Natural Law and State Theory 2022

Running head: NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
Natural Law and State Theory
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
Natural law is based on the notion that human beings are morally upright
and are characterized by an innate sense of inner justice which guides them to do
what is right and what is wrong, and which in turn proves to be far more effective
in ensuring justice in comparison to the type of justice that is imposed by figures of
authority.1 In essence, natural law is a theory of the law which takes recognition of
the fact that morality and the law are two entities that are deeply connected to one
another, and that one is inseparable without the other. Human beings are moral
beings and they know deep within what actions may be construed as correct or
right and what actions are undesirable and should avoided being undertaken in the
first place.2 In the view of theorists and scholars of theology, natural law is what
instructs an individual to do the right thing at the right time, and the impact that is
associated with natural law and its implementation appears to be far more profound
since it is rooted essentially in a person’s psyche or character more than anything
else. This assignment enters into a detailed discussion on the subject of natural law
and whether or not natural law can be considered to be an indispensable dimension
of moral theories of the state. For this purpose, the assignment analyzes in detail
the theories that have been propounded by John Rawls in his seminal work
published in 1971 known as Theory of Justice. The essay concludes with the
argument that while natural law is intrinsic and essential and while its existence
1 Sampford, Charles, and Spencer Zifcak. Rethinking international law and justice. Routledge, 2016.
2 Ibid

2NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
and relevance cannot be denied, the system of distributive justice also needs to be
in place in order to ensure the proper implementation of the law and to guarantee
the outreach of justice to each and every person living in society. 3
Prior to understanding how natural law can be understood as a crucial
dimension of moralistic views or theories of the state, it would first be worthwhile
to discuss what natural law is all about and what in essence that it entails. The
Christian concept of natural law is one which is based on the theory or the belief
that the morality in human beings is something that stems from nature. All human
beings have a purpose on life. 4They are born on earth for a purpose and they have
goals to fulfill for as long as they are here on earth. In the view of theorists of
natural law, the most important purpose of human life is to lead an existence that is
happy, and which is morally upright with no harm being done to fellow human
beings, birds or animals and with every attempt being made on the part of human
beings to live in peace and prosperity. The actions that are undertaken by human
beings in the course of their lives, as argued by theorists of natural law, are those
that are meant to fulfill this end. Each and every human being on the face of the
earth is expected to lead a life which is morally sound, with few or no ills being
committed and with the goal of life being to attain happiness and to spread
3 Covell, Charles. The Defence of Natural Law: A Study of the Ideas of Law and Justice in the Writings of Lon L.
Fuller, Michael Oakeshot, FA Hayek, Ronald Dworkin and John Finnis. Springer, 2016.
4 Ross, Alf. On law and justice. Oxford University Press, 2019

3NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
happiness for fellow human beings. 5It is further argued by the theorists of natural
law, that true happiness is something that comes from leading a life that is morally
upright. Where there is vice, there is no room for happiness. Actions which are
immoral on the other hand are those that are unnatural and such actions are likely
to play in role in causing unhappiness for human beings.6 Actions which are
immoral and which are not based on honesty and justice are actions that are
designed to cause human beings a great deal of unhappiness and can truly keep
them from attaining their goals and objectives in life, the primary goals being to
acquire happiness and to retain happiness over the long term. 7
Natural law in the view of thinkers like Plato finds manifestation in an
orderly universe where good behavior and good actions constitute the cause of all
things. Aristotle was a philosopher who pointed out the distinction between nature
and custom, stating that while custom could change, nature should always remain
the same, indicating that law should always be moral and upright and the natural
good of things should always be the focus of the legal or justice system.8 Cicero
was a thinker who firmly believed in the laws of nature. Natural law or the innate
goodness of human beings was something which for Cicero took precedence over
5 Ross, Alf. On law and justice. Oxford University Press, 2019
6 Pound, Roscoe, and Marshall L. DeRosa. An introduction to the philosophy of law. Routledge, 2017.
7 Ibid
8 Pound, Roscoe, and Marshall L. DeRosa. An introduction to the philosophy of law. Routledge, 2017.

