St. Thomas Aquinas' Conception of The Law With Reference To His Five Categories of The Law.

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Introduction

This essay presents St. Thomas Aquinas’ conception of the law with reference to his five categories of the law. Aquinas defines law as nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good and promulgated by whoever is charged with the care of the community. It is the scope of this essay to examine in brief the five categories of law namely eternal law, natural law, human law and divine law, which is subdivided into old and new law, thus completing the five categories as per Aquinas’ conception. conception. It seems more appropriate to begin the discussion with the eternal law, moving then to natural law and human law, since this order of consideration comports with how these types of law flow from one another. Finally, the essay discusses the divine law, that is, God’s personal revelation to man, and how the divine law illumines man’s darkened intellect and disordered will to his dignity, eternal value and destiny. However, before delving into the five categories it is imperative to begin with an explication of each of the four components.  Law is an ordinance of reason St Thomas argues outright in the first article of the first question of the Treatise on law, that law essentially can be seen as an ordinance of reason directing activity toward some end goal or  purpose and the highest end or purpose we have as humans is our ultimate fulfillment, the full 1

realization of our nature or happiness. Hence all law is meant to sub serve human happiness .but law has by common acknowledgement and usage a social function as well: it directs the activity of some collectivity to a common goal and it does this authoritatively. Article 1 of question 90 in Aquinas Summa Theologica  Theologica  answers whether law is something  pertaining to reason: Law is a rule and measure of acts where man is induced to act or is restrained from acting for law is derived from ligare, that is, to bind, because it binds one to act. Now the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of human acts…since it belongs to the reason to direct to the end, which is the principle in all

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Aquinas, T. (1947). Summa Theologica (Vol. Theologica (Vol. 3). (Fathers of the English Province, Ed.) New York: Benziger Brothers. P 1-11 Q 90 article 1

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matters of action, according to the philosopher, Aristotle, …consequently it follows that the law is something pertaining to reason.  Law has its end in the Common Good. Aquinas envisages that since the law is chiefly ordained to the common good ,any other precept in regard to some individual work must needs to be devoid of nature of law, save in so far as it 2

regards the common good. Therefore every law is ordained to the common good.    Law is made by Him who has the Care of the Community  Community  A law, properly speaking, regards first and foremost the order of common good. Now to order anything to the common good belongs either to the whole people or to someone who is the viceregent of the whole people. And therefore the making of law belongs either to the whole people 3

or to a public personage who has the care of the whole people .  Law must be promulgated Law is imposed on others by way of a rule and measure. A rule and measure is imposed by being applied to those who are to be ruled and measured by it. Wherefore, in order that a law obtain the  binding force which is proper to a law it must needs be applied to the men who have to be ruled  by it. Such application is made by its being notified to them by promulgation. Therefore 4

 promulgation is necessary for the law to obtain its force. force.   By the foregoing analysis Aquinas has provided conditions necessary for the validity of law. In order to be valid law, a practical directive must be an ordinance of reason; it must be issued by the person or group who holds law making authority within the community; it must be directed toward the common good and it must be promulgated. It is worth mentioning that all the categories of law under Aquinas’ conception meet these criteria and therefore constitute valid law.

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 Ibid article 2 3 Ibid article 3 4  Ibid article 4

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The Eternal Law

St Thomas says that, “law is a rule and measure of acts, whereby man is induced to act or i s 5

restrained from acting…” He also characterizes law as something brought into being via reason when he says “law is something pertaining to reason”, since the rule and measure of human acts is reason. Now, the eternal law is nothing other than the divine governance of all things. This governance is an act of intellect (reason) in God, according to St. Thomas, and “since the Divine Reason's conception of things is not subject to time but is eternal, according to Proverbs 8:23, therefore it is that this kind of law must be called eternal.” 6  Eternal law is law known to only to God but in which man could participate by exercising his  practical reason. Man should accept that there are certain things which he may not und understand erstand as they form part of the eternal law. For instance Aquinas stated that man should not question such things as the rising of the sun from the east, why calamites such as volcanoes occur as these are  beyond the comprehension of man as only onl y God understood them. Man can participate by b y merely accepting that there are certain things only known to god and should not attempt to understand these things. The eternal law is the rational order that the creator established for his creation. All 7

things are therefore subject to the eternal law.   The eternal law is nothing other than the 8

exemplar of divine wisdom, as directing all actions and movements.  This eternal law of God is imprinted in the rational nature of man, according to Thomas. This leads us to what he calls  –  the  the 9

“natural law”.   The Natural Law

According to St. Thomas, natural law is nothing else but the rational creature’s participation of 10

the eternal law.  The natural law is summarized by Thomas Tho mas in his Summa Summa::

