay itself. But, what is most interesting for our purposes is just what the remote subject was that first got Locke and his friends thinking about fundamental questions of epistemology. James Tyrell, one of those who attended that evening, is a source of enlightenment on this matter—he later recalled that the discussion concerned morality and revealed religion. But, Locke himself refers to the subjects they discussed that fateful evening as ‘very remote’ from the matters of the Essay . That may well be, but it is also true that Locke, in the Essay , identifies morality as a central feature of human intellectual and practical life, which brings us to the second important fact about Locke’s view of morality. Locke writes, in the Essay , that “Morality is the proper Science, and Business of Mankind in general” ( Essay , 4.12.11; these number are, book, chapter and section, respectively, from Locke’s Essay ). For a book aiming to set out the limits and extent of human knowledge, this comes as no small claim. We must, Locke writes, “know our own Strength” ( Essay , 1.1.6) and turn our attention to those areas in which we can have certainty, i.e., “those [things] which concern our Conduct” ( Essay , 1.1.6). The amount of attention given to the question of morality itself would seem to belie its primacy for Locke. The Essay is certainly not intended as a work of moral philosophy; it is a work of epistemology, laying the foundations for knowledge. However, a very big part of the programme involves identifying what true knowledge is and what it is we as humans can have knowledge about, and morality is accorded a distinctive and fairly exclusive status in Locke’s epistemology as one of “the Sciences capable of Demonstration” ( Essay , 4.3.18). The only other area of inquiry accorded this status is mathematics; clearly, for Locke, morality represents a unique and defining aspect of what it means to be human. We have to conclude, then, that the Essay is strongly motivated by an interest in establishing the groundwork for moral reasoning. However, while morality clearly has a position of the highest regard in his epistemological system, his promise of a demonstrable moral science is never realized here, or in later works.

It seems we can safely say that the subject of morality was a weighty one for Locke. However, just what Locke takes morality to involve is substantially more complicated an issue. There are two broad lines of interpretation of Locke’s moral views, which I will briefly outline here.

The first interpretation of Locke’s moral theory is what we might call an incompatibility thesis: Locke scholars Laslett, Aaron, von Leyden, among others, hold that Locke’s natural law theory is nothing more than a relic from Locke’s early years, when he wrote the Essays on the Law of Nature , and represents a rogue element in the mature empiricist framework of the Essay . For these commentators, the two elements found in the Essay seem not only incommensurable, but the hedonism seems the obvious and straightforward fit with Locke’s generally empiricist epistemology. The general view is that Locke’s rationalism seems, for all intents and purposes, to have no significant role to play, either in the acquisition of moral knowledge or in the recognition of the obligatory force of moral rules. These fundamental aspects of morality seem to be taken care of by Locke’s hedonism. Worse than this, however, is that the two views rely on radically different epistemological principles. The conclusion tends to be that Locke is holding on to moral rationalism in the face of serious incoherence. The incompatibility thesis is supported by the fact that Locke seems to emphasize the role of pleasure and pain in moral decision-making, however it has difficulty making sense of the presence of Locke’s moral rationalism in the Essay and other of Locke’s later works (not to mention the exalted role he gives to rationally-deduced moral law). Added to this, even in Locke’s early work, he seems to hold both positions simultaneously. Aaron and von Leyden both throw up their hands. According to von Leyden, in the introduction to his 1954 edition of Locke’s Essays on the Law of Nature ,

the development of [Locke’s] hedonism and certain other views held by him in later years made it indeed difficult for him to adhere whole-heartedly to his doctrine of natural law. (Locke 1954, 14)

In a similar vein, Aaron writes:

Two theories compete with each other in [Locke’s] mind. Both are retained; yet their retention means that a consistent moral theory becomes difficult to find. (Aaron 1971, 257)

Yet, it is curious that Locke neither claimed to find these strands incompatible, nor ever abandoned his rationalistic natural law view. It seems unlikely that this view would be nothing more than a confusing hangover from earlier days. Taking seriously Locke’s commitment to both is therefore a much more charitable approach, and one that takes seriously Locke’s clear commitment to the benefits of rationally-apprehending our moral duties. An approach along these lines is one we might call a compatibility approach to the question of Locke’s moral commitments. John Colman and Stephen Darwall are two Locke scholars who have argued that Locke’s view is neither plagued with tensions nor incoherent. Their common view is that the two elements of Locke’s theory are doing different work. Locke’s hedonism, on this compatibility account, is intended as a theory of moral motivation, and serves to fill a motivational gap between knowing moral law and having reasons to obey moral law. Locke introduces hedonism in order to account for the practical force of the obligations arising from natural law. As Darwall writes,

what makes God’s commands morally obligatory [i.e., God’s authority] appears…to have nothing intrinsically to do with what makes them rationally compelling. (Darwall 1995, 37).

Thus, on this account, reason deduces natural law, but it is hedonistic considerations alone that offer agents the motivating reasons to act in accordance with its dictates.

This interpretation convincingly makes room for both elements in Locke’s view. A central feature of this interpretation is its attention to the legalistic aspect of Locke’s natural law theory. For Locke, the very notion of law presupposes an authority structure as the basis for its institution and its enforcement. The law carries obligatory weight by virtue of its reflecting the will of a rightful superior. That it also carries the threat of sanctions lends motivational force to the law.

A slight modification of the compatibility account, however, better captures the motivational aspect of Locke’s rationalistic account: Locke does, at times suggest that rational agents are not only obligated, but motivated, by sheer recognition of the divine authority of moral law. It is helpful to think of morality as carrying both intrinsic and extrinsic obligatory force for Locke. On the one hand moral rules obligate by dint of their divine righteousness, and on the other hand by the threat of rewards and punishments. The suggestion that morality has an intrinsic motivational force appears in the Essays on the Law of Nature and is retained by Locke in some of his final published works. It is, however, a feature of his view that gets somewhat underappreciated in the secondary literature, and for understandable reasons—Locke tends to emphasize hedonistic motivations. Why this is will be discussed in section 4 . At this point, however, it suffices to say that Locke’s theory does not have the motivational gap that the compatibility thesis suggests—hedonism serves as a ‘back-up’ motivational tool in the absence of the right degree of rational intuition of one’s moral duty.

2. Locke’s natural law theory: the basis of moral obligation

In order to get a complete understanding of Locke’s moral theory, it is useful to begin with a look at Locke’s natural law view, articulated most fully in his Essays on the Law of Nature (written as series of lectures he delivered as Censor of Moral Philosophy at Christ Church, Oxford). Two predominant features of Locke’s natural law theory are already well-developed in this work: the rationalism and the legalism. According to Locke, reason is the primary avenue by which humans come to understand moral rules, and it is via reason we can draw two distinct but related conclusions regarding the grounds for our moral obligations: we can appreciate the divine, and thereby righteous, nature of morality and we can perceive that morality is the expression of a law-making authority.

