What Natural Law Is
In previous posts I explained why people have reason to be concerned about the rise of post-modern ideology, also known as wokeness. And I offered the idea of natural law as a more just and productive alternative to woke. Natural law addresses the fundamental concerns of our woke friends and avoids the nihilism and inevitable conflicts of woke deconstruction. Natural law jurisprudence gave us the rule of law, the presumption of innocence, the abolition of slavery, equal protection of the law, civil liberties, and many other securities for justice.
What is it? Natural law is truth about the world and human action. It helps us to catalog the reality that we find in the world and know what actions are objectively good to do. It shows us how to live well in a world where we always must choose and where choosing the best course of action is often difficult.
The idea of truth is itself contested these days. But there's no avoiding truth claims. The alternatives refute themselves. Many of our woke friends insist that there is no truth. But of course, that is a truth claim. (Is it true that there is no truth?) Others insist that all truth is a matter of subjective opinion or experience. But that too is a truth claim, and it is offered as a statement of universal truth, which is true for everyone, not as a matter of personal opinion.
Natural law consists of the principles that help us to see and understand truth. The truth that natural law reveals can be divided into two kinds: descriptive truth (truth about what is) and practical truth (truth about what is good to do). Natural law enables us to describe the world accurately. It directs our minds to a clear understanding of what makes a tree a tree, what is most important about friendship, and how an internal combustion engine works. And natural law enables us to understand what is good to do. It directs our choosing and acting toward enjoyment of nature, acts of friendship, and the safe operation of automobiles.
In short, natural law enables us to act reasonably, in a way that is consistent with reality. When we act with reality, rather than against it, our lives go better for us. We flourish. We may not always flourish in every moment. Indeed, acting reasonably often requires sacrifices and sometimes pain. But our lives go better over the long run. And everyone wants that.
In the next two posts I'll describe the principles of descriptive natural law and of practical natural law and provide some examples of how they enable us to think and act well.