What is "natural law"

Natural \Nat"u*ral\ (?; 135), a. [OE. naturel, F. naturel, fr. L. naturalis, fr. natura. See Nature.]

1. Fixed or determined by nature; pertaining to the constitution of a thing; belonging to native character; according to nature; essential; characteristic; innate; not artificial, foreign, assumed, put on, or acquired; as, the natural growth of animals or plants; the natural motion of a gravitating body; natural strength or disposition; the natural heat of the body; natural color.

   With strong natural sense, and rare force of will.
   --Macaulay.

2. Conformed to the order, laws, or actual facts, of nature; consonant to the methods of nature; according to the stated course of things, or in accordance with the laws which govern events, feelings, etc.; not exceptional or violent; legitimate; normal; regular; as, the natural consequence of crime; a natural death; anger is a natural response to insult.

   What can be more natural than the circumstances in the behavior of those women who had lost their husbands on this fatal day?
   --Addison.

3. Having to do with existing system to things; dealing with, or derived from, the creation, or the world of matter and mind, as known by man; within the scope of human reason or experience; not supernatural; as, a natural law; natural science; history, theology.

   I call that natural religion which men might know . . . by the mere principles of reason, improved by consideration and experience, without the help of revelation.
   --Bp. Wilkins.

4. Conformed to truth or reality; as:

   1. Springing from true sentiment; not artificial or exaggerated; -- said of action, delivery, etc.; as, a natural gesture, tone, etc.

   2. Resembling the object imitated; true to nature; according to the life; -- said of anything copied or imitated; as, a portrait is natural.

5. Having the character or sentiments properly belonging to one's position; not unnatural in feelings.

   To leave his wife, to leave his babes, . . . He wants the natural touch.
   --Shak.

6. Connected by the ties of consanguinity. especially, Related by birth rather than by adoption; as, one's natural mother. ``Natural friends.''
   --J. H. Newman.

7. Hence: Begotten without the sanction of law; born out of wedlock; illegitimate; bastard; as, a natural child.

8. Of or pertaining to the lower or animal nature, as contrasted with the higher or moral powers, or that which is spiritual; being in a state of nature; unregenerate.

   The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
   --1 Cor. ii. 14.

9. (Math.) Belonging to, to be taken in, or referred to, some system, in which the base is 1; -- said of certain functions or numbers; as, natural numbers, those commencing at 1; natural sines, cosines, etc., those taken in arcs whose radii are 1.

10. (Mus.)

    1. Produced by natural organs, as those of the human throat, in distinction from instrumental music.

    2. Of or pertaining to a key which has neither a flat nor a sharp for its signature, as the key of C major.

    3. Applied to an air or modulation of harmony which moves by easy and smooth transitions, digressing but little from the original key.

    4. Neither flat nor sharp; -- of a tone.

    5. Changed to the pitch which is neither flat nor sharp, by appending the sign [natural]; as, A natural.
       --Moore (Encyc. of Music).

11. Existing in nature or created by the forces of nature, in contrast to production by man; not made, manufactured, or processed by humans; as, a natural ruby; a natural bridge; natural fibers; a deposit of natural calcium sulfate. Opposed to artificial, man-made, manufactured, processed and synthetic. [WordNet sense 2]

12. Hence: Not processed or refined; in the same statre as that existing in nature; as, natural wood; natural foods.

    Natural day, the space of twenty-four hours.
    --Chaucer.

    Natural fats, Natural gas, etc. See under Fat, Gas. etc.

    Natural Harmony (Mus.), the harmony of the triad or common chord.

    Natural history, in its broadest sense, a history or description of nature as a whole, including the sciences of botany, zo["o]logy, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, chemistry, and physics. In recent usage the term is often restricted to the sciences of botany and zo["o]logy collectively, and sometimes to the science of zoology alone.

    Natural law, that instinctive sense of justice and of right and wrong, which is native in mankind, as distinguished from specifically revealed divine law, and formulated human law.

    Natural modulation (Mus.), transition from one key to its relative keys.

    Natural order. (Nat. Hist.) See under order.

    Natural person. (Law) See under person, n.

    Natural philosophy, originally, the study of nature in general; the natural sciences; in modern usage, that branch of physical science, commonly called physics, which treats of the phenomena and laws of matter and considers those effects only which are unaccompanied by any change of a chemical nature; -- contrasted with mental philosophy and moral philosophy.

    Natural scale (Mus.), a scale which is written without flats or sharps.

    Note: Model would be a preferable term, as less likely to mislead, the so-called artificial scales (scales represented by the use of flats and sharps) being equally natural with the so-called natural scale.