In the Essays on the Law of Nature , Locke writes that “all the requisites of a law are found in natural law” (Locke 1663–4, 82). But, what, for Locke, is required for something to be a law? Locke takes stock of what constitutes law in order to establish the legalistic framework for morality: First, law must be founded on the will of a superior. Second, it must perform the function of establishing rules of behavior. Third, it must be binding on humans, since there is a duty of compliance owed to the superior authority that institutes the laws (Locke 1663–4, 83). Natural law is rightly called law because it satisfies these conditions. For Locke, the concept of morality is best understood by reference to a law-like authority structure, for without this, he argues, moral rules would be indistinguishable from social conventions. In one his later essays, “Of Ethic in General”, Locke writes

[w]ithout showing a law that commands or forbids [people], moral goodness will be but an empty sound, and those actions which the schools here call virtues or vices may by the same authority be called by contrary names in another country; and if there be nothing more than their decisions and determinations in the case, they will be still nevertheless indifferent as to any man’s practice, which will by such kind of determinations be under no obligation to observe them. (Locke 1687–88, 302)

For Locke, then, moral law is, by definition, an obligatory set of rules, because it reflects the will of a superior authority.

Moral rules are obligatory because of the authority structure out of which they arise. But, this is not the only story Locke has to tell regarding the nature of our obligation to divine moral dictates. The set of moral rules that reason deduces are taken by Locke to be reflective of human nature. The rules that govern human conduct are specifically tailored to human nature, and our duty to God involves realizing our natures to the fullest degree. There is a noticeable degree of teleology in Locke’s theory, which is worth pausing to consider in its content and its implications.

In the Essays on the Law of Nature , Locke draws a connection between the natural law governing human action and the laws of nature that govern all other things in the natural world; just as all natural things seem nomologically determined, so human beings are likewise law-governed. Humans are not determined to the same degree as other physical and biological entities, but we are beholden to God to ensure that our lives follow a certain path. Natural law is, Locke writes, a “plan, rule, or … pattern” of life (Locke 1663–64, 81). Locke’s early view has a teleological strain typical of the Aquinian (and thus Aristotelian) tradition. In fact, Locke does not shy away from this teleological angle, acknowledging this inheritance when he writes of Aristotle’s that he

rightly concludes that the proper function of man is acting in conformity with reason, so much so that man must of necessity perform what reason prescribes. (Locke 1663–64, 83)

Locke considers moral duty to be tailored to human nature, a set of laws specific to humanity and governing our actions according to God’s will. These laws are not only discoverable by reason, but in order to fulfill our function, humans are required to make use of reason to this very end. This view resurfaces in the Essay , where Locke writes the following:

it will become us, as rational Creatures, to imploy those Faculties we have about what they are most adapted to, and follow the direction of Nature, where it seems to point us out the way. ( Essay , 4.12.11)

The way it points us, he goes on to explain, is in the direction of our “greatest interests, i.e., the Condition of our eternal Estate” ( Essay , 4.12.11). The greater effort we each make in refining our rational faculty, the more clearly each of us will discern the proper path to eternal salvation.

This teleological element may seem somewhat out of step with Locke’s unqualified empiricist rejection of teleological metaphysics in the Essay . However, it is important to bear in mind that the teleological aspects of Locke’s moral theory do seem to be serving a very specific purpose. Locke seems to be aiming to establish a natural-theological basis for natural law. Why would this be so crucial for Locke?

Locke is grounding human conduct within a general framework of laws originating in God’s divine command. This is not just a nomologically-ordered universe, but one, as we have seen, that reflects the interests of “a powerful and wise creator…who has made and built this whole universe and us mortals” (Locke 1663–64, 103). Humans are obligated to obey God’s laws since God is a superior to whom we owe “both our being and our work” (Locke 1663–64, 105). As such, we are obligated to show obedience to the “limits he prescribes” (Locke 1663–64, 105). The laws governing our nature are discovered by reason and their content is specifically suited to human nature. Thus, for Locke morality is clearly and necessarily anthropocentric, understood by reference to human nature. But moral rules are, above all, an expression of God’s will. It is this latter aspect of morality that binds us to abide by the dictates of morality. Moral obligation is a matter, for Locke, of obedience to the rightful authority of God.

There are two baseline assumptions of Locke’s moral thinking: morality is universal and it is something that can be understood clearly and unequivocally by human reason—when Locke imagines us rationally-discovering natural law, he envisions us applying a rigorous set of logical principles to a set of clear and well-defined ideas about human nature, God, and society. But, how exactly is this done?

For one thing, this process looks a great deal like mathematical reasoning. For Locke, moral rules are founded on a fundamental set of principles, much like mathematical axioms. The fundamental principles can be deduced rationally, and it is from these that we can further derive all of our moral duties. Morality is, therefore, demonstrable, a term indicating mathematical-style proofs wherein conclusions are derived from axiomatic foundations. The moral status of any action is then determined by comparing our behaviour against these demonstrated rules. But, we might ask, what kinds of ideas are moral ideas, and what sort of rationalist could Locke possibly be? Locke is a well-known empiricist; for Locke, the mind is a blank slate, the content of which is supplied exclusively from sensory or reflective experience. Locke famously espouses this empiricist view in the Essay , but holds it quite clearly also in the Essays on the Law of Nature . In fact, however, Locke’s moral rationalism takes this empiricist theory of ideas as its starting point. Moral ideas, for Locke, are fundamentally experiential in origin. They are not directly so, of course, since we do not perceive something like justice or honesty directly. Moral ideas are experiential, in the special Lockean sense that they are complex ideas—products of the mind’s ability to form complex constructions from its simple directly-experiential contents. For Locke, the interplay of reason and sensation works as follows:

reason is … taken to mean the discursive faculty of the mind, which advances from things known to things unknown and argues from one thing to another in a definite and fixed order of propositions… The foundations, however, on which rests the whole of that knowledge which reason builds … are the objects of sense-experience; for the senses primarily supply the entire as well as the chief subject-matter of discourse and introduce it into the deep recesses of the mind. (Locke 1663–64, 101)

From perceptual simple ideas, we can generate complex moral propositions. This seems like a tall order, and Locke offers very little, in any of his works, by way of actually putting this moral reasoning process to work. However, that is not to say that Locke is silent in this regard. There are places in his writings where Locke takes us through some moral demonstrations.

