Natural Law Falters example essay topic

Just War Theories in the West Since the beginning of time, strong nations have taken over weaker ones without any consideration for the indigenous people of those lands. Some claim that because many of these peoples are inferior intellectually and / or physically to the conquerors, than by nature they are slaves and, as stated by Aristotle, "it is better for them as inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master (Aristotle, Vitoria 239)". However, natural law claims that all men are equal and liberty is entitled equally for all. It is also stated under this divine law that all men have the right to defend themselves.

Therefore, it is according to natural law that despite a native peoples' intellectual capacity, they are granted the right to hold sovereignty over their land. Where all other laws falter, it is the laws of nature which hold true to providing what is best for mankind. Take into account, for example, the Spanish conquest of the New World. The Indians who inhabited this land were immediately viewed as barbarians and seemed entirely unfit to govern themselves.

According to Vitoria, "It is undoubtedly better for them to be governed by others, than to govern themselves (239)", but it must also be considered that these natives had complete ownership over their properties both publicly and privately, and therefore have the right to retain ownership over their land. It is by the workings of nature in the first place that these people were given this land, and if there is no concrete evidence that they have befouled what has been rightfully theirs for thousands of years before the Spanish invasion, than they ought to continue living in their isolated peace. "Peoples, techniques, and disease strains had continued to pass back and forth over the entire great land mass of Europe-Asia-Africa for interminable centuries, on into modern times, whereas the Indian peoples, whatever sporadic contact there may have been, had for some thousands of years not been in continuous touch with the ecu mene (Lockhart, Schwartz 320)". It is this isolation which has also made Indian language, art, and social organization so uniquely valuable. The insinuation that the Indians offended the wills of God cannot be used as a valid excuse for colonizing, for the Christens committed just as many offenses as the pagans.

Vitoria writes, .".. it is clear that dominion is formed in the image of God; but the image of God is not in the sinner, hence the sinner cannot have such dominion (241)". If Christens violate the wills of God as much as the pagans do, than according to Vitoria's statement, the Spanish are no more entitled to the land than the Indians are. Basically, it all comes down to natural law defining how human beings conform to their rational nature. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, identifies the rational nature of human beings as that which defines moral law: 'the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of human acts (Aquinas, ST I-II, Q. 90, A. I)".

It is according to the Indians' wills, which through natural law cannot be altered, that they lead their lives the way they do. Therefore, colonialism should not disrupt the natural flow of life. Unfortunately, the Pope, who was the judge over whether or not laws had been breached, dictated natural law to the Spaniards. He did not see to it, however, that all natural laws, such as murder, theft, and sodomy, were justly observed. "Not all sins against natural law can be demonstrated to be so by evidence, at least to the satisfaction of all men (Vitoria, Tuck 74)". This statement directly explains the Spaniards' and the Pope's lack of concern towards abiding by the laws of nature: evidence of their wrongdoings was hard to gather and have people accept.

"The point about the blatant injury of innocent people was both that it was clearly wrong, and, most importantly, that according to conventional jurisprudence any suitably constituted political authority could act to stop it (Tuck 74)". But with lack of concrete evidence and the dismissal of realizing the truth of what was really happening in the New World, no authority came to aid the innocent natives. This is where natural law falters: since no man originated the guidelines for the rules of nature, they become vague and difficult for political authorities to abide by. To colonize an already-functioning civilization defies even the ideology of natural law. To alter the beliefs of others is to alter their wills, which were enabled by nature, or "God", in the first place and therefore cannot be forced.

To injure the innocent, which inevitably takes place during colonization, defies natural law as well, so basically these laws of nature are almost impossible to abide by, for colonization is an inevitable factor in human development. Through the viewpoint of Francisco de Vitoria do we see the American Indians as barbaric slaves without the mental capacity to govern themselves properly, but when one looks at how these people have lived in peaceful harmony for thousands of years before the Spanish conquest by simply being isolated from brute, forceful factors does one understand how natural law works when not being broken.

Bibliography

Lockhart, James, and Stuart B. Schwartz. Early Latin America: A history of colonial Spanish America and Brazil. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Vitoria, Francisco de. Political Writings. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Aquinas, St. Thomas. The Summa Theological. England: Benz iger Bros., 1947.
Tuck, Richard. The Rights of War and Peace. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1999.
Einar Him ma, Kenneth. "Two Kinds of Natural Law Theory". The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001.
Seattle Pacific University. 14 Oct. 2004 web.