Tutorial 1: Classical Naturalism

1. Explain the term classical naturalism.

2. Elucidate the central concerns of naturalist theories.

3. Briefly write the biography of:

a. Plato (428- 424 B. C)

b. Socrates (470-399 B.C)

c. Aristotle (384-322 B.C)

4. Discuss the following concepts and provide relevant illustration:

a. Platonic idealism and legalism

b. Plato and obligation to obey
c. Aristotles teleological
1. The term "natural law" refers to a type of moral theory, as well as to a type of legal
theory, but the core claims of the two kinds of theory are logically independent. It
does not refer to the laws of nature, the laws that science aims to describe. Classical
natural law theory such as the theory of Thomas Aquinas focuses on the overlap
between natural law moral and legal theories.

All forms of natural law theory subscribe to the Overlap Thesis, which asserts that
there is some kind of non-conventional relation between law and morality. According
to this view, then, the notion of law cannot be fully articulated without some reference
to moral notions. Though the Overlap Thesis may seem unambiguous, there are a
number of different ways in which it can be interpreted.

The strongest construction of the Overlap Thesis forms the foundation for the
classical naturalism of Aquinas and Blackstone. Aquinas distinguishes four kinds of
law: (1) eternal law; (2) natural law; (3) human law; and (4) divine law. Eternal law is
comprised of those laws that govern the nature of an eternal universe. Divine law is
concerned with those standards that must be satisfied by a human being to achieve
eternal salvation. One cannot discover divine law by natural reason alone; the
precepts of divine law are disclosed only through divine revelation.

The natural law is comprised of those precepts of the eternal law that govern the
behavior of beings possessing reason and free will. The first precept of the natural
law, according to Aquinas, is the somewhat vacuous imperative to do good and avoid
evil. Here it is worth noting that Aquinas holds a natural law theory of morality: what
is good and evil, according to Aquinas, is derived from the rational nature of human
beings. Good and evil are thus both objective and universal.

But Aquinas is also a natural law legal theorist. On his view, a human law (that is, that
which is promulgated by human beings) is valid only insofar as its content conforms
to the content of the natural law. To paraphrase Augustine's famous remark, an unjust
law is really no law at all.

It should be noted that classical naturalism is consistent with allowing a substantial

role to human beings in the manufacture of law. While the classical naturalist seems
committed to the claim that the law necessarily incorporates all moral principles, this
claim does not imply that the law is exhausted by the set of moral principles. There
will still be coordination problems (e.g., which side of the road to drive on) that can
be resolved in any number of ways consistent with the set of moral principles. Thus,
 the classical naturalist does not deny that human beings have considerable discretion
in creating natural law. Rather she claims only that such discretion is necessarily
limited by moral norms: legal norms that are promulgated by human beings are valid
only if they are consistent with morality.

2. The fulcrum and central question of natural law theories of law is: How and why can
law, and its positing in legislation, judicial decisions, and customs, give its subjects
sound reason for acting in accordance with it?

The sense and force of these questions, and the main features of the kind of answer
given by natural law theories, can be given a preliminary indication. On the one hand,
natural law theory holds that law's source-based characterits dependence upon
social facts such as legislation, custom or judicially established precedentsis a
fundamental and primary element in law's capacity to advance the common good, to
secure human rights, or to govern with integrity. On the other hand, the question
whether law is of its very nature morally problematic has from the outset been the
subject of consideration by leaders of the tradition. Classic and leading contemporary
texts of natural law theory treat law as morally problematic, understanding it as a
normally indispensable instrument of great good but one that readily becomes an
instrument of great evil unless its authors steadily and vigilantly make it good by
recognizing and fulfilling their moral duties to do so, both in settling the content of its
rules and principles and in the procedures and institutions by which they make and
administer it. Natural law theories all understand law as a remedy against the great
evils of, on the one side anarchy (lawlessness), and on the other side tyranny. And one
of tyranny's characteristic forms is the co-optation of law as a mask for fundamentally
lawless decisions cloaked in the forms of law and legality.

3. a) Born circa 428 B.C.E., ancient Greek philosopher Plato was a student of Socrates
and a teacher of Aristotle. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also
contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology,
epistemology and the philosophy of language. Plato founded the Academy in Athens,
one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world. He died in Athens
circa 348 B.C.E.

Traditional history estimates Plato's birth was around 428 B.C.E., but more modern
scholars, tracing later events in his life, believe he was born between 424 and 423
B.C.E. Both of his parents came from the Greek aristocracy.
As a young man, Plato experienced two major events that set his course in life. One
was meeting the great Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates's methods of dialogue
and debate impressed Plato so much that he soon he became a close associate and
dedicated his life to the question of virtue and the formation of a noble character. The
other significant event was the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, in
which Plato served for a brief time between 409 and 404 B.C.E. The defeat of Athens
ended its democracy, which the Spartans replaced with an oligarchy. Two of Plato's
relatives, Charmides and Critias, were prominent figures in the new government, part
of the notorious Thirty Tyrants whose brief rule severely reduced the rights of
Athenian citizens. After the oligarchy was overthrown and democracy was restored,
Plato briefly considered a career in politics, but the execution of Socrates in 399
B.C.E. soured him on this idea and he turned to a life of study and philosophy.