In the Essays on the Law of Nature , for example, Locke claims that, based on sensory experience, we can assert the extra-mental existence of perceptible objects and all their perceptible qualities. All such qualities can be explained by reference to matter in motion. What is also clear to the senses, Locke argues, is that this world of moving objects exhibits a nomological regularity, or as Locke puts it, a “wonderful art and regularity” (Locke 1663–64, 103). Such regularity and beauty leads the contemplative mind to consider how such a world could have come about. Such contemplation would lead any rational being to the conclusion that the world cannot be the result of chance, and must therefore be the product of a creative will. Note that Locke is here trying to demonstrate for us just how sensation and reason work together. The mind moves from ideas of sensation to what Locke considers logical conclusions regarding the creative force behind the world we experience. But, our understanding of natural law is not founded solely in sensory experience. Through reflection, which is an introspective kind of perceptual experience for Locke, humans can gain ideas of our own nature and faculties that serve to complete our understanding both of God and of God’s creative will. This reasoning goes as follows—the creative being, which sensation indicates must exist, cannot be less perfect than human will, nor can it be human, because our ideas of reflection tell us that humans are not, and cannot be, self-causing. Reason must conclude, then, that the world is created by a divine will—a superior power, which can bring us into existence, maintain us, or take us away, give us great joy or render us in great pain. Locke concludes as follows:

with sense-perception showing the way, reason can lead us to knowledge of a lawmaker or of some superior power to which we are necessarily subject. (Locke 1663–4, 104)

From this deduction regarding divine purpose and authority, humans can conclude that they are obligated to render “praise, honour, and glory” to God. Beyond this, the rational agent can deduce, through reflection upon her own constitution and faculties, that her natural impulses to protect and preserve her life, and to enter into society with others are faculties with which she has been uniquely equipped by God and by which she is considered specifically human. These must constitute the basis of the principles and duties governing her conduct—her “function appears to be that which nature has prepared … [her] to perform” (Locke 1663–64, 105). Thus, by a series of steps from perception to reasoning about that perceptual experience, we are, Locke concludes, able to define our moral duties and regulate our conduct accordingly.

In the Essay , Locke develops this idea of the rational deduction of natural law somewhat further, setting it in the context of a more mature and coherent theory of ideas than we find in the Essays on the Law of Nature . In the Essay , moral ideas assume a particular significance owing to their place in Locke’s general taxonomy of ideas. For Locke, all the basic contents of the mind are simple ideas. These are formed by the mind into what Locke terms complex ideas, which are combinations of simple ideas made in the pattern of our perceptions of things in the extra mental world, or according to a pattern created by reason alone. Moral ideas fall into the second category of complex idea, falling under the technical heading complex ideas of modes . Modes are a specific kind of complex ideas, created by the mind from simple ideas of sensation or reflection, but referring to no extra-mental reality. They are not intended as natural kinds, but are products of the mind alone, referring to purely conceptual archetypes. They are best understood in contradistinction to ideas of substances, which are created by the mind but aim to mirror the real essences of extra-mental things—for example, the idea cat is intended to capture a kind of thing in the world that has a specific set of perceivable characteristics. Ideas of substances fail in mirroring reality, however, as they can never be complete representations of the world outside the mind. Modal ideas, on the other hand, are a special kind of idea for Locke, and actually hold out the promise for real knowledge. Modal ideas are ideas by which we fully grasp the real essence of things, because the mind, in some sense, is the originator of them (I will return to this in the next paragraph). The idea of a triangle is a modal idea, made by reason and knowable in its essence with complete accuracy. The idea of a triangle is a product of the mind, and does not refer to anything outside the mind—i.e., any external archetype. The kinds of ideas that fall into this category are the idea of God, mathematical concepts, and, most importantly for our present purposes, moral concepts. Locke writes,

I am bold to think, that Morality is capable of Demonstration , as well as Mathematicks: since the precise real Essence of the things moral Words stand for, may be perfectly known; and so the Congruity, or Incongruity of the Things themselves, be certainly discovered, in which consists perfect knowledge. ( Essay , 3.11.16)

Moral rules, for Locke, are knowable with the same degree of certainty as “any Demonstration in Euclid” ( Essay , 4.3.18).

This might seem to be a tall order when considering the controversy generated by beliefs about moral rules, yet Locke clearly believes that moral rules can, with the right mental effort, yield indisputable universal laws. Locke offers an example of how this might work, by analyzing the moral proposition Where there is no property, there is no injustice . In order to see the demonstrable certainty of this claim, we have to examine the composite ideas and how those agree or disagree with one another. The idea of property, first of all, is a right to something. The idea of injustice, considered next, is a violation of that right. Given these definitions, which Locke thinks are arrived at by careful attention to definition, it is a rational deduction that injustice cannot exist if there is no property to be violated. Injustice and property must, by definition agree. This is a clearly demonstrable rule, according to Locke, deduced from clear and adequately conceived ideas. The only other example Locke offers is the proposition No Government allows absolute Liberty . Government, according to Locke, is the establishment of society upon certain laws, requiring conformity. Absolute liberty is allowing anyone to do as they please. These are modal ideas, according to Locke, and thus known with complete adequacy. As such, it is possible for the rational individual to see clearly that the ideas of absolute liberty and government cannot agree. Of course, most people will argue that these rational deductions rely upon definitions that are debatable. This would not seem to be helped by the fact that, for Locke, modal ideas, like all complex ideas, are put together by the mind; while complex ideas of substance are constructed on the pattern of perceivable objects, modal ideas are, Locke explains, “put together at the pleasure of our Thoughts, without any real pattern they were taken from” ( Essay , 4.4.12). This might seem to pose a problem for Locke’s moral theory, according to which moral laws are just as necessary as mathematical principles. However, Locke is not worried about any relativistic implications. For Locke, any disagreement about definitions of concepts like property, justice or murder, result from insufficient reasoning about the simple ideas that comprise our moral ideas, as well as bias, prejudice and other irrational influences. For Locke, it is precisely because these ideas refer to nothing outside the mind that they can be universally-conceived and adequately understood. Just as the notion of triangularity is known perfectly because it does not depend upon the existence of triangles outside the mind, so justice is understood perfectly because it is not using some extramental archetype as its inspiration. He writes,

the Truth and Certainty of moral Discourses abstracts from the Lives of Men, and the Existence of those Vertues in the World whereof they treat. ( Essay , 4.4.8)

Mathematical concepts are impervious to bias, prejudice or otherwise-idiosyncratic definitions and their relative properties are clear to anyone who understands them perfectly. While many would contend that moral ideas are simply too controversial to fit a proto-mathematical picture, Locke would respond that they seem controversial only because many of us have not taken the time to consider moral ideas in an objective and analytical light. If we were to do so, he argues, we could come to know moral rules with certainty.

Locke, in fact, adds something of a meta-moral dimension to this epistemological point by suggesting that as rational beings it is our “proper Imployment” to contemplate morality. In Book IV of the Essay , where Locke concludes that morality is, like mathematics, a human science (and, properly-speaking, knowledge), Locke draws a teleological lesson—since we are clearly fitted with the capacity for discerning our moral duty, then that is what we ought to do: “I think I may conclude, that Morality is the proper Science and Business of Mankind in general .” ( Essay , 4.12.11) Humans must, he argues, employ reason in the pursuit of that which “they are most adapted to, and follow the direction of Nature, where it seems to point us out the way” ( Essay , 4.12.11). The fact that many people do not or cannot devote contemplative hours to their moral duties is something Locke will consider in his account of moral motivation, however, the key point here is that humans have a teleological makeup that allows for rational certainty with regard to divine moral law.

Is having this degree of knowledge enough to motivate humans to act accordingly—that is, does the sheer recognition of one’s duty have any sway in one’s practical deliberations?

