Natural Law And The U.S. Constitution: A Thomistic Introduction I Professor Joshua Hochschild
Jan 16, 2024
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Guest Joshua Hochschild, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount St. Mary's University, explores the relationship between natural law and the U.S. Constitution, discussing topics such as Locke's conception of natural law, the existence of a higher law, and the nature of law according to Aquinas. The podcast also delves into the historical development of natural law and different interpretations of the founding of the United States in light of natural law.
Natural law is a standard of justice that exists prior to man-made laws and does not require a specific partisan or ideological stance.
Aquinas understands natural law as an expression of reason and intelligence intrinsic to nature, reflecting divine intelligence and governing human actions and physical behavior.
Deep dives
The Nature of Natural Law
Aquinas' understanding of natural law is not associated with a political agenda or ideological inclination. Natural law is not a specific and highly technical theory, but rather a common-sensical and intuitive idea. It is inescapable to recognize that there is a standard of justice or obligation prior to man-made laws. This natural law is not partisan or ideological, as it can be acknowledged without presuming or agreeing on any detailed content. It can be expressed using various terms such as conscience, rights, duties, fairness, or justice. Natural law binds and obliges us before and independent of man-made laws, and it provides a foundation for ethical reasoning and judgment.
Nature and Law
According to Aquinas, what is natural is what bears within itself its own principles of action. Nature is not simply given or lacking purpose, but it has intrinsic order and tendency. Natural law is not an arbitrary constraint, but an expression of reason and intelligence. It reflects an inherent intelligibility in nature and is promulgated and encoded in our own human nature. The natural law is part of God's providence over creation, and it governs not only human actions but also the behavior of physical things. Aquinas distinguishes natural law as a dictate of reason from the notion of law as an expression of will, emphasizing that natural law emerges from the rational participation in being governed rather than being externally imposed.
The Theological Implications of Natural Law
While the conception of natural law as natural law is an inherently theological position, one does not need to believe in God to experience moral obligation. Natural law as an expression of divine intelligence can be distinguished from volunteeristic divine command theories, which perceive God's regulation of human behavior as extrinsic and arbitrary. Aquinas' understanding of natural law differs as it makes God's commands intrinsic to the creature, encoded in its very nature. Natural law theories, like participatory theonomy, acknowledge an independent standard of justice and obligation prior to man-made conventions.
The Scope of Natural Law
Natural law can be understood at different levels of specificity, ranging from broad first principles to more specific precepts and applications. The most basic level acknowledges the principle of pursuing the good, while the more informative level includes principles that reflect various dimensions of human nature. Natural law encompasses prohibitions, commands, and permissive aspects, allowing for individual interpretation and determination in concretely applying general principles. Natural law serves as a guide for moral choices, personal and societal, and can be seen as a framework for understanding political and legal systems, including the interpretation of founding documents like the U.S. Constitution.
Joshua Hochschild is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he also served six years as the inaugural Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His primary research is in medieval logic, metaphysics, and ethics, with broad interest in liberal education and the continuing relevance of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He is the author of The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan’s De Nominum Analogia (2010), translator of Claude Panaccio’s Mental Language: From Plato to William of Ockham (2017), and co-author of A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction (2017). His writing has appeared in First Things, Commonweal, Modern Age and the Wall Street Journal. For 2020-21 he served as President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association.
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