Yes, the State cannot display a coherent moral theory without invoking the traditional natural law. Nonetheless, the answer to the presented question is beyond simply saying yes due to the complex nature of the Natural law and the moral theory. Natural law is not only based on morality but also comprises legal principles, whereby its moral requirements are people’s freedom to choose right from wrong, a power accorded to them at birth. God granted people the authority to make the right choices when presented with a conflict. In addition to terming it a moral requirement, God also called it a law in Jeremiah when He declared that He would put His law within them and write it in their hearts. The verse shows that the Natural Law is moral and legal, although both are regarded as separate entities. The connection also arises from the usual norm, whereby people face legal repercussions for failing to act according to the Natural law and making the wrong decisions. Teachings from philosophers such as Aquinas demonstrate the existing connection between natural law and States’ moral theories with reference to the Bible.
The Moral Theory of the State
The moral theory describes why specific actions are considered suitable and others wrong, creating a reason for the existence of justice. Moral theories explain the required behavior and why people should practice it. Markedly, the State’s moral philosophy is a framework of knowing what is right or wrong, all relating to the laws that each State establishes. Similarly, the State’s moral theory creates a theoretical basis promoting an understanding of legal positivism, whereby leaders establish what is deemed suitable in society and pass it on to the people as the law, with repercussions for disobedience of the set moral rules (Muchenje, 2022). However, while the moral theory guides right and wrong, it comprises different ideas about the origin of the concepts of morality. For example, theorists such as Rousseau and Locke argued that humanity created morality, a belief called the subjectivism theory. The theory holds that people have authority over what is right or wrong because it is based on their feelings and judgment.
More origins of right and wrong are the divine command, cultural relativism theories, and utilitarianism. In the divine command theory, God is the source of morality and defines what is good and what is evil. The theory connects morality with religion, defining Christian beliefs. The cultural relativism theory proposes that society defines right and wrong, categorizing them as virtues or vices and establishing their legal system based on them. For this reason, different cultures have varied definitions of right and wrong. Lastly, utilitarianism is the definition of right and wrong based on how it affects the majority (Scarre, 2020). For example, if one culture considers an act a vice but it benefits most people, it is considered reasonable in the utilitarian aspect. The utilitarian ideology resembles a democracy, whereby a law is considered acceptable if the majority supports it. Hence, while morality describes right from wrong, it has different approaches, which inform variations in religion, state laws, and culture.
Natural Law and Morality
Human goodness is the most significant component of Natural law because of the connection it creates between the law and Christian requirements. Human goodness is the hardest to achieve because of the original sin that separated humankind from God. While God grants people the freedom to choose between evil and good, sin makes the choice difficult to attain because both are granted to people at birth. Due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God, people are born with the capacity to be sinful and the freedom to choose right from wrong. Through natural law, humanity’s behavior is evaluated, explaining how people act within specific frameworks. Aquinas, Luther, Hobbes, Locke, and Plato’s teachings were helpful in helping Christians navigate their relationship with sin and natural law, helping them lead righteous lives acting how God intended them to. The theorists help explain whether the concept of natural law is indispensable because they made postulations regarding natural law and morality on the concepts of Christian kingship, justice, covenant, statesmanship, and democracy.
Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas’s ideologies were based on the importance and value of natural law to the State’s moral theory. He divided the law into four categories: eternal, divine, natural, and human (Viola, 2019). Aquinas claimed that some laws are eternal, beyond human comprehension, and only God knows and understands them. He also defined divine laws as those that God shares with humanity to help guide their religious and moral lives. Humanity is inspired by divine law to draft the laws it uses to govern society. Furthermore, according to Aquinas, natural laws are inherent, such that even if humanity fails to formally or legally acknowledge them, they unconsciously guide them. Natural laws examples are that it is sinful to kill a fellow human being, steal, lie, or destroy their property. Different states create human laws and having been enforced through state legislation, they are considered legally binding and must be followed. The divine, human, and natural laws are intertwined and influence each other. By categorizing and describing the different types of laws, Aquinas supported the notion that it is impossible to separate natural law from the State’s moral theory.
