Keith Mack
The Enlightenment, which brought about a focus on democratic values and institutions, leading to the creation of modern, liberal democracies, saw the development of the concept of natural laws. Natural laws are a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. The philosophy of natural laws was used to challenge the divine right of kings and became an alternative justification for the establishment of a social contract, positive law, and government. The concept of natural laws and natural rights was propagated by Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, Hugo Grotius, John Locke, and Rousseau, who developed social contract theories.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Era | Enlightenment |
| Type | Philosophy |
| Key figures | Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Rousseau, Thomas Paine, John Lilburne, Francis Hutcheson, Georg Hegel, Adam Smith, David Hume, Adam Ferguson, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham |
| Key concepts | Natural rights, social contract theory, divine right of kings, classical republicanism, civil society, civic virtue, mixed government, legal rights, positive law |
| Other characteristics | Natural law is a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason |
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What You'll Learn
Hugo Grotius' influence
Hugo Grotius (1583–1645), born in Delft, was a towering figure in philosophy, political theory, law and associated fields during the seventeenth century and for hundreds of years afterward. He is best known for his contributions to the natural law theories of normativity, which emerged in the later medieval and early modern periods. His work ranged over a wide array of topics, from law and politics to philosophy and religion.
Grotius' concept of natural law had a strong impact on the philosophical and theological debates and political developments of the 17th and 18th centuries. He is known for influencing philosophers such as Samuel Pufendorf and John Locke, and through them, his ideas became part of the cultural background of the Glorious Revolution in England and the American Revolution. Grotius' understanding of natural law was that nature was not an entity in itself but God's creation. Thus, his concept of natural law had a theological foundation. The Old Testament, in his view, contained moral precepts (e.g. the Decalogue) that Christ confirmed and were still valid, useful in interpreting the content of natural law.
In his work, Grotius sought to ground his defence of the seizure in terms of the natural principles of justice. He cast a wide net, focusing on the source and ground of war's lawfulness in general. His treatise, De Indis (On the Indies), remains unpublished in full during his lifetime, perhaps due to a court ruling in favour of the Company, making public support unnecessary. Grotius also formulated a new principle in his published work, The Free Sea (Mare Liberum, 1609), claiming that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade. This provided the Dutch with a suitable ideological justification for breaking up various trade monopolies through their naval power.
Grotius is also credited with laying the foundations for international law, based on natural law, in his book De jure belli ac pacis (On the Law of War and Peace). This work, dedicated to Louis XIII of France, had a lasting impact in the field of international law, leading to Grotius being called the "father of international law". He introduced the idea of an international society of states, governed not by force but by laws and mutual agreement. This concept was given concrete expression in the Peace of Westphalia, and Grotius is considered the intellectual father of this first general peace settlement of modern times.
Grotius' influence declined following the rise of positivism in international law and the decline of natural law in philosophy. However, his work saw a revival of interest in the 20th century, particularly after World War I, with a re-issuing and re-translation of On the Law of War and Peace.
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Thomas Hobbes' 'state of nature'
Several philosophers and thinkers contributed to the development of natural law during the Enlightenment era. Hugo Grotius, for instance, claimed that nations were subject to natural law. Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed social contract theories, comparing the advantages of organized governments with the supposed disadvantages of the state of nature. These theories justified and delimited political authority based on individual self-interest and rational consent.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), an English philosopher, is known for his work "Leviathan" (1651), which ushered in a new debate on government. Hobbes' philosophy starts from the assumption of a "state of nature," a savage condition of war and violence where each individual has a natural right to everything. This state is described as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," with the only laws being principles of self-preservation. The first law of nature, according to Hobbes, is that every man should strive for peace, and when peace is unattainable, he may resort to war. In this state, there is no justice, commerce, or culture due to the absence of a higher authority.
Hobbes' state of nature is characterized by the "war of every man against every man," where each individual is in a constant state of competition and has a natural right to everything. This view was later challenged by Rousseau, who argued that Hobbes was imagining socialized people living outside their society. Rousseau proposed that people were born as a blank slate, and their morality was influenced by society and the environment.
Hobbes' philosophy also includes the concept of the "right of nature" (jus naturale), which he defines as "the liberty each man hath to use his own power for the preservation of his own nature, that is to say, of life." He differentiates this from a "law of nature" (lex naturalis), which is a "precept or general rule found out by reason, by which a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life." These laws of nature are not covenants between people but are based on self-preservation.
Hobbes' state of nature serves as a basis for understanding the transition to political society and government. Through mutual contracts, individuals agree to give up their natural rights and transfer their sovereignty to a higher civil authority, thus escaping the unsustainable state of nature. This forms the foundation of classical republicanism, emphasizing civil society, civic virtue, and mixed government.
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John Locke's natural rights
John Locke (1632–1704) was a key Enlightenment-era proponent of natural law, stressing its role in the justification of property rights and the right to revolution. He is among the most influential political philosophers of the modern period.