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laws passed by the government. For philosophers like Augustine of Hippo, natural
law is eternal law, it is inscribed in the most powerful way in the soul of human
beings. The voice of this law is the human conscience and the imperium of this law
is good behavior. In the view of Acquinas, the imperative need or desire in human
beings to perform acts of good and to avoid evil behavior is what constitutes the
natural law of human beings.9 For Luther, natural law refers to the innate goodness
of human beings and it is inscribed in the human heart as well as in the
commandments of God against adultery, murder and other sins. Locke believed
that morality is something that all human beings are bound by and that morality is
something that is fundamentally about duty. This morality forms the basis of
natural law which according to Locke, all human beings need to follow According
to John Calvin, natural law forms an important basis of Christianity, and that it
asserts both the omnipotence as well as the righteousness of God. In the view of
Hobbes, natural law is a general rule or precept that keeps a man from engaging in
behavior that is destructive in nature and which preserves the meaning of his life.
Lamartine was a philosopher who was also quite sympathetic to the cause and
implementation of natural law, arguing that natural law needs to take precedence
over government laws and that human beings need to be guided by their innate
9 Ross, Alf. On law and justice. Oxford University Press, 2019

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goodness and moral behavior in order to avoid being misguided or drawn by evil,
which can otherwise take them down the path of destruction.10
One crucial aspect of natural legal theory is that the law is served by a
purpose. The primary purpose of law is to ensure the provision of justice. From the
perspective of natural law therefore, any law that is not capable of providing
justice is a law that cannot be considered to be a law in the first place. Laws which
are good are those that may be regarded to be moral while laws which are bad are
unjust law, and ought not to be followed by human beings.11 Legal positivism is a
notion that is strongly opposed to the theory of moral law, therefore. People who
are legal positivists are of the view that no matter how deeply flawed a law
happens to be, it still has a purpose and should be implemented.12 Natural law
proponents are of the view that laws which are not rooted in a sense of justice or in
a sense of right or wrong are not really laws and to consider them to be law would
be wrong on the part of human being, The primary purpose of law, as the natural
legal theorists argue, is to help human beings distinguish between right and wrong,
to understand what behavior or actions need to be taken in order to remain on a
morally upright path and which are the actions that ought to be avoided in order
10 Ross, Alf. On law and justice. Oxford University Press, 2019
11 Pound, Roscoe, and Marshall L. DeRosa. An introduction to the philosophy of law. Routledge, 2017.
12 Pound, Roscoe, and Marshall L. DeRosa. An introduction to the philosophy of law. Routledge, 2017.

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not to incur sin and invite in the process, the wrath of God.13 The innate or intrinsic
goodness of human beings is a concept that finds reflection in the Christian
concept of natural law. Natural law does not believe that society can dictate to a
human being, or a figure of authority can dictate to a human being what is right
and what is not right, as a human being possesses the qualities that are needed to
know the difference between the two and to act accordingly. 14
Morality as a concept in the context of natural law is not seen to have a
subjective quality in any sense of the term. Hence what is wrong and what is right
is something that applies for all human beings on the face of this earth in equal
proportion or measure. If ethical dilemmas are to be resolved through the use of
natural law, then what first needs to be remembered by the implementers of this
law is that all human beings have the right to desire life and to live life according
to their own terms rather than being told by other human beings how they should
conduct their life. A line is therefore quite succinctly drawn between the life that is
led by an aggressive human being and a life that is led by an innocent human
being. The moral and legal concept of self-defense is something that is quite
adequately recognized by moral law theorists. This is why the act of war is
13 Simons, Geoff. The scourging of Iraq: sanctions, law and natural justice. Springer, 2016.
14 Simons, Geoff. The scourging of Iraq: sanctions, law and natural justice. Springer, 2016.

7NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
justified by natural law.15 All human beings, in the view of natural law, have the
right to defend themselves against an act of aggression and have the right to take
recourse to whatever means that are necessary to fight the aggression and to keep
themselves safe. This is rather ironic to say the least, given that the act of self –
defense can induce a human being to commit an action that is morally not upright,
such as killing another person intentionally or not so intentionally, in order to keep
oneself safe from harm. The ethical dimensions of the Christian concept of natural
law are thus rooted in a great deal of controversy.16 Natural law cannot be regarded
as simple in its character and it is seen to feature a wide range of complexities. It is
not surprising therefore, at the same given time, that the ethics which are
associated with the implementation of natural law, are quite complex in their
nature and character as well. The exact idea as propounded in natural law of what
is wrong and what is right is something that can prove to be quite difficult to
implement or apply with respect to important ethical dilemmas.17
When it comes to applying natural law to state theory it can be said that the
moral dimension or character of the state is something that is greatly based on the
15 George, Robert P. "Recent Criticism of Natural Law Theory." In Aquinas and Modern Law, pp. 35-86. Routledge,
2017
16 Ibid
17 George, Robert P. "Recent Criticism of Natural Law Theory." In Aquinas and Modern Law, pp. 35-86. Routledge,
2017

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notions or concepts of natural law.18 Natural law is all about understanding the
difference between right and wrong and acting accordingly. The moral theory of
the state also indicates that state authorities must be in a position to make a
distinction between morally upright and not so upright behavior and should
implement laws and policies that are designed to benefit all human beings living in
the society rather than a handful.19 When the state is morally upright in its
approach to governance and policy, then it will invariably be acting in the interest
of human beings, by introducing practices and measures that work in their favor
and which teach them to do more for others around them rather than focusing on
their own short sighted goals and desires. Natural law and morality are one and the
same. Without morality, there is no such thing as natural law.20 If human beings are
incapable of understanding the difference between right and wrong, if they are
unable to carry out a distinction between actions which are morally upright and
actions which are undesirable and wrong from the ethical point of view, then it is
the duty of the state to help such individuals to embark upon the right course of
action.21
18 Cavallar, Georg. The rights of strangers: Theories of international hospitality, the global community and political
justice since Vitoria. Routledge, 2017.
19 Ibid
20 Tebbit, Mark. Philosophy of law: An introduction. Routledge, 2017
21 Cavallar, Georg. The rights of strangers: Theories of international hospitality, the global community and political
justice since Vitoria. Routledge, 2017.

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John Rawls is a theorist who has provided his own unique take on justice in
his work Theory of Justice. In this piece of work, the system of distributive justice
is one that has been significantly questioned by Rawls.22 The problems or the social
ills that are associated with the implementation of distributive justice have been
well pointed out in this work, particularly, what may be termed as the social
distribution of goods and services in the society. 23The theory of justice as argued
for by John Rawls in 1971 is a theory that is based a lot on the Kantian theory of
justice and it can also be considered to be a variant of the theory of social contract
that was advocated by Rousseau. It needs to be remembered in this context that the
theory of justice is also in essence a political theory and it cannot be equated with
other forms of justice that are discussed in other types of contexts and disciplines.
The Theory of Justice is a piece of work that is based on two important principles.
24The first of these principles states that society ought to be built or it ought to be
structured in a way that the members of the society are given the maximum amount
of liberty possible. The only limitation that is applicable in this context is that the
liberty of one particular human being ought to not infringe upon the liberty that is
exercised by another human being.25 Secondly, economic or social inequalities
22 Tebbit, Mark. Philosophy of law: An introduction. Routledge, 2017
23 d'Entreves, Alexander Passerin. Natural law: An introduction to legal philosophy. Routledge, 2017.
24 Ibid
25 Marco, Gines. "The Impact of the Concepts of'Common Good','Justice'and'Diversity'in the Natural Law of our
Time." Journal of Vincentian Social Action 3, no. 2 (2018): 8.

10NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
can be allowed in the society, provided that those who are the worst off in society
are not going to be deprived as a consequence of this, or if it keeps them from
being as well off as they could have been had an equal distribution for wealth and
resources been followed or implemented. Such beneficial inequality should also
not impose any restrictions or difficulties when it comes to something as intrinsic
as the acquisition of power or the holding of public office. People who wish to
hold public office or who wish to serve in positions of governance are people who
should not be kept from doing so, if such social and economic inequalities are seen
to be in play in the society. It is important to remember that Theory of Justice is a
work that was revised once again in the year of 1975 and that it was followed up
with yet another work known as Justice as Fairness: A Restatement.26
The type of justice that has been advocated for by John Rawls in Theory of
Justice is something that is partly based on natural law, but which is also
institutional in its own way.27 The conventional system of distributive justice is
something that has been challenged adequately enough by John Rawls. He does not
believe that all people in society have to be given equal access to wealth and
resources, and that it is alright for some people to have more or to enjoy more
resources than others, provided that overall social and economic equality does not
suffer in this case. In other words, people who would have benefitted from an
26 Ibid
27 Kelsen, Hans. "What is the Pure Theory of Law?." In Law and Morality, pp. 101-108. Routledge, 2017

11NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
equal distribution of social and economic resources should benefit the same when
some people have more access to resources than others, and only in this particular
context is the unequal social and economic distribution of resources justified.
While this seems a little strange, it is unique in its own way and it questions the
traditional aspects of justice include the type of justice that is advocated for under
the theory of natural law.28 The reconciliation of the principles of liberty and
equality is something that forms an important aspect of this piece of work, with the
author making the argument that liberty should be allowed as much as possible so
long as this liberty does not infringe upon the liberty of another human being. If
the liberty of another human being is something that is infringed upon, then it is
not desired and in this context the system of justice that will prevail in the society
is something that can be regarded to be both unfair as well as unjust.29
Traditional notions and concepts associated with natural law are those that
have been adequately challenged by John Rawls in Theory of Justice.30 The
Christian concept of natural law is one that is rooted in a great deal of fairness. It is
important, in the view of the proponents of natural law, that people understand the
difference between right and wrong and they conduct their lives in a way that they
28 Ibid
29 Gališanka, Andrius. John Rawls: The Path to a Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press, 2019.
30 Buchanan, Allen. "A critical introduction to Rawls’ theory of justice." In Distributive Justice, pp. 175-211.
Routledge, 2017.

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do not cause harm to others.31 People have the innate capacity to discern between
good and bad and they should use this ability to conduct themselves in the society
in which they live rather than allowing figures of authority to tell them how to lead
their lives or to dictate to them the type of behavior that they ought to be engaging
in.32 What John Rawls has to suggest in Theory of Justice is something that is very
different. He believes that regardless of discerning between good and bad, it is the
access to liberty that should be made free and equal to all in the society and that
people should be allowed to enjoy as much liberty as they wish to provided that
this access to liberty does not infringe upon the liberty of another person. To some
extent this does stem from natural law in the sense that liberty is being granted
freely and to all the people in the society and it is something that is meant for their
wellbeing.33 Also the fact that the liberty that is being given to the people in the
society to the extent that it benefits people but it does not take away from the
liberty of other people is something that stems slightly from natural law as well.
People can enjoy as much access to liberty as they want, in the view of John
Rawls, provided they do not prevent access to liberty for others who are around
them. John Rawls has in essence proposed a type of justice system that is designed
31 Kliewer, Brandon, and Jeff Zacharakis. "Leadership Education and Development for Justice Using the Canonical
Framework of John Rawls's," A Theory of Justice"." Educational Considerations 43, no. 1 (2015): 36-41.
32 Ibid
33 Kliewer, Brandon, and Jeff Zacharakis. "Leadership Education and Development for Justice Using the Canonical
Framework of John Rawls's," A Theory of Justice"." Educational Considerations 43, no. 1 (2015): 36-41.