After Socrates's death, Plato traveled for 12 years throughout the Mediterranean
region, studying mathematics with the Pythagoreans in Italy, and geometry, geology,
astronomy and religion in Egypt. During this time, or soon after, he began his
extensive writing.

The first, or early, period occurs during Plato's travels (399-387 B.C.E.). The Apology
of Socrates seems to have been written shortly after Socrates's death. Other texts in
this time period include Protagoras, Euthyphro, Hippias Major and Minor and Ion. In
these dialogues, Plato attempts to convey Socrates's philosophy and teachings.

In the second, or middle, period, Plato writes in his own voice on the central ideals of
justice, courage, wisdom and moderation of the individual and society. The Republic
was written during this time with its exploration of just government ruled by
philosopher kings.

In the third, or late, period, Socrates is relegated to a minor role and Plato takes a
closer look at his own early metaphysical ideas. He explores the role of art, including
dance, music, drama and architecture, as well as ethics and morality. In his writings
on the Theory of Forms, Plato suggests that the world of ideas is the only constant and
that the perceived world through our senses is deceptive and changeable.
Sometime around 385 B.C.E., Plato founded a school of learning, known as the
Academy, which he presided over until his death. It is believed the school was located
at an enclosed park named for a legendary Athenian hero. The Academy operated
until 529 C.E.., when it was closed by Roman Emperor Justinian I, who feared it was
a source of paganism and a threat to Christianity.
Plato's final years were spent at the Academy and with his writing. The circumstances
surrounding his death are clouded, though it is fairly certain that he died in Athens
around 348 B.C.E., when he was in his early 80s..

b) Socrates was a Greek philosopher and the main source of Western thought. Little is
known of his life except what was recorded by his students, including Plato. Socrates
was born circa 470 BC, in Athens, Greece. We know of his life through the writings
of his students, including Plato and Xenophon. His "Socratic method," laid the
groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy. When the political climate
of Greece turned, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning in 399 BC.
He accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile.

Socrates believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater well-
being of society. He attempted to establish an ethical system based on human reason
rather than theological doctrine. He pointed out that human choice was motivated by
the desire for happiness. Ultimate wisdom comes from knowing oneself. The more a
person knows, the greater his or her ability to reason and make choices that will bring
true happiness. Socrates believed that this translated into politics with the best form of
government being neither a tyranny nor a democracy. Instead, government worked
best when ruled by individuals who had the greatest ability, knowledge, and virtue
and possessed a complete understanding of themselves.

The jury was not swayed by Socrates's defense and convicted him by a vote of 280 to
221. Possibly the defiant tone of his defense contributed to the verdict and he made
things worse during the deliberation over his punishment. Athenian law allowed a
convicted citizen to propose an alternative punishment to the one called for by the
prosecution and the jury would decide. Instead of proposing he be exiled, Socrates
suggested he be honored by the city for his contribution to their enlightenment and be
paid for his services. The jury was not amused and sentenced him to death by drinking
a mixture of poison hemlock.

Before Socrates's execution, friends offered to bribe the guards and rescue him so he
could flee into exile. He declined, stating he wasn't afraid of death, felt he would be
no better off if in exile and said he was still a loyal citizen of Athens, willing to abide
by its laws, even the ones that condemned him to death. Plato described Socrates's
execution in his Phaedo dialogue: Socrates drank the hemlock mixture without
hesitation. Numbness slowly crept into his body until it reached his heart. Shortly
 before his final breath, Socrates described his death as a release of the soul from the
body.

c) Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece.
When he turned 17, he enrolled in Platos Academy. In 338, he began tutoring
Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in
Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing.
Aristotle died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis.

In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Phillip IIs son,
the then 13-year-old Alexander the Great. Phillip and Alexander both held Aristotle in
high esteem and ensured that the Macedonia court generously compensated him for
his work.

In 335 B.C., after Alexander had succeeded his father as king and conquered Athens,
Aristotle went back to the city. In Athens, Platos Academy, now run by Xenocrates,
was still the leading influence on Greek thought. With Alexanders permission,
Aristotle started his own school in Athens, called the Lyceum. On and off, Aristotle
spent most of the remainder of his life working as a teacher, researcher and writer at
the Lyceum in Athens until the death of his former student Alexander the Great.

Lyceum members researched subjects ranging from science and math to philosophy
and politics, and nearly everything in between. Art was also a popular area of interest.
Members of the Lyceum wrote up their findings in manuscripts. In so doing, they
built the schools massive collection of written materials, which by ancient accounts
was credited as one of the first great libraries.

