A project report on “Critical analysis of the

natural law tradition”

Manipal University Jaipur

School of Law

Supervised by- Submitted by-

Dr. Shilpa Rao Rastogi Anant Vikram
Reg. No. 161401016
B.A.LL.B (Hons.)
Section A
5th Semester

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I hereby acknowledge the help and support of the teachers, who helped me in compiling this
project. I thank the faculty and management of Manipal University Jaipur, School of Law, as
the resources that were necessary to complete the project were provided by them.
I am highly indebted to my teacher “Dr. Shilpa Rao” for her guidance and constant
supervision as well as for providing necessary knowledge regarding the subject at hand and
also for her support in completing the project.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents and friends for their kind
cooperation and encouragement which help me in completion of this project.

Anant Vikram

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Anant Vikram, student of B.A. LL.B. (hons.) semester V, School of
Law Manipal University Jaipur has completed the project work entitled “Critical Analysis of
natural law tradition” under my supervision and guidance.
It is further certified that the candidate has made sincere efforts for the completion of this
project.

_____________________
Dr. Shilpa Rao Rastogi

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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Essential features OF Natural Law- ......................................................................................................... 6
Positives of Natural Law- ........................................................................................................................ 6
Negatives of natural law- ........................................................................................................................ 7
Evaluation ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Webliography .......................................................................................................................................... 9

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Introduction

The term "natural law" is ambiguous. It refers to a type of moral theory, as well as to a type
of legal theory, but the core claims of the two kinds of theory are logically independent. It
does not refer to the laws of nature, the laws that science aims to describe. According to
natural law moral theory, the moral standards that govern human behaviour are, in some
sense, objectively derived from the nature of human beings and the nature of the world.
While being logically independent of natural law legal theory, the two theories intersect.1

Natural Law is a moral theory of jurisprudence, which maintains that law should be based on
morality and ethics. Natural Law holds that the law is based on what’s “correct.” Natural Law
is “discovered” by humans through the use of reason and choosing between good and evil.
Therefore, Natural Law finds its power in discovering certain universal standards in morality
and ethics.2

Inherent by virtue of human nature, endowed by nature—traditionally by God or a

transcendent source—and that these can be understood universally through human reason. As
determined by nature, the law of nature is implied to be objective and universal; it exists
independently of human understanding, and of the positive law of a given state, political
order, legislature or society at large.

Historically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature to deduce
binding rules of moral behaviour from nature's or God's creation of reality and mankind. The
concept of natural law was documented in ancient Greek philosophy, including Aristotle, and
was referred to in Roman philosophy by Cicero. References to natural law are also found in
the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, later expounded upon in the Middle Ages by
Christian philosophers.3

Greeks

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle emphasized the distinction between "nature" (physis, φъσις)
and "law," "custom," or "convention" (nomos, νуμος). What the law commanded varied from
place to place, but what was "by nature" should be the same everywhere. Aristotle (BC 384—
322) is considered by many to be the father of “natural law.” In Rhetoric, he argues that aside
from “particular” laws that each people has set up for itself, there is a “common law” or
“higher law” that is according to nature.

1
https://www.iep.utm.edu/natlaw/ last accessed at 13/08/2018 at 22:35.

2
https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/natural-law.htm last accessed at 13/08/2018 at 23:00.

3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law last accessed at 14/08/2018 at 20:15.

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Christians

Augustine (AD 354-430) equates natural law with man's Pre-Fall state. Therefore, life
according to nature is no longer possible and mankind must instead seek salvation through
the divine law and Christ’s grace. Gratian (12th century) reconnected the concept of natural
law and divine law. “The Human Race is ruled by two things: namely, natural law and usages
(mos, moris, mores). Natural law is what is contained in the law and the Gospel. By it, each
person is commanded to do to others what he wants done to himself and is prohibited from
inflicting on others what he does not want done to himself.”

In the end, where does law come from? The Theory of Natural Law maintains that certain
moral laws transcend time, culture, and government. There are universal standards that apply
to all mankind throughout all time. These universal moral standards are inherent in and
discoverable by all of us, and form the basis of a just society.4

Essential features OF Natural Law-

a. Natural law is universal, unchanging and everlasting; it is not limited by time, space and
geography;

b. That which is good is in accordance with nature but that which is evil is contrary to nature.
Therefore, natural law is good

c. There exists an order in nature which is rational and which can be known by man;

d. There are absolute values and ideals emerging there from, which serve as the validity of
laws. A law lacking in moral validity is wrong and unjust. On this basis, natural law
invalidates certain manifestations of the positive law and provides an ideal towards which the
positive law should strive.

e. Existence of natural rights.

Positives of Natural Law-

 Rational – Natural Law uses practical reason, it is a common-sense approach.

 Objective – Natural Law gives us rules that are true independently of our individual
thoughts and desires.
 A certain amount of proportionalism may be allowed as secondary precepts are
derived from primary precepts and so may vary.
 Purpose - The world has meaning, purpose and values.

4
https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/natural-law.htm last accessed at 13/08/2018 at 23:15

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  Flexible - allows for secondary precepts to vary according to culture, as they are the
practical working out of the universal primary precepts.
 Double Effect - gets around problems of conflicting secondary precepts.
 Allows for a clear cut approach to morality and establishes common rules.
 Does not dictate what should be done in individual cases from general moral
principles
 Concentrates on the human character and its potential for goodness and flourishing
rather than on rightness or wrongness of particular acts, which allows for some
flexibility.
 Natural Law principles (primary precepts) are common in many cultures so Natural
Law is reasonable.

Negatives of natural law-

 Too simplistic - Humans do not have a single ‘fixed’ human nature.

 Outcomes - Leads to immoral outcomes e.g. not allowing contraception led to spread
of AIDS and overpopulation in Africa
 Natural Law depends on defining what is good, but according to GE Moore this
commits naturalistic fallacy: which means that there is no way of defining good. as
goodness is cannot be analysed and unnatural.
 Natural Law is based on assumptions about the world.
 The world has no rational system of laws governing it but the laws of nature are
impersonal and blind with no intention of moving towards particular purposes. There
is no divine purpose it is just the way things are.
 Double Effect - brings in consequentialism through the back door. You are allowed to
do some terrible things because of double effect, and at other times you can’t do really
helpful things.
 Too optimistic - It has a too optimistic view of human nature. Augustine disagrees
(original sin), as does Calvin (total depravity).5

5
https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/natural_moral_law last accessed at 14/08/2018 at 22:30.

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Evaluation

Natural Moral Law's universal and absolute nature makes it appealing because it allows
everyone of every culture, faith, society to use it without it every going out of date. On the
other hand, there is a lot of responsibility for people to think rationality and have similar
thought processes. Some people may prefer an ethic, which focuses more so upon character
rather than actions especially as these can be culturally relative and developed to suit the
situation as every culture has different values on what is good and what is not.

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Bibliography

1. Legal Theory Second Edition by Ian McLeod

Webliography

1. https://www.iep.utm.edu/
2. https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org
3. https://getrevising.co.uk