3. Moral motivation 1: reward and punishment

Locke’s hedonism has a dual function in Locke’s moral theory. It accounts both for how we acquire the ideas of moral good and evil that lie at the root of moral law and for the motivation to comply with moral rules. A prominent feature of Locke’s moral legalism is his view that a law needs to carry the threat of sanctions for it to have normative force. Locke holds this view on the basis of his hedonistic theory of human motivation.

Locke develops his hedonistic account most extensively in the Essay . According to this account, pleasure and pain are the primary motivating factors for all human action and human thought. Feelings of pleasure and pain accompany all our ideas, for Locke, prompting us to act in response to our perceptual experiences, and to move, in thought, from one idea to another. If we had no accompanying feeling of delight or pain in the face of certain stimuli we would be unmoved to create music, eat when hungry, or even shift our attention from one idea to any other—the perception of rain would raise in us no different response than a sunny day, the idea of one’s children would inspire no related thoughts of home or family, nor any discernibly different response from the idea of children one does not know. Locke writes,

we should have no reason to preferr [sic] one Thought or Action, to another; Negligence, to Attention; or Motion, to Rest. And so we should neither stir our Bodies, nor employ our Minds; but let our thoughts (if I may so call it) run a drift, without any direction or design; and suffer the Ideas of our Minds, like unregarded shadows to make their appearances there, as it happen’d, without attending to them. ( Essay , 2.7.3)

Pleasure and pain are the engines that make decisions, thoughts, and actions happen. This is not merely coincidence, or chance, for Locke, but yet another example of God’s divine design. God has attached feelings of pleasure and pain to our ideas, so the natural faculties with which humans are endowed “might not remain wholly idle, and unemploy’d by us” ( Essay , 2.7.3).

Pleasure and pain form the basis of Locke’s general theory of motivation, but they are also the bedrock upon which our moral ideas, and the motivation to moral goodness arise. Good and evil reduce, for Locke, to “nothing but Pleasure or Pain, or that which occasions or procures Pleasure and Pain to us” ( Essay , 2.28.5). A flower is good, because its beauty raises feelings of affection or pleasure in us. Illness, on the other hand, is an evil since it raises feelings of aversion in those who have experienced illness in any of its many forms. A good is whatever produces pleasure in us, or diminishes evil, and an evil is whatever produces pain or diminishes pleasure. In this way, for Locke, the ideas of good and evil arise from natural emotive responses to our various ideas. Now, these are not moral goods and evils, but for Locke moral ideas are founded in the general ideas we have of natural pleasures and pains. Locke designates no special faculty by which we acquire the basic moral concepts of good and evil, since these are merely a modification of our ideas of natural good and evil; moral good and evil gain their special significance from considering ideas of pleasure and pain in specific contexts.

Our ideas of moral good and evil do not, therefore, differ qualitatively from natural good or evil. If this is the case, however, one might ask what makes smelling a rose different from helping those in need. For Locke, the answer lies in the different context for pleasures and pains that distinguishes the moral from the natural. While a natural good involves the physical pleasure that arises from the scent of a rose, moral good is a pleasure arising from one’s conformity to moral dictates, and moral evil is pain arising from the failure to conform. The pleasure and pain are not qualitatively distinct, in these cases, but they take on a special significance as a result of the considerations that bring them about. Locke explains this in the Essay , making sure to emphasize the purely contextual distinction between moral and natural feelings:

Morally Good and Evil then, is only the Conformity or Disagreement of our voluntary Actions to some Law, whereby Good and Evil is drawn on us, from the Will and Power of the Law-maker; which Good and Evil, Pleasure or Pain, attending our observance or breach of the law, by the Decree of the Law-maker, is that we call Reward or Punishment . ( Essay , 2.28.5)

Reward and punishment are a distinct species of pleasure and pain, specifying the outcomes attending the decrees of a rightful legislator. In this way, Locke’s is a straightforwardly legalistic account of the concepts of moral good and evil. The practical force of moral laws arises when we compare our actions against these laws, determine the degree to which they do or do not conform to the law and consider the pleasure of pain we will privately experience. In fact, for Locke, the very idea that one being has rightful legislative power over another is predicated on the degree to which the former being can effectively impose sanctions on the latter:

It would be in vain for one intelligent Being, to set a Rule to the Actions of another, if he had not in his Power, to reward the compliance with, and punish deviation from his Rule, by some Good and Evil, that is not the natural product and consequence of the action itself. ( Essay , 2.28.6)

God, according to Locke, is just such a rightful superior with the

Goodness and Wisdom to direct our Actions to that which is best: and he has the Power to enforce it by Rewards and Punishments, of infinite weight and duration, in another Life. ( Essay , 2.28.8)

Locke is clearly committed to the idea that hedonistically-construed outcomes are a necessary condition of any system of law and of legislative authority itself. In this regard, Locke’s views are consistent throughout his corpus. It is worth noting that Locke holds the same view in the early work, the Essays on the Law of Nature , as he does in the more mature works quoted above. In the Essays on the Law of Nature , Essay V , Locke asserts that both God and the soul’s immortality “must necessarily be presupposed if natural law is to exist” (Locke 1663–64, 113). The inclusion of the immortality of the soul would seem to suggest the centrality of rewards and punishments in the afterlife. Locke continues by asserting that “law is to no purpose without punishment” (Locke 1663–64, 113). For Locke, then, an agent may well know the moral law, and that they are obligated to a superior authority, but the obligatory force—i.e., what gives the agent a reason for acting—is the structure of rewards and punishments built into the system.

The question that has plagued Locke scholarship has been how, if at all, the hedonistic elements of Locke’s moral philosophy can be reconciled with his rationalistic account, which suggests that reason can discern morality’s inherent righteousness and motivate accordingly. Some scholars have concluded that Locke effectively abandons the rationalism of his earlier writings by the time he is writing the Essay , and that any such elements found therein are mere holdovers of an earlier position. Von Leyden expresses this view when he writes,

the development of [Locke’s] hedonism and certain other views held by him in later years make it indeed difficult for him to adhere whole-heartedly to his doctrine of natural law. (von Leyden, 1954, 14)

But does it? What I earlier called the compatibilist thesis is held most prominently by scholars John Colman and Stephen Darwall, according to whom Locke’s hedonism does not supplant the rationalist account of natural law and moral obligation, but is, rather, intended to account for the motivational force of moral law. In this way, the two views work together for a complete moral picture. Darwall identifies the distinction between rationally-derived versus legalistically-construed moral obligation when he writes

what makes God’s commands morally obligatory [i.e., God’s authority] appears…to have nothing intrinsically to do with what makes them rationally compelling. (Darwall 1995, 37)

Colman makes a similar point:

Right is the central concept in Locke’s natural law doctrine, but the law could have no purchase on human conduct unless doing that which is right were in some way productive of good. ‘Good’ is the central concept in his moral psychology. (Colman 1983, 49)

Both Darwall and Colman understand Locke as equating moral good and evil with rewards and punishments, such that good and evil are the operative notions that turn moral rules into moral imperatives for rational agents. Agents do not have reasons for acting until they are aware of the rewards and punishments that accompany natural law. On this interpretation, rational insight regarding the righteousness of morality cannot, on its own, motivate humans to act.