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to benefit all the segments of the people who are living in society. This is a justice
system where the principles of equality and liberty are reconciled with one another.
People can access liberty as much as they wish to but they cannot take away from
the liberty of other people upon doing so, as this would be unethical or immoral
and a wrong thing to do. People at the same time can access a greater amount of
economic and social resources, than what they would have been allowed to do
under an equal distribution of resources based on the system that is being argued
for by John Rawls in his work Theory of Justice.34 However, this is something that
ought to be made permissible or should be allowed only, if the people who would
have benefitted from the equal distribution of resources are not deprived in any
given way. Some people can certainly have more than others as long as this does
not hurt all of the people living in the society or take away from their happiness.
Rawls is of the belief that the attainment of happiness is an important objective of
human life, a belief that is in keeping with natural law, which also states that the
primary objective of human life is the attainment of happiness and that one of the
ways by which this can be achieved is to engage in morally upright behavior,
discerning between right and wrong and learning what to avoid and what not to
avoid in order to lead a carefree and quality life in society.35 For Rawls however,
34 Ibid
35 Follesdal, Andreas. "John Rawls’ Theory of Justice as Fairness." In Philosophy of Justice, pp. 311-328. Springer,
Dordrecht, 2015.

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the attainment of happiness can be different from the manner by which this has
been prescribed under the Christian notion of natural law. In the view of Rawls,
equality and liberty have to be reconciled with each other, and people should have
access to as much as they want in terms of social and economic resources,
provided they do not deprive others in the process. At the same time, they enjoy as
much liberty as they would like to in the society, but provided this liberty does not
have an adverse or negative impact on the enjoyment of liberty by other people.36
The moral theory of the state advocates the view that the state should work
for the benefit of the people. The state exists to help the people in society
understand the difference between right and wrong and it is the duty of the state to
take its people along the right course of action, and to guide them into doing what
is right not only for themselves but for the wellbeing of all of the people living in
the society.37 As a consequence, the state must take upon itself the duty of
establishing norms, rules and regulations that inform the people of the society
about what is acceptable and what is not, and they should be allowed to understand
through their own behavior, how they can work for the benefit of the others in their
society instead of working only towards their own self interests.38 The moral theory
36 Ibid
37 Moellendorf, Darrel. Cosmopolitan justice. Routledge, 2018
38 Matsuda, Mari J. "Liberal Jurisprudence and Abstracted Visions of Human Nature: A Feminist Critique of Rawls’
Theory of Justice." In Gender and Justice, pp. 47-64. Routledge, 2017

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of the state is thus based quite extensively on the notion of natural law, which tells
people how to understand the basic difference between behavior that is correct and
behavior that can be considered to be morally wrong, and the types of actions that
they ought to embrace in order to be considered as upright citizens of the society in
which they live.39 Natural law indicates that people have the innate abilities which
are needed to make the distinction between right and wrong and that they do not
really need to be told by higher authorities about what is right and what is wrong.
They do not have to be dictated as to what they should do in order to conduct
themselves in a way that can be regarded as good and positive for their society.
The moral theory of the state does not deny that the state must play a role in the
implementation of justice but it is based quite a bit on natural law of Christianity
whereby the state must encourage the people to on their own advocate and lead a
way of life which is rooted in Christian principles, and the main objective of which
is the attainment of happiness, not only for themselves but also for the people who
are around them. 40
In way therefore, it can be said that natural law is indeed an intrinsic aspect
of moral theory of the state but whether it is indispensable or not is a matter of
39 Ruger, Jennifer Prah. "Equity and justice." Constructive Conversations About Health: Pt. 2, Perspectives on
Policy and Practice (2018).
40 Ruger, Jennifer Prah. "Equity and justice." Constructive Conversations About Health: Pt. 2, Perspectives on
Policy and Practice (2018).