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 Aquinas, T. (1947). Summa Theologica (Vol. Theologica (Vol. 3). (Fathers of the English Province, Ed.) New York: Benziger Brothers. Q. 90, a. 1. 6

 Ibid Q. 91, a. 1.  Lawhead,  Lawhe ad, W. F. (2002) The Voyage of Discovery: Discovery: An Introduction to Philosophy (2 nded) USA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning:P.179 8   Golding ,M.P. (ed) (1966), (1966), The  The Nature of Law: Readings Law: Readings in Legal Philosophy. New York: Random House Publications .p.9 9 Ibid Q 91 a.2 10  Q91 article 2 7

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 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. law. Though God again is the legislator of this law, and the natural law is a proper subset of the eternal law, it differs from the eternal law as binding only rational creatures. The idea is that in virtue of having reason and free will, rational creatures are not bound merely to obey eternal law through instinct or inclination, as irrational creatures are bound, but may participate more fully and more perfectly in the law. Through natural reason which we posses through divine creation we are able to distinguish what is is right from wrong. wrong. In so far as we exercise free will to choose what is right we then participate fully in eternal law. In this way the law comes to be in us as a rule and measure and is no longer merely a rule and measure imposed upon us from an external 11

source   . Man “participates” or partakes of the eternal law and will of God through his active, intelligent cooperation William May explains this well when he says, “The eternal law is ‘in’ them both because they are ruled and measured by it and because they actively rule and measure 12

their own acts in accordance with it.”   It is thus in man properly and formally as “law”, since man’s actions proceed from reason. While the source the  source of  of the eternal law, viz. God, is extrinsic to man, it seems man’s participation of the eternal law ,that is to say the natural law, is something 13

intrinsic to man  –   it is “imprinted” on our very nature, according to St. Thomas.   Hence, if man’s acts are in accord with what Thomas calls the imprint of “Divine Light” on him, his actions will be in accord with his nature ,given ,given him by God’s eternal design or “law”, “law”, with reason and be directed toward a full realization of his eternal destiny ,revealed through the divine 14

law, and thus –  thus  –  his  his true happiness.  The natural law is distinct  from  from the eternal law that exists in 11

 Dimock, S.(1999).The S.(1999).The Natural Law Theory of St. Thomas Aquinas (6th Aquinas (6th Ed.). (Feinberg. J.and Coleman J, Eds.) London: Wardsworth.pp 8-9

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 William, M. (2003) An (2003)  An Introduction to Moral Theology. Theology . Indiana: Huntington, p. 73.  Cf. Summa Summa,, q. 91, a. 2. 14  The nature of a thing, according to St. Thomas, is its “quiddity” or “whatness” –  the –  the essential attributes that make a thing to be what it is. Man’s nature is to be a rational, creature with free will. He knows objective reality exists through his senses and discovers the natures of things through use of his reason. 13

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God … it is not something  something  ‘other than’ the eternal law… it is a reality brought into being 15

through reason; reason; it is a work of human intelligence intelli gence as ordered to action.”  This is the sense in which St. Thomas says that man, “participates” in the eternal law via reason –   –   this act of 16

“participation”, rationally and freely –  is   is called the natural law.   Upon establishing the origin and definition of natural law, Thomas observes that the first thing reason ordered to action (practical reason) grasps in this regard is … the good  the  good . Consequently, the first principle of practical reason is one founded on the notion of good, viz. that "good is that which all things seek after." Hence this is the first precept of law that " good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided ." ." All other  precepts of the natural law are based upon this: so that whatever the practical pract ical reason naturally apprehends as man's good (or evil) belongs to the precepts of the natural law 17

as something to be done or avoided.   As man participates in the eternal law via natural law, he inevitably makes particular determinations from natural law precepts. St. Thomas calls these particular determinations human law. law. Human Law 

St. Thomas Aquinas describes human law by stating that, that , “it is from the precepts of the natural law, as from general and indemonstrable principles, that the human reason needs to proceed to the more particular determination of certain matters. These particular determinations, devised by human reason, are called human laws, provided the other essential conditions of law be observed.”18  Those “conditions” are enumerated in his basic description of law, which is “an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and  promulgated.” In this regard, we see a procession from universal to particular as we move from

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 William, M. (2003) An (2003)  An Introduction to Moral Theology. Theology . Indiana: Huntington, p. 74   Rice,C. (1999)50 (1999)50 Questions On the Natural Law.San Law.San Francisco: Ignatius Press, p. 51, describes natural law as, “a rule of reason, promulgated by God in man’s nature, whereby man can discern how he should act. ‘The natural law is promulgated promulgated by the very fact that God instilled it into man’s mind so as to be known by him naturally.’” (quoting Summa,, q. 91, a. 4); Cf. Smith, Lecture 2: Since natural law is based upon reason, it follows the ethics of natural law Summa is a universal  ethics,  ethics, because all human beings are rational creatures 16

