Is there a single law of nature for
everyone?
It seems that it is not the case
that there is a single law of nature for everyone:
Objection 1: Decretals,
dist. 1, says, “Natural law (ius naturale) includes
what is contained in the Law and what is contained in
the Gospel.” But this is not common to everyone,
since as Romans 10:16 says, “Not everyone is obedient
to the Gospel.” Therefore, there is not a single
natural law for everyone.
Objection 2:
As Ethics 5 says, “Things that are in accord with
the law are called just.” But the same book says that
nothing is just for everyone to such an extent that it is
not different for some. Therefore, it is likewise not the
case that the natural law is the same for everyone.
Objection 3:
As was explained above (a. 2-3), the law of nature has to
do with what man is inclined to according to his nature.
But different men are naturally inclined toward different
things; for instance, some are inclined toward a desire
for pleasures, others toward a desire for honors, and
others toward other things. Therefore, it is not the case
that there is a single natural law for everyone.
But contrary to this:
In Etymologia Isidore says, “The natural law (ius
naturale) is common to all nations.”
I respond:
As was explained above (a. 2-3), those things to which
man is naturally inclined belong to the law of nature
are—and, among other things, it is proper to man that
he be inclined to act in accord with reason.
Now as is clear from Physics 1, it belongs to
reason to proceed from what is universal (ex communibus)
to what is particular (ad propria). However,
speculative reason and practical reason behave differently
on this score. For since speculative reason deals
principally with necessary things, which are such that
it is impossible for them to be otherwise, truth is
found without exception (absque aliquo defectu)
in the particular conclusions in just the way it is
found in the universal principles. By contrast,
practical reason deals with contingent things, which
include human actions, and so even if there is some
sort of necessity in the universal [principles], nonetheless,
the further down one descends to particulars, the more
there are exceptions. So, then, in speculative
matters there is the same truth for everyone both in
the principles and in the conclusions, even though the
truth is known to everyone only in the principles, which
are called common conceptions (communes conceptiones),
and not in the conclusions. By contrast, in practical
matters, there is the same practical truth or correctness
for everyone only with respect to the universal principles
and not with respect to the particulars. Further,
for those for whom the same thing is correctness in
the particulars, it is not equally well known to everyone.
So, then, it is clear that with respect to the universal
principles of either speculative reason or practical
reason, there is the same truth for everyone and
it is equally known to everyone. And with respect
to the particular conclusions of speculative reason,
there is the same truth for everyone, but it is not
equally known to all—for instance, it is true for everyone
that a triangle has three angles equal to two right
angles, but this is not known to everyone.
However, with respect to the particular conclusions
of practical reason, there is not the same truth
or correctness for everyone, and even for those for
whom it is the same, it is not equally known.
For instance, it is right and true for everyone that
one ought to act in accord with reason; and from this
principle it follows as a sort of particular conclusion
that what has been entrusted to one for safe‑keeping
ought to be returned. And, to be sure, this is
true in most cases. Yet in a given case it may
be injurious and thus irrational to return what has
been entrusted to one—for instance, if someone were
seeking to harm ones’s country. This sort of exception
happens more frequently the further down one descends
to particulars—as, for instance, if someone were to
say that entrusted things ought to be returned with
certain precautions or in a certain way. For to
the extent that more and more particular conditions
are added, the more ways there are in which the [rule]
can fail, so that it is not right to return what has
been entrusted or not right not to return it. Therefore,
one should claim that with respect to its first universal
principles, the law of nature is the same for everyone
both with respect to correctness and with respect to
knowledge. On the other hand, with respect to
various particulars [rules], which are like the conclusions
of those principles, the law of nature is the same for
everyone in most cases both with respect to correctness
and with respect to knowledge, but there can be exceptions
in a few cases both (a) with respect to correctness
because of particular impediments (just as the generable
and corruptible natures are defective in a few cases
because of impediments) and also (b) with respect to
knowledge, and this because the faculty of reason has
been corrupted in some cases by passion or by bad habits
or by a bad natural condition. For instance, as
Julius Caesar reports in De Bello Gallico, at
one time among the Germans theft was not considered
bad, even though it is clearly contrary to the law of
nature.
Reply to objection 1:
This passage should not be understood to mean that all
the things contained in the Law and the Gospel belong
to the law of nature. For many of things set forth
in the Law and the Gospel go beyond nature. Rather,
the passage means that what belongs to the law of nature
is found more fully in the Law and the Gospel. This
is why, after Gratian had claimed that the natural law
is what is contained in the Law and the Gospel, he added
immediately afterwards, by way of example, “..... by
which everyone is commanded to do to another what he
wishes to be done to himself.”
Reply to objection 2:
This passage from the Philosopher should be understood to
be talking not about those [rules] that are naturally just
as universal principles, but rather about those that are
naturally just as certain kinds of conclusions that stem
from them. These conclusions have correctness for the
most part and they fail in a few cases.
Reply to objection 3:
Just as reason has dominion over and rules the other
powers, so it is necessary for all the natural
inclinations belonging to the other powers to be ordered
in accord with reason. Hence, it is universally right for
everyone that all the inclinations of men should be
directed in accord with reason. |