    Natural science, the study of objects and phenomena existing in nature, especially biology, chemistry, physics and their interdisciplinary related sciences; natural history, in its broadest sense; -- used especially in contradistinction to social science, mathematics, philosophy, mental science or moral science.

    Natural selection (Biol.), the operation of natural laws analogous, in their operation and results, to designed selection in breeding plants and animals, and resulting in the survival of the fittest; the elimination over time of species unable to compete in specific environments with other species more adapted to survival; -- the essential mechanism of evolution. The principle of natural selection is neutral with respect to the mechanism by which inheritable changes occur in organisms (most commonly thought to be due to mutation of genes and reorganization of genomes), but proposes that those forms which have become so modified as to be better adapted to the existing environment have tended to survive and leave similarly adapted descendants, while those less perfectly adapted have tended to die out through lack of fitness for the environment, thus resulting in the survival of the fittest. See Darwinism.

    Natural system (Bot. & Zo["o]l.), a classification based upon real affinities, as shown in the structure of all parts of the organisms, and by their embryology.

    It should be borne in mind that the natural system of botany is natural only in the constitution of its genera, tribes, orders, etc., and in its grand divisions.
    --Gray.

    Natural theology, or Natural religion, that part of theological science which treats of those evidences of the existence and attributes of the Supreme Being which are exhibited in nature; -- distinguished from revealed religion. See Quotation under Natural, a., 3.

    Natural vowel, the vowel sound heard in urn, furl, sir, her, etc.; -- so called as being uttered in the easiest open position of the mouth organs. See Neutral vowel, under Neutral and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect] 17.

    Syn: See Native.

n. 1 (context philosophy English) An ethical theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere. 2 law of nature; relating to natural phenomena.

n. a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society [syn: law]

Natural law is a philosophy that certain rights or values are inherent by virtue of human nature and can be universally understood through human reason. Historically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze both social and personal human nature to deduce binding rules of moral behavior. The law of nature, as it is determined by nature, is universal.

In Western culture, the conception of natural law first appears in Ancient Greek philosophy. Although natural law is often conflated with common law, the two are distinct. Common law is not based on inherent rights, but is the legal tradition whereby certain rights or values are legally recognized by virtue of already having judicial recognition or articulation. Natural law is often contrasted with the human-made laws ( positive law) of a given political community, society, or state. In legal theory, the interpretation of a human-made law requires some reference to natural law. On this understanding of natural law, natural law can be invoked to criticize judicial decisions about what the law says, but not to criticize the best interpretation of the law itself. Some jurists and scholars use natural law synonymously with natural justice or natural right (Latin ius naturale), while others distinguish between natural law and natural right.

Natural law theories have exercised a profound influence on the development of English common law. Declarationism, a legal philosophy, argues that the founding of the United States is based on natural law. Because of the intersection between natural law and natural rights, natural law has been cited as a component in the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. (See "Laws of Nature" First Paragraph Declaration of Independence) Within the American Declaration of Independence, building on natural law, philosophies such as Consent of the Governed replaced the older doctrine of the Divine right of kings. These philosophies like social contract theory came of age during the age of enlightenment through individuals such as John Locke, but these ideas can be found in Roman law, Greek philosophy and ancient Buddhist texts.

Natural law theories have featured greatly in the philosophies of Thomas Aquinas, Alberico Gentili, Francisco Suárez, Richard Hooker, Thomas Hobbes, Hugo Grotius, Samuel von Pufendorf, Matthew Hale, John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, Jean Jacques Burlamaqui, Emmerich de Vattel, Cesare Beccaria and Francesco Mario Pagano.

__NOTOC__ "Natural Law" is the 168th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 21st episode of the seventh season.

Natural law is law that exists independently of the positive law of a given political order, society or nation-state.

Natural law may also refer to:

• "Natural Law" (Star Trek: Voyager), a Star Trek: Voyager episode
• Natural-law argument, an argument for the existence of God
• Natural Law Party, a trans-national union of political parties, with national branches in over 80 countries
  • Natural Law Party of Canada
  • Natural Law Party (Ireland)
  • Natural Law Party of Israel
  • Natural Law Party of New Zealand
  • Natural Law Party of Ontario
  • Natural Law Party of Quebec
  • Natural Law Party (Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Natural Law Party (United States)
• Physical law, a scientific generalization based on empirical observations of physical behavior
• Scientific law, statements based on experimental observations and describe some aspect of the world, implying a causal relationship
• Laws of science, statements that describe, and predict phenomena as they appear in nature