The Concept of Natural Law and its Development in the History of Moral Philosophy

Abstract

The article deals with the logical structure and the development history of the concept "natural law" (jus naturale) within the framework of the paradigm that preceded the New Europe history of European moral philosophy: Greek- and Latin-speaking periods. The author identifies practical-legal and theoretical-philosophical aspects of the concept of natural law. The author insists on the necessity to study the second aspect with a view to clarifying the general theoretical foundations of jurisprudence and ethics, as well as enhancing their interdisciplinary communication. The paper substantiates an approach to the analysis of the concept «natural law" in the light of methodology of the discipline "History of Concepts." The author briefly outlines the paradigm on which the study has been built. The article provides an analysis of contradiction of the concept «natural law" that was fixed in the so-called "discussion physis-nomos" (nature vs. an establishment) in ancient Greek philosophy. The author demonstrates the role of this contradiction in the development of the theory of natural law. He differentiates two lines of the development of the theory of natural law in accordance with two sides of this controversy: the theory of human nature (reasonable and social), on the one hand, and the theory of natural normativity (subject and object as the requirement of natural law), on the other hand. The author demonstrates the role of Greek philosophy and Christian theology in the development of these theories. He explicates the link of «natural law" with key concepts, provides its theoretical context: human nature, reasonable nature (natdra rationalis) is a natural "society" (societas) of a human, moral action (actus moralis, actio moralis), natural law (lex naturalis), divine law (lex divïna), and conscience (conscientia). A historical and philosophical context of the development of the theory of natural law is illustrated with a number of paradigmatic wordings borrowed from the works of the most significant thinkers that developed different sides of the theory -- from Aristotle to Hugo Grotius. The paper notes terminology and conceptual gap between antique, medieval and early New European moral philosophy, on the one hand, and modern humanities and social sciences, on the other. The author highlights the necessity to overcome it by means of analyzing philosophical foundations of ethical and legal thoughts defined in the philosophical tradition of natural law.