Plato
Plato was among the first philosophers to seek the relationship between natural law and the moral theory. Plato theorized that divinity exists and that it was the morality source. He defined divinity as humanity’s guide for right and wrong and compiled it in his Euthyphro work. He quoted Socrates in his description of divinity, saying that what is pious is loved by the gods because it is pious, indicating that morality and good are absolute. While philosophers such as Rousseau and Locke challenged Plato’s belief, claiming that if God is good, He would not instill evil in people, the natural law states that people also have the authority to choose good over evil. The law exists to guide those who choose evil over good, dissuading them against them and guiding them towards doing good over evil. Culminating such human acts shows that natural and positive, or moral law, must co-exist to ensure justice prevails, making them indispensable and mutually exclusive.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther, a leading protestant in the 1500AD, theorized that God’s Ten Commandments inform natural law. According to Luther, most rules contained in the Commandments, such as those against murder and adultery, are contained in people’s hearts, while others are teachable and coherent. The laws utilize the differences between natural law and the laws of the nation. Moreover, Luther opined that God’s love as the world’s creator is demonstrated in the natural law and the rights He gives equally to every man and that the former aligns humankind with the principles he intended them to possess. Based on his explanation, Luther shows that the moral law is ineffective without the natural law. Without the rights granted to them by God, humanity cannot have the power to create the laws governing states. Luther further theorized that a higher law existed above those governing states, one that is visible when human-set laws are inexistent. For example, the higher law allowed communities without state laws, such as the Israelites in the wilderness, to live harmoniously. Hence, through Luther’s theories, natural law propels justice and equity. God’s divinity and power allow people, including non-Christians, to create laws with values resembling those contained in the natural law. The teachings show the relationship between natural and moral theory and how the former influences the latter’s creation.
Hobbes
In his theories regarding natural law, Hobbes questioned the relevance of and difference between the right and the law of nature. Hobbes proposed that, in an unfavorable state of nature, humanity does not co-exist in peace. However, in an innocent state of nature, people live peacefully and follow the correct values. Hobbes’ teachings contradict the notion that natural law is indispensable, theorizing that if people were left to lead their lives without any governing laws, they would be destructive and harmful to each other. Hobbes added that to promote societal peace, positive law must exist with or without the natural law. Also, Hobbes added that democracy was the indicator of moral values in the present society and had no relationship with the natural law because, in a democracy, people elect leaders who promote and support the essential values that will benefit society. The leaders help mitigate war and conflict, allowing justice to prevail, and thus, without the leaders, peace would not be absolute. Thus, according to Hobbes, natural law does not guarantee morality, making it dispensable in the moral theory of the State.
Locke
Locke created theories to directly contradict Hobbes, terming him a pessimist due to his assertion that the natural State is the societal State. Locke opposed Hobbes with the postulation that in many democracies, people follow natural law because they are created with the same rights. In his work, Two Treaties of Government, Locke believes that, due to natural law, certain universal truths, such as everyone’s right to life, cannot be overruled by any other laws, including positive law. Hobbes further added that positive law is a portion of the social law that accords legislation’s legitimacy, and that its primary purpose is reinforcing the law that seeks to promote life, liberty, and peace among people in society. Since Hobbes considers this the Christian understanding of the natural and moral laws, he demonstrates their close relationship and the indispensability of natural law.
Justice and Natural Law.
Justice is a crucial bridge between the natural and the moral State, whereby acting in the desired way, such as punishing crime and promoting fairness, inculcates justice. According to Aquinas, the validity of the law relies upon its justice (Clanton & Martin, 2019). According to human values, an act is considered just if it aligns with the rule of reason, also called the natural law. Hence, all the human laws that states establish are enacted based on reason, indicating that they are inspired by natural law. More importantly, if a human law varies with the tenets of natural law, states no longer consider it legal because it does not create justice and is termed corruption. The ideology supports the notion that law without justice is impractical. For a state to maintain moral theory, its laws must be derived from the natural law, whose primary provisions are acts that promote justice, such as love, kindness, and understanding. Furthermore, modern theorists such as Finnis define three elements of justice: that it is enacted when differences exist between multiple people affecting their relationships, arises from duty, and is characterized by equality and proportionality.
