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Natural Law
The notion of a natural law that governs all human beings throughout the globe and provides a standard for ethical behavior in all parts of the world has been a persistent feature of ethical thought from ancient times to the present. This entry discusses the evolution of natural law and its relevance to contemporary issues, and then considers some current empirical confirmations.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, attempts were made to define key precepts of the lex naturalis (law of nature). Thomas Aquinas (1225–74), summarizing the efforts of prior philosophers and Roman jurists, focused on three pivotal inclinations of human nature, which superseded other inclinations and had the force of law:
These precepts were expanded and reformulated by later scholastics in the Catholic tradition. ...
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