Understanding Natural Law: Definition, Working, and Limitations

Running head: NATURAL LAW 1
Natural law
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NATURAL LAW 2
Introduction
Law theory is the principle through which a litigant proceeds. Natural law is a
philosophy declaring that certain rights are in-built by the feature of human nature. It is
endowed by nature. The law is based on morality and ethics. The law is based on what is
correct. This law is a discovery of humans through reasoning and choosing between good
and evil. I agree with the law of nature since it treasures its power by discovering certain
universal ideals in, decency and ethics. What the law commanded varied from one place to
the other. But with the law of nature, the laws should be the same everywhere. Many people
consider Aristotle as the father of natural law (De Vattel, 2017). Aristotle argued that besides
the laws that the people have set up themselves there is a higher law that is according to
nature. This paper provides the nature of natural law.
How natural law works
Natural law finds certain things good and useful while others are evil and distractive.
What constitutes rights or wrong is the same for everyone. Morality is used to express this
concept. It is universally accepted that killing another person is wrong. And whoever kills
someone is punished and at times it is considered that killing the person would be the right
punishment. That is an example of natural law. Using natural law to solve ethical dilemmas,
there is a basic belief that everyone is entitled to live their lives through respect and
consideration (Leiboff, and Thomas, 2014). Natural law comes in to define an innocent life
and the elements that comprise of an unjust aggressor.
Natural law pays a certain attention to the idea of self-preservation. People tend to use
this law to justify acts of violence. They rely on this law to justify their actions. Throughout
history, there have been difficulties to apply what seems simple concept to complex issues in
nature. Giving an example of an act of violence like murder, it is against people's personal
proclivity to live a perfect and innocent life. In some instances, the act goes against the law of