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Wellsprings
politics

Natural Law

lex naturalis

Above the laws of any single city, said the Greeks and Romans, stands one unchanging law of reason that binds every human being.

Also: lex naturalis · law of nature · natural justice

Natural law is the idea that certain universal principles of justice and morality exist in nature itself, independent of any government's decrees. The Stoics developed this concept, seeing it as the rational order governing the cosmos. Cicero, the Roman orator and statesman, popularized natural law in Western thought, arguing that true law must align with reason and nature. He held that all humans share access to these principles through their capacity for rational thought, making natural law binding on citizens and rulers alike.

This philosophy had profound practical consequences for how Romans justified their legal systems and actions. When Cicero claims that laws must accord with nature to be genuinely just, he is suggesting that an unjust law—one contrary to reason or human nature—lacks true legal force. This principle later influenced thinking about slavery, property rights, and legitimate government, as thinkers could appeal to natural law to challenge existing laws they deemed unreasonable or oppressive.

Where this idea shows up

74 Greek sources·1 Jewish-canon citation

Where to read it