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debate as is made evident through the views or arguments that have been
propounded by John Rawls in his work, Theory of Justice as published in the year
of 1971 and revised in 1975.41 The attainment of happiness is the primary objective
of human life as dictated to under natural law of Christianity and as implemented
as part of moral state theory. This happiness is something that has to be attained by
a human being by engaging in the type of behavior which can be considered to be
morally upright. They do not have the right to attain happiness by taking recourse
to immoral means but through moral ways and means42. Also, the happiness that
they attain should be all inclusive and should spread to all segments of the society
rather than being enjoyed only by a handful of the people in society. This in
essence is the main reason for a human being to be born on earth and to live, the
attainment of peace and happiness, joy and contentment for one and all, achieved
through engaging in morally upright behavior.43 John Rawls in this particular
context offers an unconventional road to the attainment of happiness in his work,
Theory of Justice. The work is something that is based on two important objectives
or principles. The first of these is that people should be allowed access to as much
liberty as possible at a time.44 They should not be denied any access to liberty but
41 Dworkin, Ronald. "Rawls and the Law." In Rawls and Law, pp. 35-53. Routledge, 2017.
42 Ibid
43 Dworkin, Ronald. "Rawls and the Law." In Rawls and Law, pp. 35-53. Routledge, 2017.
44 Beiner, Ronald. "John Rawls’s Genealogy of Liberalism." In Reflections on Rawls, pp. 89-106. Routledge, 2016.

17NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
this liberty should not be granted at the cost of infringing on the liberty of another
human being. In other words, one person can enjoy unlimited access to liberties but
only if other people also are able to access as much liberty as they would like to.
The happiness that a human being is able to acquire through the procurement of
liberty is certainly not something that is going to be denied to him, but he needs to
ensure that the same liberty does not take away from the liberty and consequently
the happiness of another human being.45 Secondly, while the natural law of
Christianity argues that human beings should engage in morally upright behavior
for the attainment of happiness in society, and that they should work for the benefit
of all of the people living in the society, instead of working only their own welfare,
John Rawls states that this is acceptable but one needs to perceive the matter of
equality from a slightly different angle.46 In the view of John Rawls, an individual
can access social and economic resources in greater proportion than another
person, provided that this is an act which does not end up depriving another
person. It is possible for a particular individual to access more resources than
another person and to lead a good life in the process but only if this does not take
away from the benefits that another person could have enjoyed, at the social and
economic resources been distributed equally among all the people in the society.
Thus, the objective of human life, the justice system propounded under natural law
45 Ibid
46 Ibid

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and the distributive system of justice have been questioned and modified by John
Rawls through the theories that he has put forward in his work, Theory of Justice.
According to Rawls, justice is something that can be attained in spite of resources
not being distributed equally, and that no restrictions or limitations should be
placed on the enjoyment of liberty, as access to liberty is a basic human right and
there should be no ceiling on access to or enjoyment of the same. 47
In the final analysis it can be stated that natural law is an important aspect of
the moral theory of the state but it is not an indispensable dimension of the same. If
the work of John Rawls, Theory of Justice as published in 1971 is anything to go
by, there are a number of ways by which happiness can be provided for people
living in society and there are various ways by which justice can be ensured but not
in the way that it has wholly been prescribed under natural law or in the
distributive system of justice, the latter being an institution that Rawls has
criticized quite vehemently.48 As argued by Rawls, resources do not have to be
distributed equally or on an equal level in order for justice to be ensured for the
people living in the society. Justice is something that can be ensured for human
beings in society by ensuring that they have access to liberty and that too liberty
47 Rashid, Rhidoy. "John Rawls' Primary Goods Approach to Justice: An Analysis of Indexing Problems." Inquiries
Journal 9, no. 07 (2017).
48 Rashid, Rhidoy. "John Rawls' Primary Goods Approach to Justice: An Analysis of Indexing Problems." Inquiries
Journal 9, no. 07 (2017).

19NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
that does not come in a restricted capacity. This liberty is something that needs to
be made freely and easily available for all in society and they can access this
liberty in as much proportion as they would like to without any limitations being
imposed in this respect. 49The only condition that Rawls is seen to impose when
making this argument is that the liberty that is enjoyed by one person in society
should not take away from the liberty that is enjoyed by another person of the same
society. When access to liberty is made unlimited for all but a guarantee is also
provided that one person’s liberty will not take away anything from the liberty of
another, only then can true happiness be attained by the people living in society
and it is only then that society can be considered to be truly egalitarian in its
character.50 Furthermore it has been added by John Rawls, that the access to social
and economic resources in the society is not something that should be limited in
any given way either. It is possible for a particular person living in society to
access more economic and social resources or to be granted access to more social
and economic resources than another human being. It is his right to do so. Again, a
certain clause is added by John Rawls to this context, which is, that while
unlimited or excessive access to social and economic resources can be allowed for
an individual person, this access should not deprive or disadvantage or even take
49 Ibid
50 Dworkin, Ronald. "Rawls and the Law." In Rawls and Law, pp. 35-53. Routledge, 2017.

20NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
away from the benefits that people would have enjoyed had an equal distribution
system been in place. If the latter is something that can be ensured by the state
system, then the system of justice that will be in place will be one that can be
regarded as desirable in character as it gives more to those who demand it while
not taking away from or depriving the people who are not making any demands.51
The moral theory of the state which is based in essence on the Christian
concept of natural law is staid and old and it not pragmatic for the most part. As
such, a state system cannot rely only on natural law in order to ensure proper
justice for its citizens.52 The distributive system of justice also needs to be in place
if resources are to be allocated among all the people in society and higher figures
of authority need to take upon themselves to act as a guide for the people of their
state and inform them about do’s and don’ts in the form of rules and regulations,
instead of being complacent in the notion that people have a fair idea of what is
right and what is wrong and will undertake the actions that are necessary to serve
as role models for themselves and others in their society. What Rawls has to
suggest about the theory of justice and his critique of the system of distributive
justice in particular is something that ought to be taken into consideration by state
authorities as in doing so, the state can actually ensure happiness and fairness of
51 Ibid
52 Cavallar, Georg. The rights of strangers: Theories of international hospitality, the global community and political
justice since Vitoria. Routledge, 2017.

21NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
each and every one of its citizens instead of depriving one citizen at the expense of
the other. The Rawls critique of the system of justice is definitely worth taking into
consideration, as it will ensure that people have access to as much liberty as they
would like to have as much social and economic resources that they would like to
acquire, but while making sure that other people in the society are not deprived of
this in the bargain. It is argued by Rawls that it is alright to access a greater number
of economic and social resources than desirable, or access a greater degree of
liberty provided this does not end up depriving other people in the society, and
especially if it does not rob people in society of the benefits or advantages that had
been made available to them under the system of equal distribution.53
Thus, it can be concluded that state theory and state politics should be based
on both natural law and the system of distributive justice and the system of
distributive justice in particular needs to be refined or modified along the lines that
have been argued for by John Rawls in Theory of Justice, in order for such a
system to be considered as effective. It is indeed the duty and the responsibility of
the state to work towards the welfare of its people and it can successfully do so if it
combines elements of natural system with the two main arguments that have been
made by John Rawls in Theory of Justice. In doing so, the state system will be one
that looks into the welfare of its people on an equal footing, granting as much as
53 Cavallar, Georg. The rights of strangers: Theories of international hospitality, the global community and political
justice since Vitoria. Routledge, 2017.

22NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
possible to its citizens, perhaps giving more to those who demand more, but
ensuring at the same time that this does not deprive others, thus reconciling the
principles of liberty and equality well together for rendering justice.

23NATURAL LAW AND STATE THEORY
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