Saturday, August 6, 2016

Natural law

One thing I've been thinking about lately is the idea of natural law. The idea is that there are absolute truths or principles that when followed will give a certain result.

For example, gravity always pulls objects toward the Earth at 9.8 m/s, water always travels perpendicular to the contour of the land, or that Christopher Nolan always makes good movies.

But this doesn’t just apply to physics and movie directing, I think it applies to all aspects of our lives.

The Idea of Karma for example, if I do good things, good things will happen to me.

But I think we can get even more specific; if I communicate effectively, I will be more likely to have good social connections or if I lie and cheat, I will not be respected by others or myself, or if I go watch The Dark Knight or Inception, I will enjoy myself.

The idea of natural law isn't my idea, many philosophers have talked about natural law. Some called it God's law, some call it natural law. Eternal Law is a similar idea as well.

This is the basis on which solvemyworld.com is based on.

Trying to find the principles behind why we get outcomes and then deciding if it's a natural law.

The next step is beginning to apply these natural laws into our lives and slowly refining them as our understanding grows.

Here is some of my notes from researching this topic:


Natural law is a philosophy that certain rights or values are inherent by virtue of human nature and universally cognizable through human reason.

In the Republic, the ideal community is, "...a city which would be established in accordance with nature." -Plato
the Stoics asserted the existence of a rational and purposeful order to the universe (a divine or eternal law), and the means by which a rational being lived in accordance with this order was the natural law, which spelled out action that accorded with virtue.

St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica I-II qq. 90–106, restored Natural Law to its independent state, asserting natural law as the rational creature's participation in the eternal law.

St. Germain informs his readers that English lawyers generally don't use the phrase "law of nature," but rather use "reason" as the preferred synonym.

Bracton considered justice to be the "fountain-head" from which "all rights arise."

Coke's discussion of natural law appears in his report of Calvin's Case (1608): "The law of nature is that which God at the time of creation of the nature of man infused into his heart, for his preservation and direction."
}

Let us assume that there is no absolute truth whatsoever. Therefore,  'non-existence of any absolute truth whatsoever' is an absolute truth.  - Tripti