On natural law in St. Thomas Aquinas

• Javier Fattah ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad Católica del Maule

     Universidad Católica del Maule

     Provincia de Talca, Chile

     
• Localización: Revista de Filosofía UCSC, ISSN 0717-7801, ISSN-e 2735-6353, Vol. 22, Nº. 1, 2023, págs. 117-127
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Sobrelaley natural en santo Tomás de Aquino
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen

  • This paper aims to demonstrate some of the central elements of natural law considering the thought of St. Thomas. In asserting the existence of a natural law, our author tends to establish distinctions in the way it operates in created beings, with a substantial difference being the distinction between rational and irrational beings. Inevitably, natural law brings practical consequences, in the sense that it usually derives ethical norms, thus it is possible to consider that natural law has some practical orientation. However, we should note that in the case of man, despite being subject to these orientations, he has the possibility of denying his inclinations due to both his rational nature and his freedom. Nonetheless, to deny natural law would lead him to act against his own nature.