Divine sanctions are a constant feature of Locke’s moral philosophy, as we’ve seen, and the compatibilist interpretation goes much further than the incompatibilist interpretation in capturing the nuances in Locke’s moral philosophy. However, there are passages in Locke’s work that suggest that moral rules carry an obligatory force that can motivate rational agents irrespective of rewards and punishments. When this further aspect of Locke’s view is taken into account, we can see that, for Locke, rewards and punishments do not exhaust our reasons for obeying divine moral rules.

4. Moral motivation 2: the righteousness of morality

In the Essays on the Law of Nature , Locke argues that there are two different kinds of obedience to the law of a superior authority, and that these are founded upon two distinct kinds of obligation. The example is as follows:

Anyone would easily … perceive that there was one ground of his obedience when as a captive he was constrained to the service of a pirate, and that there was another ground when as a subject he was giving obedience to a ruler; he would judge in one way about disregarding allegiance to a king, in another about wittingly transgressing the orders of a pirate or robber. (Locke 1663–64, 118)

At this point, Locke might be understood to be distinguishing laws backed by a rightful authority and laws that are not, in which the point is simply that there is no obligation to the pirate, since his are not strictly laws at all on Locke’s definition of the term. However, Locke continues this passage as follows:

in the latter case [subject to a pirate or robber], with the approval of conscience, he rightly had regard only for his well-being, but in the former [subject to a king], though conscience condemned him, he would violate the right of another. (Locke 1663–64, 118)

Locke identifies two distinct grounds of obedience. Recognizing that one’s obligation to the king arises from his rightful authority provides a grounds for obedience that is absent in the case of obeying the pirate. My reasons for obeying the pirate are hedonistic, but my reasons for obeying the king involve my recognition of his rightful authority. Further on in the same Essay , Locke explains that

We should not obey a king just out of fear, because, being more powerful he can constrain (this in fact would be to establish firmly the authority of tyrants, robbers, and pirates), but for conscience’ sake, because a king has command over us by right; that is to say, because the law of nature decrees that princes and a lawmaker, or a superior by whatever name you call him, should be obeyed. (Locke 1663–64, 120)

Thus, sanctions are not the sole motivating factor for Locke. The contrast Locke draws here is an important but commonly underappreciated one; that is, acting for “conscience’ sake” versus acting ‘out of fear’ as two quite distinct grounds for obedience.

The question that remains is how Locke’s notion of acting ‘for conscience’ sake’ can be made sense of within the context of Locke’s general hedonistic account of motivation. It might sound as though we are working with the kind of purely rational motivating factor that Locke’s hedonistic theory clearly rejects; for Locke all human action is motivated by considerations of pleasure and pain.

Recall that for Locke rewards and punishments are specific pleasures and pains. Acting for conscience’ sake will necessarily involve considerations of pleasure and pain, but of a kind quite distinct from sanctions. For Locke, there is a kind of pleasure that attends fulfilling one’s moral duty that is quite distinct from considerations of reward and punishment. In an essay, written in 1692, entitled Ethica A (the first of two essays, the other entitled Ethica B ), Locke appeals to a kind of pleasure that attends the fulfilment of one’s moral duty:

Whoever spared a meal to save the life of a starving man, much more a friend…but had more and much more lasting pleasure in it than he that eat it. The other’s pleasure died as he eat and ended with his meal. But to him that gave it him ‘tis a feast as often as he reflects on it’. (Locke 1692, 319)

The pleasure here is of a special kind. It is not the same as the pleasure we get from satisfying our hunger, nor is it the pleasure that comes with pleasing an authority or earning a reward. In fact, Locke explicitly distinguishes it from the pleasure expected in the afterlife. Fulfilling one’s duty, for Locke, carries its own kind of pleasurable motive—it makes us happy. As Locke writes, further on in Ethica A , “Happiness…is annexed to our loving others and to doing our duty, to acts of love and charity” (Locke 1692, 319). Acting according to moral duty, then, is motivated by feelings of pleasure that attend such acts.

Why, then, does Locke so frequently emphasize the legalistic angle of morality, which depends so heavily on the motivational force of reward and punishment? In Locke’s view, many people fail to acknowledge, or be motivated by, the pleasure inherent to the fulfilment of one’s moral duty, and for these people (which, it turns out, is most of us), God has provided extra incentive—the rewards and punishments God attaches to our actions are a matter of God’s jurisdiction, quite apart from the pleasures of acting dutifully, and in accordance with righteous moral dictates. As Locke explains, God

brings in a necessity of another life…and so enforces morality the stronger, laying a necessity on God’s justice by his rewards and punishments, to make the good the gainers, the wicked losers. (Locke 1692, 319)

Sanctions, therefore, serve to enforce morality ‘the stronger’ but are quite clearly secondary to the intrinsic pleasures motivating dutiful action. So, conscience does not motivate in and of itself, nor does the rational apprehension of one’s moral duty, but Locke identifies a species of pleasure distinct from divine sanctions that makes his notion of acting for conscience’ sake perfectly consistent with his hedonism: to act for conscience’ sake is to be motivated by, and take pleasure in, acting in accordance with one’s moral duty.

Locke’s emphasis can be explained by turning our attention to a view of human nature that lies at the root of Locke’s account. Locke tends to be fairly pessimistic about the degree to which most humans appreciate the inherent righteousness of morality. In fact, Locke maintains a fairly low opinion of the willingness of most people to actually take the time to appreciate the righteousness natural law. If, he writes,

we will not in Civility allow too much Sincerity to the Professions of most Men , but think their Actions to be Interpreters of their Thoughts, we shall find, that they have no such internal Veneration for these Rules, nor so full a Perswasion of their Certainty and obligation. ( Essay , 1.3.7)

Humans are flawed in two respects, according to Locke: we can fail to acknowledge our obligations to natural law, and we can fail to comply even when these obligations are acknowledged.

Locke’s views regarding reason and intellectual duty can be characterized as an ethics of belief, according to which our rational abilities place a responsibility on each of us to examine the beliefs we hold, and to be accountable for those things to which we assent. This is particularly the case with respect to moral rules, themselves, which are the ultimate guidelines for a good human life. As Locke sees it, our capacities as rational agents are insufficiently realized in many, if not most, cases. While the law of nature is knowable by reason for Locke, it is not innately known—Locke does not mean to suggest, as many theologians of his day believed, that it “lies open in our hearts” (Locke 1663–64, 89). This would, he grants, be:

an easy and very convenient way of knowing, and the human race would be very well off if men were so fully informed and so endowed by nature that from birth they were in no doubt as to what is fitting and what is less so. (Locke 1663–64, 90)

For Locke, however, this is just not the case. It is clear, to him, that most people do not understand their moral duty in any deep or robust way. To really know one’s moral duty is to be a moral agent, for Locke—moral knowledge is something gained, by the individual, through rational discovery. Moral truths are attainable with the proper use of reason:

there is some sort of truth to the knowledge of which man can attain by himself and without help of another, if he makes proper use of the faculties he is endowed with by nature. (Locke 1693–94, 89)