The Covenant and Natural Law
The types of covenants in natural law include those between citizens and the State, between God and citizens, and between the states and God. While the covenants contribute to the success of the State’s welfare, they also play a crucial role in humanity’s attainment of eternal life. The covenants are rooted in Natural law and founded by Christian principles, making them essential to the State’s moral theory. For example, in the covenant between the State and the citizens, philosophers such as Locke, Rousseau, and Hobbes describe the social contract. The contract is a verbal agreement between the State and the citizen, where the latter surrenders most of their freedom to the State’s authority (Seabright et al., 2021). While the theorists had different descriptions of the social contract, they agreed to a similar outcome, that it is done for the greater good, and improving the State.
Additionally, in the covenant between God and the citizen, the latter receives instructions about the lives they should lead through the Scripture. An example is in Deuteronomy 4:13, saying that God declared to the people His covenant, asking them to perform the Ten Commandments, which he had written on two stone tablets. The main characteristic in all the covenants God made with people such as Abraham, Noah, Moses, and King David was morality, where the people were instructed on the kind of life He wanted them to lead, further showing the coexistence of the positive and natural laws. The last covenant is between God and the State, where God promises nations prosperity if they obey His will. For example, during the covenant between God and King David, God promised him the throne if he obeyed and fulfilled His wishes.
The Christian Kingship and the Natural Law
Aquinas used Aristotle’s concepts on natural law to establish the Christian ideals on natural law. Aquinas believed that governments existed as an extension of God’s goodness to His people (Ikechukwu & Akpa, 2022). Governments are tasked with promoting society’s common good as people use the free will granted to them to make the right decisions, promoting peace, morality, and justice. Based on the knowledge that God provides them, Kings and leaders should be the example of morality and belief in Christian values, qualities that demonstrate divine leadership, a requirement for Christian Kingship. Similarly, Martin Luther used Aquinas’ concepts to formulate his Kingship theory, claiming that if a King was just and followed all Biblical teachings, His kingdom would flourish, and the citizens he ruled over would be equally successful. Thus, in Christian kingship, a leader should aim to serve and acknowledge the morality and laws existing in the City of God and the City of Man to attain prosperity.
Public Policy Applications
The primary principles of natural and positive laws as they relate to governance exist globally, indicating the indispensability of natural law. For example, all public policies created across states have the natural law as a foundation. For example, in public policy related to morality, also termed ethical decision-making, states understand ethics as theories of custom or morality and habits that inform behavior. As a social phenomenon, morality relies on natural law to regulate relationships between social groups and individuals. Natural law is also indispensable due to its role in public policies relating to the economy, whereby, for practical workings of the free market, the natural law ensures that factors such as injustices, fraud, and other human tendencies devoid of justice are not a hindrance. Finally, natural law is an essential component in states when developing regulatory policies, such as those limiting actions such as abortion. During the creation of such policies, leaders invoke natural law and its basis on morality, such as the right to preserve life and the importance of caring for others to eliminate vices that promote abortion debates, such as rape. Therefore, in the inherent moral theory of the State, natural law is indispensable.
References
Clanton, J. C., & Martin, K. (2019). Aquinas and Scotus on the Metaphysical Foundations of Morality. Religions, 10(2), 107. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/2/107/pdf
Coppola Jr, G. C. (2019). An Assessment of Democratic and Non-Democratic Governments’ Effectiveness in Implementing Environmental Policy: A Case Study of the US and China. Undergraduate Journal of Global Citizenship, 3(1), 4. https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=jogc
Ikechukwu, M., & AKPA, M. I. (2022). Thomas Aquinas Notion of Justice and. African Journal of Politics and Administrative St, 15(2), 234-255. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajpas/article/view/246409/233230
Muchenje, N. (2022). Why should people obey the law? Legal positivism or natural law? (Doctoral dissertation, Arrupe Jesuit University). https://polanco.jesuits-africa.education/jspui/bitstream/123456789/389/1/MUCHENJE%20Final%20Submission.pdf
Scarre, G. (2020). Utilitarianism. Routledge. https://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarianism.pdf
Seabright, P., Stieglitz, J., & Van der Straeten, K. (2021). Evaluating social contract theory in the light of evolutionary social science. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 3, e20. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/6B44A9CA0EF90B80CDA08EDE2661297B/S2513843X21000049a.pdf/div-class-title-evaluating-social-contract-theory-in-the-light-of-evolutionary-social-science-div.pdf
Viola, F. (2019). Aquinas (On Natural Law). Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. https://www.academia.edu/download/59059813/F.Viola_Aquinas_On_Natural_Law20190428-45781-ca9a55.pdf
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