17 Summa Summa,,

q. 94, a. 2.  Summa,, q. 91, a. 3.  Summa

18

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man’s apprehension and participation of the eternal law through reason, which we call natural law and its immediate precepts, to particular, human laws, which should reflect and conform to God’s eternal law.  law.  Since then the eternal law is the plan of government in the Chief Governor, all the plans of government in the inferior governors must be derived from the eternal law. But these plans of inferior governors are all other laws besides the eternal law. Therefore all laws, in so far as they partake of right reason, are derived from the eternal law. law. Hence Augustine says ( De Libero Arbitrio i,6) Arbitrio i,6) that "in temporal law there is nothing just and lawful, but what man has drawn from the eternal 19

law."   It can be observed that authentic human law promotes and protects the rights and duties expressed in the natural law. St Thomas stated that human laws are laws made by secular rulers or ethnic authorities and emphasized that this law could only as law if it complied with eternal and divine law, otherwise it would be invalid and man would not be obliged to obey it. This leads us to ask: How can man have certitude about his rights and duties to God? The answer seems to lay in the divine law. The divine Law

St. Thomas affirmed affirmed the necessity of Divine Revelation for man’s acts to be directed towards his supernatural end –  end  –   the Beatific Vision. “Besides the natural and the human law it was necessary 20

for the directing of human conduct to have a Divine law.”   It is imperative at this stage to recognize the fact that Divine Law includes both the Old and the New Testament. St. Thomas stated the Divine Law was necessary because there needed to be a law given by God,  proportionate to man’s supernatural end; because of the uncertainty of human judgment; because 19

Summa,, q. 93. a. 3.  Summa

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Summa,, q. 91, a. 4.   Summa

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human law cannot curb or direct interior acts, but Divine Law judges man’s interior movements; and because human law cannot forbid or punish all acts, but Divine Law supervenes, so that all 21

sins are forbidden.   Thomas also gives a clarifying explanation of how faith in Divine 22

Revelation allows man to “arrive more quickly at the knowledge of Divine truth”,   as not all  persons are able or as willing to apply themselves to study. Finally, and importantly importantly –   –  the  the Divine Law provides certitude certitude,, since, “reason is very deficient in things concerning God”… who is 23

infinite.  The concept of the New Testament is love which manifested through Jesus Christ and all humans are called to love. A person who loves would not harm another or do evil, and thus inevitably complies with the Eternal and Natural Law. Therefore, the Divine Law completes the other forms of law, going beyond precept to divine love, which has no limits and elevates man to his full actualization in God as his “all”.  “all”.   Conclusion

In conclusion, St. Thomas Aquinas envisages five categories of law, the eternal law, natural law, human law and divine law which is divided into two that is Old and New Testament. These illuminate the order and splendor of God’s creation both physical and most splendidly rational. God’s eternal law is his divine wisdom and providence, directing and ordering all of creation to himself as their end. Eternal law is only known to God. The rational creature or human  participation of the eternal law is the natural law. Man apprehends certain self evident precepts derived from the eternal law such as seek good and avoid evil, by applying his reason as a rational being. Man applies his reason guided by the divine law which is the sacred scripture revealed in the Old and New Testament, to ascertain in his conscience how he should act in 21

 Ibid 

22  23

Summa,, II-II, q. 2, a. 4.  Summa

 Ibid

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accordance with the true good. The divine law reveals to man the truth about god and invites him to a relationship of love and reconciliation. Human law is derived from natural law precepts and must promote the common good and protect people from violations of the natural law. A law that contradicts the natural law or divine law is no law at all and is not binding in conscience. These categories of law, envisaged by Thomas, interrelate and complement each other and disclose rational ordering of things which concern the common good and point to the creator as ultimate law giver, from whose divine wisdom and providence spring the law.

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Bibliography Aquinas, T. (1947). Summa Theologica (Vol. Theologica (Vol. 3). (Fathers of the English Province, Eds.) New N ew York: Benziger Brothers. Dimock, S.(1999).The S.(1999).The Natural Law Theory of St. Thomas Aquinas:The Aquinas :The Philosophy of Law(6th Ed.). (Feinberg. J.and Coleman J, Eds.) London: Wardsworth.pp 8-9

Golding, M.P. (ed.) (1966). The Nature of Law: Readings Law: Readings in Legal Philosophy. New York: Random House Publications nd

Lawhead, W. F. (2002) The Voyage of Discovery: Discovery: An Introduction to Philosophy (2 ed) USA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning:

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