자연법의 원리'에 관한 소고 ( 小考)

Abstract

Natural law, lex naturalis, has a long tradition. Its origin goes back to an ancient greek philosopher, Socrates. But he did not show 'the principle of natural law' clearly that we today identify through St. Thomas. He only discoursed with his pupils about everγthing of human being, its good, justice, and happiness, etc. Perhaps, to make one's life good, just and happy, he may not need to have some principles which indicate his origin, arche, and his end, telos. But all these things are validated only if we know what is good, justice, and happiness. We think in common that we ourselves know well what is good, justice, and happiness, because these things seem to have ego-centric meanings. In other words, what is good for me is good, what is just for me is justice, and what I think as happiness is happiness. In Gorgias, Socrates had disputed Callicles' principles of justice, which were founded on common sense, doxa, "justice is what the stronger have more than the weaker as much as his strength" . Moreover Callicles said that his principle has coincided with nature, physis. According to his assertion, Socrates' principle is what the weak, for example a philosopher, claim in order to cover up their weakness. Callicles' challenge on Socrates' principle of justice is linked with Thracymachus in Plato' s Republic and revived in T. Hobbes' Leviathan. T. Hobbes defined newly a principle of natural law in contrast with Jesus' principle of human moral law. He expressed it 'human law' which was founded upon human natural state'. Therefore his nature is not different from Callicles'. If Callicles' and T. Hobbes' challenge are successful in undermining Socrates' and Jesus' principle of human moral life, natural law teaches human being that for his good, justice and happiness, he makes himself only intelligent beast. As shown in Leviathan, his intelligence creates Justice as a result of self-preservation. These situations and crisis of principle of natural law threat moral value of human being. Futhermore only contract remains in ethical life among human beings. This paper will illuminate that those crises would be very well overcome by reinterpreting the meaning of nature, physis, of Plato and Aristotle. Ch. II deals with Callicles and T. Hobbes' nature. In particular, T. Hobbes rawly uncovered human beings character of beast so that his natural law helps one rethink reason of human being, In ch. ill, it is revealed that Plato' s and Aritotle's nature are essential to explain human being s origin, arche, and end, telos. In this paper, it is not possible to fully deal with natural law of St. Thomas, but to show his principle of natural law will be meaningful to natural law students. In our opinion, human being, must participate in the contemplation, theoria, of god or nature as an ontological creator of this world cosmos, and as an epistemological guider of his reason. This means that she must be a feleogical perfecter of human beings.