Locke's theory is often called a "social contract" theory, in which each person agrees to a government that protects everyone's rights. The rules of the social contract that Locke lays down are called "Laws of Nature" because they describe how human beings would act in accordance with their equal nature, with none of them being entitled to rule others without their consent.
Locke defended the claim that men are naturally free and equal, against the notion that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch. He argued that people have rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, that are independent of the laws of any particular society. He used the claim that men are naturally free and equal as part of the justification for understanding legitimate political government as the result of a social contract. In this social contract, people in a state of nature conditionally transfer some of their rights to the government to better ensure the stable, comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property.
Locke's ideas were too revolutionary for England, even once the Anglican Church was firmly established after the "Glorious Revolution" of 1689. However, in what would become the United States, the fuller expression of Locke's ideas about natural rights and religious freedom began to take hold. Locke's philosophies and writings were part of the "American Mind" and tradition of rights because they provided foundations for the principles of equality and religious freedom. He remains the founding philosopher of American politics.
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Immanuel Kant's philosophy
The Enlightenment, which took shape in the 17th and 18th centuries, was a pivotal period in the development of modern Western political and intellectual culture. It witnessed a shift in focus towards democratic values and institutions, laying the groundwork for the establishment of liberal democracies. During this era, several philosophers and thinkers made significant contributions to the concept of natural law, challenging traditional ideas about the relationship between the government and citizens.
One of the key figures in this intellectual movement was Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), a philosopher whose work left an indelible mark on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. Kant's philosophy centred on the concept of human autonomy and the belief that human understanding is the source of the general laws of nature that govern our experiences. He argued that human reason gives rise to the moral law that forms the basis for our belief in God, freedom, and immortality. This critical philosophy, as Kant termed it, aimed to reconcile scientific knowledge, morality, and religious belief by grounding them in the unifying concept of human autonomy.
In his writings, Kant synthesised early modern rationalism and empiricism, influencing subsequent philosophical thought in the 19th and 20th centuries. His work, "Critique of Pure Reason" (1781, 1787), is a response to the intellectual crisis of the Enlightenment, which arose due to the perceived conflict between the mechanistic nature of modern physics and traditional notions of morality and free will. Kant's philosophy emphasised the importance of freedom, which he saw as integral to human dignity. He believed that a just society should uphold freedoms such as the freedom to pursue happiness, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech.
Kant's social and political philosophy was deeply rooted in the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and the social contract. He argued that every rational being possesses an innate right to freedom and has a duty to enter into a civil society governed by a social contract to safeguard that freedom. In his "Metaphysics of Morals" (1797), Kant presents his political theory, which revolves around the notion of freedom. He envisioned a perfectly just society, governed by a just constitution, as a prerequisite for an enlightened age.
Kant's philosophy also explored the natural purpose of humanity, which he believed was the development of reason. In his essay "Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose" (1784), he proposes that the use of reason is essential for humanity's progress, enabling us to create the tools necessary for our survival and advancement. This development of reason, according to Kant, is an ongoing process spanning generations, marking our journey towards enlightenment.
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Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism
The Enlightenment, a foundational era for modern western political and intellectual culture, saw the development of natural law as a philosophy that certain rights or values are inherent by virtue of human nature. These natural rights include perfect equality, freedom, and the right to preserve life and property.
One of the key Enlightenment-era proponents of natural law was John Locke, who stressed its role in justifying property rights and the right to revolution. Other notable figures include Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, Johannes Althusius, and Rousseau, who also developed social contract theories.
Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher and economist, is often regarded as the founder of classical utilitarianism. He developed the principle of utility, which states that an action is right insofar as it increases happiness and wrong insofar as it increases pain. Bentham defined happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain, which could be quantified according to its intensity and duration. He believed that a moralist could calculate the units of pleasure and pain for everyone affected by an action and use this to measure its overall moral value.
Bentham's utilitarianism was motivated by a desire to see useless and corrupt laws and social practices changed. He believed that laws and actions that do not produce any good are not good themselves. This view led him to reject the idea of inalienable natural rights, which exist independently of their enforcement by any government. Instead, he argued that the application of the principle of utility should guide legal rights.
Bentham's utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which evaluates actions based on their consequences. It opposes egoism, which holds that individuals should pursue their self-interest, even at the expense of others.
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Frequently asked questions
Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Rousseau, and Thomas Paine are some of the key proponents of natural law during the Enlightenment.
Hugo Grotius claimed that nations were subject to natural law. Thomas Hobbes developed the fundamentals of European liberal thought, including the natural equality of all men and the view that all legitimate political power must be based on the consent of the people. John Locke stressed the role of natural law in the justification of property rights and the right to revolution. He also believed in the natural and universal law that "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions". Rousseau and Thomas Paine developed social contract theories.
During the Enlightenment, the concept of natural law was used to challenge the divine right of kings and became an alternative justification for the establishment of a social contract, positive law, and government, leading to classical republicanism.