For Locke, knowledge, properly-speaking, requires that the individual herself perceives the truth or falsity of any claim to which she grants or withholds assent. An individual agent must perform the intellectual analysis and demonstration herself in order to truly know her moral duty. As it turns out, however, the greatest number of people (particularly in Locke’s day), are, he acknowledges

given up to Labour, and enslaved to the Necessity of their mean Condition; whose lives are worn out, only in the Provisions of Living. ( Essay , 4.20.2)

For these people, the opportunity for gaining a clear perception of their moral duty is very narrow. Worse than this, there are people who have the means and the leisure, but “satisfy themselves with a lazy ignorance” ( Essay , 4.20.6). These latter, Locke asserts, have a “low Opinion of their Souls” ( Essay , 4.20.6). But, in neither case are people entirely off the hook, according to Locke, who argues that no matter how busy one is, there should always be time for thinking about our souls and matters of religion. If one fails to do this, then one is relying for one’s salvation and self-realization upon the mere current of opinion or the untrustworthy word of others. Locke asks if this can provide

sufficient Evidence and Security to every Man, to venture his greatest Concernments on; nay, his everlasting Happiness, or Misery. ( Essay , 4.20.3)

The failure to do so is a kind of moral failing for Locke, one that gains its normative force from the teleogical imperative attending our rational natures:

God has furnished Men with Faculties sufficient to direct them in the Way they should take, if they will but seriously employ them that Way, when their ordinary Vocations allow them the Leisure. ( Essay , 4.20.3)

Again, Locke is not suggesting that we do this from considerations of rewards and punishments, but because it is the fulfillment of our divinely-created natures. Despite failures to comply, the normative force of morality is undeniable, for Locke, on these teleogical grounds. Though Locke seems to believe that our failings with regards to moral knowledge result from a failure to engage our minds in the right direction, he does however acknowledge that the discovery of moral truths is difficult and laborious. And this is where sanctions come into play.

Sanctions are not necessary to natural law if we consider it strictly as a system of divine rules. However, sanctions are necessary when morality functions as law . Sanctions are mechanisms for enforcement, where inherent motivating factors are either absent or underappreciated. Consider, as an example, the moral duty to care for one’s children. For most people, this carries inherent obligatory force arising from its being obviously good and necessary. Where a person fails to appreciate the inherent force of this duty, however, laws exist that require parents to provide the means of life and education for their children, and such laws stipulate compliance under threat of sanctions. To call the first instance a law seems unnecessary, but we can clearly see how the concept of a rule of law distinguishes the latter case. Sanctions provide motives when individuals fail to act on the responsibilities reason should on its own reveal and thereby compel. In the Essays on the Law of Nature , Locke writes,

Those who refuse to be led by reason and to own that in the matter of morals and right conduct they are subject to a superior authority may recognise that they are constrained by force and punishment to be submissive to that authority and feel the strength of him whose will they refuse to follow. (Locke 1663–64, 117)

Sanctions thus ensure that people who ‘refuse to be led’ by reason abide by the dictates of natural law; in this way, sanctions ensure that divine moral rules function as a system of law.

When Locke speaks of moral law, he frequently alludes to sanctions. Morality can motivate without sanctions, but it cannot ensure general compliance in the way that a system of law can. God’s imposition of sanctions is thus strictly instrumental. They are not intrinsic to a system of morality, but they are necessary when the obligatory force of moral rules is not adequately understood. The special role of sanctions as a means of shoring up moral compliance is articulated by Locke in several of his writings. In the 1680 essay Of God’s Justice , he writes

though justice be also a perfection which we must necessarily ascribe to the supreme being, yet we cannot suppose the exercise of it should extend further than his goodness has need of it for the preservation of his creatures in the order and beauty of the state that he has placed each of them in. (Locke 1680, 278)

God metes out justice in the form of sanctions as a means of ensuring social order and peace; sanctions ensure social good:

[God’s] justice is nothing but a branch of his goodness, which is fain by severity to restrain the irregular and destructive parts from doing harm; for to imagine God under a necessity of punishing for any other reason but this, is to make his justice a great imperfection. (Locke 1680, 278)

In one of his more mature works, The Reasonableness of Christianity , Locke makes the point several times, that moral law, with its attendant rewards and punishments, was articulated as a means of ensuring obedience. Humans appreciate the intrinsic righteousness of virtuous acts, which are generally granted the highest degree of approbation. However, virtuous behaviour is assured only when it is in an agent’s interests to comply. It is clear to reason that we ought to act virtuously, but it is easy enough for many of us to eschew virtuous actions when they either present hardships or sacrifice of any kind or when they will not clearly benefit our own interests:

The generality could not refuse [virtue] their esteem and commendation; but still turned their backs on her, and forsook her, as a match not for their turn. That she is the perfection and excellency of our nature; that she is herself a reward, and will recommend our names to future ages, is not all that can now be said of her. (Locke 1736, 247)

In order to remedy this problem, Locke explains, God attached clear and explicit sanctions (made plain through revelation) to ensure that the virtuous course of action will always be the more attractive option:

[Virtue] has another relish and efficacy to persuade men, that if they live well here, they shall be happy hereafter. Open their eyes upon the endless, unspeakable joys of another life, and their hearts will find something solid and powerful to move them. The view of heaven and hell will cast a slight upon the short pleasures and pains of this present state, and give attractions and encouragements to virtue which reason and interest, and the care of ourselves, cannot but allow and prefer. Upon this foundation, and upon this only, morality stands firm, and may defy all competition. This makes it more than a name; a substantial good, worth all our aims and endeavours; and thus the gospel of Jesus Christ has delivered it to us. (Locke 1736, 247)

Primary Literature: Works by Locke

Some of the works by Locke listed below can be found in Mark Goldie (ed.), Political Essays , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

• 1663–64, Essays on the Law of Nature , in Goldie (ed.) 1997, 79–133.
• 1680, “Of God’s Justice,” in Goldie (ed.) 1997, 277–278.
• 1686–88, “Of Ethic in General,” in Goldie (ed.) 1997, 297–304.
• 1690, Two Treatises of Government , edited by Peter Laslett, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
• 1692, “Ethica A,” in Goldie (ed.) 1997, 318–319.
• 1700, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding , in P.H. Nidditch (ed.), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding , based on the fourth edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975.
• 1736, John Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity, As deliver’d in the scriptures , London: printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, in Paternoster-Row.
• 1742, Familiar Letters between Mr. Locke and Several of his Friends , London: printed for F. Noble, T. Wright and J. Duncan in St. Martin’s Court.