When Alexander the Great died suddenly in 323 B.C., the pro-Macedonian
government was overthrown, and in light of anti-Macedonia sentiment, Aristotle was
charged with impiety for his association with his former student and the Macedonian
court. To avoid being prosecuted and executed, he left Athens and fled to Chalcis on
the island of Euboea, where he would remain until his death a year later.

4. a) Plato was an 'idealist' who taught that the real world should be moulded to conform
to a better 'ideal' reality which is open to the understanding of human reason. He
considered that it could be understood only by persons of suitably trained ability.
In the Republic he set out a model for the perfect society which he founded not upon a
rule of laws but upon a form of 'benevolent dictatorship' through the government of a
'philosopher king'. This Utopian ruler was to be a person able to perceive and
comprehend the ideal reality in order to relate it to the actual State having:
. . . a list of characteristics full apprehension of reality, good memory,
readiness to learn, breadth of vision and grace, and be a friend of truth, justice,
courage, and self-control.

Such rulers were to be trained through a rigorous, if less than wholly practical,
education and would then proceed upon the rationally perceived dictates of ultimate
virtue. Their rule would thus not be encumbered by legal forms but moulded by
wisdom and accepted through the very evidence of its excellence.

b) The arguments in Crito fall into four categories. First, Socrates maintains that his
long residence in Athens shows that he has entered into an agreement with its laws
and committed himself to obey them an argument that anticipates the social
contract or consent theory of political obligation. Second, he acknowledges that he
owes his birth, nurture, and education, among other goods, to the laws of Athens, and
he hints at the gratitude theory of obligation when he concludes that it would be
wrong of him to disobey its laws now.

Third, he appeals to what is now known as the argument from fairness or fair play
when he suggests that disobedience would be a kind of mistreatment of his fellow
citizens. As he asks Crito, if we leave here without the city's permission, are we
mistreating people whom we should least mistreat? There is, finally, a trace of
utilitarian reasoning, as when Socrates imagines the laws and the state confronting
him with this challenge: do you think it possible for a city not to be destroyed if the
verdicts of its courts have no force but are nullified and set at naught by private
individuals? None of these arguments is fully developed, but their presence in the
Crito is testimony to the staying power of intuitions and concepts commitment and
agreement, gratitude, fair play, and utility that continue to figure in discussions of
obligation and obedience.

For example, if there is a law restraining the dosage of drugs for ailment like fever or
flu and a citizen exceeded this limit in private, Socrates would be of the opinion that
the citizen should admit his act and give himself up to the authorities. This refers to
the last argument put forward by Socrates when he justified not escaping from his
sentence. Although the act does not hurt others, the fact that there is a law against it is
enough and the law must be obeyed.

c) Aristotle, in contrast with Plato, taught that human beings have an inherent
potential for good and the State should facilitate its realization. In this he saw properly
conceived laws as a better instrument for the inculcation of virtue than any form of
autocratic or oligarchic rule. This idea of the proper purpose of law derives from a
teleological analysis of the human condition.

Aristotelian teleology teaches that all things have a potential for development specific
to their nature, the achievement of a particular 'good'. Thus, the 'good' of an acorn is
to develop into an oak tree. Anything which assists this process is 'good' for the acorn,
anything which is a hindrance thereto is 'bad' for it.

The case of humankind is, of course, more complex, primarily by reason of the
attribute of rationality which confers powers of choice which may be exercised for
good or ill. In the Politics, Aristotle argued that one of the products of reason is the
nature of the human being as apolicikon zon or a 'political animal', combining for
mutual life in societies of which the highest and most complex is the State.

A 'good' law is then one which enables its subjects, as social creatures, to achieve
their maximum potential appropriate development. There is clearly a large element of
moral education. The legislators who are to draft such laws will clearly require
extensive training.

Interestingly, in the Nichomacean Ethics, Aristotle appears to concede the existence

of a morality higher than that embodied in 'good' laws. Aristotle indicates that this is
not a different order of justice but an equitable standard which the law itself should
reflect but which may also be used to correct difficulties which may arise from the
unfairness of particular applications of rules which are 'good' as general provisions.

In the Aristotelian scheme, it would seem that the citizens were to be educated in the
constitutional structures of their State whatever its moral qualities. The ancient Greek
city-states were, by modern standards, extremely small political units, which were yet
further reduced, for present purposes, when it is borne in mind that the politically
enfranchised citizen body constituted a relatively small proportion of the total
population.
In such contexts, arguments of individual persuasion and relatively free departure to a
more congenial State have more practical merit than they might in a large modern
democracy, to say nothing of a modern totalitarian State.

As Aristotle quite rightly observes, we find ourselves regularly and easily speaking in
teleological terms when characterizing non-human animals and plants. It is consistent
with our so speaking, of course, that all of our easy language in these contexts is lax
and careless, because unwarrantedly anthropocentric.