Affiliation:
1. Prague University of Economics and Business, Department of Philosophy
Abstract
The concept of natural law is fundamental to political philosophy, ethics,
and legal thought. The present article shows that as early as the ancient
Greek philosophical tradition, three main ideas of natural law existed,
which run in parallel through the philosophical works of many authors in the
course of history. The first two approaches are based on the understanding
that although equipped with reason, humans are nevertheless still
essentially animals subject to biological instincts. The first approach
defines natural law as the law of the strongest, which can be observed to
hold among all members of the animal kingdom. The second conception presents
natural law as the principle of self-preservation, inherent as an instinct
in all living beings. The third approach, also developed in antiquity,
shifts the focus to our rationality and develops the idea of natural law as
the law of reason within us. Some Christian thinkers who consider the origin
of reason in us to be divine, identify the law of reason inherent in us with
God?s will. This paper gives a brief exposition of the development of these
three concepts of natural law in philosophy, with emphasis on the
intertwining of these three concepts, which we, however, understand as
primarily and essentially independent. The paper concludes with an overview
of twentieth-century authors who exclusively focus on only one of the three
concepts. The aim of this article is to argue against these one-sided
interpretations and to uphold the independence and distinctness of the three
historical conceptions of natural law.
Publisher
National Library of Serbia
Subject
Sociology and Political Science,Philosophy
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