Secondary Literature

• Aaron, Richard I., 1971, John Locke , Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Chappell, Vere, 1994, The Cambridge Companion to Locke , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Cockburn, Catharine Trotter, 1702, “A Defense of Mr. Locke’s Essay of Human Understanding ,” in Catharine Trotter Cockburn: Philosophical Writings , P. Sheridan (ed.), Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2006.
• Colman, John, 1983, John Locke’s Moral Philosophy , Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Darwall, Stephen, 1995, The British Moralists and the Internal Ought: 1640–1740 , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Dunn, John, 1969, The Political Thought of John Locke , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Jolley, Nicholas, 2002, Locke: His Philosophical Thought , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• LoLordo, Antonia, 2012, Locke’s Moral Man , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Rossiter, Elliot, 2016, “Hedonism and Natural Law in Locke’s Moral Philosophy,” in Journal of the History of Philosophy , 54(2): 203–255.
• Schneewind, J.B., 1994, “Locke’s Moral Philosophy,” in Chappell (1994).
• Sheridan, Patricia, 2007, “Pirates, Kings, and Reasons to Act: Moral Motivation and the Role of Sanctions in Locke’s Moral Theory” in Canadian Journal of Philosophy , 37(1): 35–48.
• –––, 2010, Locke: A Guide for the Perplexed , London: Continuum Publishing Group.
• –––, 2015, “Locke’s Latitudinarian Sympathies: an exploration of sentiment in Locke’s moral theory” in Locke Studies , 15: 131–162.
• von Leyden, W., 1954, “Introduction,” in John Locke, Essays on the Law of Nature , W. von Leyden (ed.), Oxford: Clarendon.

How to cite this entry . Preview the PDF version of this entry at the Friends of the SEP Society . Look up topics and thinkers related to this entry at the Internet Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO). Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers , with links to its database.

• Texts by Locke , at earlymoderntexts.com.

Locke, John | nature of law: natural law theories

Acknowledgments

The editors would like to thank Sally Ferguson for carefully reading this entry and pointing out a number of typographic and other infelicitous errors.

Copyright © 2016 by Patricia Sheridan < pmsherid @ uoguelph . ca >

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Natural Law and Rights in the Universal Healthcare Essay

Introduction, theory summary, the issue of universal healthcare, application of the theory of natural rights and law to universal healthcare, works cited.

Among the political and legal concepts of the 20th century, a special place is occupied by the doctrine of natural law and rights. It continues the tradition of a philosophical interpretation of the law and relies on various concepts that have developed in modern Western European and American philosophy. Contemporary natural-legal theories recognize the existence along with a positive law of the ideal order of relations among people.

This highest normative order is called natural law. According to such views, the legislation of the state is valid and legitimate only if it corresponds to the ideal law. In such a public sphere as universal healthcare, the described theory plays a significant role since some provisions of modern medicine largely relate to this concept. Therefore, it is required to review the theory of natural law and rights to consider its application in the field of healthcare and draw a specific conclusion as to whether the norms of this theory in this public area are observed.

Christianity, like many other religions, contributes to the development of ideas about the existence of the law given by God. The doctrine of free will in this context is the consequence of the human responsibility to God, as well as a religious and moral regulator of relations among people. An attempt to establish truly fair canons for all the people is the common feature of the whole world’s religions. According to Boyd and Thorsten, natural-legal views in modern jurisprudence are combined with the historical and sociological study of legal ideas (77). The basic essence of such a concept is to show that the formation of the society does not affect its ability to adapt to modern conditions and does not violate the established order of freedoms and values.

Among natural rights, the right to life occupies a special place. This fundamental concept is at the top of the natural-legal pyramid, which is understandable – when depriving someone of life, all other freedoms lose their meaning. The human right to life is fixed in most official government documents. Human laws took a significant place in the first bourgeois-democratic constitutions of the late 18th century. For example, the world-famous Declaration of 1776 refers to the possibility of the need to allow each person to have his or her destiny and implies respect for personal dignity (Boyd and Thorsten 103). Over time, this concept has significantly developed since the society was interested in finding ways to preserve the right to personal happiness and self-development.

Locke’s Position

Other views were held by another English thinker Locke who puts forward a different theory of the original and natural state of the human (Boyd and Thorsten 92). The philosopher considers the initial absolute freedom of people not to be the source of struggle but the expression of their natural equality and readiness to follow reasonable natural laws (Boyd and Thorsten 92). This people’s readiness leads them to realize that in the interests of the common good, it is necessary, while retaining freedom, to give part of the function to the government, which is called upon to ensure the further development of the society.

It is how a social contract is reached among people. The more rights the person has, the wider the range of his or her duties to the society is. The state does not have absolute arbitrary power. In Locke’s opinion, a social contract presupposes the responsibility of the country to its residents (qt. in Boyd and Thorsten 93). If the state does not fulfill its duty and violates natural freedoms, people have the right to fight against such a social order.

Jefferson’s Position

Similar approaches to the structure of the country and relations among people belonging to the outstanding American figure of Thomas Jefferson whose views regarding interpreting the theory of natural law and rights differed from Christian ones (Boyd and Thorsten 91). Jefferson focuses on human rights and singles out a range of freedoms – the freedom of conscience, speech, procedural rights, security rights, etc.

He insisted on the separation of church and state, which was a bold proposal in conditions of that society. According to Boyd and Thorsten, Jefferson claimed that, despite the divine origin of the human, higher powers could not control what happened to people on the earth, and the society had the right to decide how it was better to develop (91). Jefferson’s ideas are reflected in many of his followers’ works, and his contribution to the development of the natural rights theory is significant.

Rand’s Position

Another approach related to the theory of natural law and rights is the position of the American writer Ayn Rand who first popularized the idea of freedom determined by property rights and based on the Aristotelian interpretation of the natural law (Boyd and Thorsten 99). Instead of an altruistic approach to understanding human relations, the writer proposes to focus on personal happiness, thereby denying the idea of any action for the benefit of others (qt. in Boyd and Thorsten 100). Certainly, Rand’s worldview was influenced by the classical philosophy of liberalism, which was reflected in her fundamental ideas. Ethical egoism is one of the key points of her theory, and this approach is also famous, despite being criticized by many people.

The issues of world medicine are relevant for all countries without exception since the well-being of citizens directly depends on the quality of healthcare. The development of technologies and innovations in this field made it possible to use the most modern methods of treatment, and what previously seemed impossible, for example, cancer therapies, is practiced now. From morality, some controversial issues may arise, for instance, ethical selfishness or the lack of professional performance of immediate duties (Hall and Bobinski 129). A human factor still plays an essential role, even despite the automation of many processes, and some mistakes and contradictions in the work are inevitable.

Patients’ Claims

Patients’ claims for medical and nursing care are primarily related to the insufficient qualification of personnel. The absence of narrow specialists, problems with diagnostics, difficulties in obtaining preferential medicines in pharmacies, high prices for paid medical services, etc. also cause dissatisfaction (Hall and Bobinski 114). Certainly, all these issues complicate the process of work and thereby cause tension, which leads to misunderstandings and conflicts.

Many patients require special treatment, claiming that they are entitled to rely on highly professional care. In some cases, their claims are justified because, according to Almgren, some physicians may not observe the ethical principles of their work and undermine not only their dignity but also the reputation of the healthcare system as a whole (8). Therefore, it is difficult to achieve full harmony if a human factor plays a significant role in the work process.

