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In law, natural law is the doctrine that just laws are immanent in nature (that can be claimed as discovered but not created by such things as a
bill of rights) and/or that they can emerge by natural process of
resolving conflicts (as embodied by common law). These two aspects are actually
very different, and can sometimes oppose or complement each other, although they share the common trait that they rely on
immanence as opposed to design in finding just laws. In either case, law seeks more to discover a truth that is
considered to exist independent and outside of the legal process itself, rather than simply to declare or apply a principle whose
origin is inside the legal system.
The concept of natural law was very important in the development of Anglo-American common law. In the struggles between Parliament and the monarchy, Parliament often made reference to the
Fundamental Laws of England which embodied
natural law since time immemorial and set limits on the power of the
monarchy. The concept of natural law was expressed in the English Bill of Rights and the United States Declaration of Independence -- and by 19th-century anarchist and legal theorist, Lysander Spooner.
The Roman Catholic Church understands natural law to
be immanent in nature; this understanding is in large part due to the influence of Thomas Aquinas.
Natural law is currently undergoing a period of reformulation. A number of American philosophers, including German Grisez,
John Finnis, Robert George, and Canadian Joseph Boyle, have constructed a compelling new version of this venerable tradition.
Besides utilitarianism and Kantianism, natural law theory is with virtue ethics, a live option for a first-principles ethics
theory in analytic philosophy. "New Natural Law" theory as it is sometimes known, is the theory originating with Grisez; it
focuses on “basic human goods”, such as human life, which are self-evidently intrinsically worthwhile and states that
these goods reveal themselves as incommensurable.
Natural law theorists often portray a deep need for natural law teachings in modern Western societies. Natural law affirms the
worth of all members of the human species, and proposes that sexuality should always be "open" to the good of unity and
procreation.
For complete theories of law based on natural law, see libertarianism and particularly anarcho-capitalism. For theories of law which reject the concept of natural law, see legal positivism.
Compare with: Natural justice
There is a also political Natural Law Party.
See also: human rights
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