Level of Medical Personnel’s Training

The quality of medical care largely depends on the level of doctors’ training, the qualifications of other healthcare professionals, and their responsible attitude to their duties and patients. The quality of doctor-patient relationships is the key to successful treatment and the indicator of professionalism in the provision of medical care. Understanding the nature of these relationships influences physicians’ ability to correctly diagnose, prescribe treatment, and also provide psychological support.

People working in the healthcare sector often experience stress at work because their environment makes high demands that exceed the abilities of doctors and nurses. The consequences of stress include high employee turnover, reduced productivity, accidents, rudeness, and medical errors (Hall and Bobinski 274).

Because of doctors’ excessive workload, there is little time to communicate with patients, which leads to complaints about a rough and incorrect attitude. To avoid it, it is essential to strive to improve the working schedule using competent time planning, the possibility of providing psychological assistance to medical specialists themselves, as well as strengthening the motivation of the staff (Almgren 93). Otherwise, changes for the better will not be possible, and constant controversial nuances will arise.

Staff Shortage

Too low salaries and high-performance requirements sometimes cause the lack of completeness of clinics by medical or nursing staff. This issue is unlikely to be relevant to the problem of professionalism and rather refers to a social and ethical problem. The lack of specialists hurts the overall level of medical care since many employees are forced to work overtime, which leads to increased fatigue and the loss of motivation (Almgren 183). All these issues are relevant to universal healthcare and are significant problems that need to be addressed.

The theory of natural rights and law can be applied to the healthcare sector since some ethical issues in this area can be related to the provisions of the concept. Medical issues imply compliance with certain ethical issues that are directly relevant to human rights. The implementation of specific provisions is an indicator of the success and quality of medical services, and their non-compliance, on the contrary, negatively affects the state of medicine.

The Right to Health Services as the Right to Life

All people have the right to their religion and the right to receive appropriate medical care (Muñoz 369). The main purpose of medicine is to protect the health of citizens and provide timely assistance at the request of patients. These provisions are prescribed in all state laws of countries with a developed healthcare system. Modern society promotes people’s interests and provides for human life as the highest value (Marske et al. 61).

Accordingly, the provision of medical services is an inalienable and unconditional right of people to use health services and have access to professional medical consultations. Various insurance documents are designed to legitimize this right and to systematize the possibility of protecting public health. Nevertheless, if the person does not have the opportunity to purchase an insurance policy or another document that confirms his or her access to receiving appropriate care, it does not mean that the state has the right to refuse. Free treatment is the feature of a civilized society, and compliance with this law is natural.

Freedom of Choice

The freedom of choice is a component of natural rights that was considered by Thomas Jefferson (Boyd and Thorsten 91). This concept can be fully applied to the sphere of universal healthcare since every person has the right to independently choose whether medical services are necessary to him or her and what type of assistance is needed. Modern services provide for a free choice of assistance, and although Jefferson’s theory denied God’s participation in human rights, the relationship between religion and medicine can be traced (Muñoz 371). Also, no one can force the human to use the services of doctors, which is also quite natural. Personal motivation and desire play a major role, and the violation of this norm is the violation of human rights, which is inadmissible in a modern civilized society.

Observance of Medical Secrecy

One of the aspects of healthcare that should be strictly observed is compliance with medical secrecy, that is, the prohibition on disclosure of patients’ data. If the theory of natural law is applied in this case, it can be noted that everyone has the right to protect his or her interests and preserve information about the state of health. Some controversial points, however, may arise in this case. For example, if the patient can harm other people, refusing hospitalization or appropriate treatment, medical workers are entitled to bring this person to justice.

This behavior contradicts the concept of protecting human health, and measures should be taken against such violators, for example, by bringing them to administrative responsibility. However, if there is no threat of an epidemic or another problem, and a person insists that his or her data should not be disclosed, doctors cannot pass on information about the state of the patient’s health, which also is a natural right given to people by the state.

Mutual Responsibility

When resorting to the concepts of philosophers, Locke’s claim of mutual responsibility can also be considered as one of the approaches to universal healthcare (Boyd and Thorsten 91). The point is that medical specialists are obliged to help all those in need, which corresponds to the conditions of their professional ethics. However, patients also have some responsibilities that need to be followed to maintain a balance. For instance, such a violation of moral and ethical standards as rudeness towards medical personnel is unacceptable since everyone has a natural right to personal dignity. Also, both doctors and patients should be tolerant of one another.

Any forms of intolerant behavior contradict the moral foundations of modern society. Therefore, to create the most favorable working conditions, it is significant to adhere to ethical norms of behavior and to not only demand observance of natural rights but also to personally observe them. Otherwise, disagreements will not allow achieving mutual understanding, and insufficiently quality assistance will be provided because it will be impossible to find a compromise on a specific issue.

Thus, the theory of natural rights and law can be observed in the field of universal healthcare, and some of the provisions of this concept are reflected in medicine. Various philosophers’ approaches confirm the relevance of this topic and some possible contradictions that may arise. The field of modern healthcare has several controversial issues, and following specific theoretical provisions can help to solve these problems.

Almgren, Gunnar. Health Care Politics, Policy, and Services: A Social Justice Analysis . 3rd ed., Springer, 2017.

Boyd, Craig A., and Don Thorsten. Christian Ethics and Moral Philosophy : An Introduction to Issues and Approaches . Baker Academic, 2018.

Hall, Mark A., and Mary Anne Bobinski. Health Care Law and Ethics . 8th ed., Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2014.

Marske, Charles E., et al. “The Significance of Natural Law in Contemporary Legal Thought.” The Catholic Lawyer , vol. 24, no. 1, 2017, pp. 60-76.

Muñoz, Vincent P. “Two Concepts of Religious Liberty: The Natural Rights and Moral Autonomy Approaches to the Free Exercise of Religion.” American Political Science Review , vol. 110, no. 2, 2016, pp. 369-381.

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Natural Law, Liberalism, and Morality: Contemporary Essays

McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence

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This book brings together leading defenders of natural law and liberalism for a series of frank and lively exchanges touching upon critical issues of contemporary moral and political theory. The book is an example of the fruitful engagement of traditions of thought about fundamental matters of ethics and justice.

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A Level Ethics Essays on Natural Law: Grade A and D

Subject: Religious education

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

28 August 2019

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This resource includes two essays answering an A-Level exam question on the topic of Natural Law. Both essays have been marked stringently and comments are written throughout. Overall comments and banding is awarded, with justification, and an overall grade.

The resource also includes the essays without comments, for students to mark on their own, before going over comments/grades. The essays can also be used as revision resources for students practising their own exam-style essays.

• Grade A and D essays
• Mark scheme for both AS and A Level included for marking.
• Download as both Word and PDF documents.
• These essays are indented for the OCR AS/A Level specification, although it can be applied across specifications using alternative marking schemes.

Please give feedback! I am always happy to respond to comments - whether positive or constructive - this will help to improve the quality of my resources in the future and, more importantly, the quality of pupils’ RE/RS education in general - which is what we’re all here for!

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