The natural right is the universal idea of justice. It is the set of norms and rights that are already incorporated into man, such as the right to life.
It can be understood as the principles of law and is also called natural law.
See also the meaning of Right.
Unlike what is meant by the name, it is not only the laws of nature that are part of the set of natural legal norms. Natural Law has its values established by divine order, as well as by reason.
Learn more about jusnaturalism.
Origin of natural law
The study of natural law had its first manifestations among Greek philosophers. These dictated natural law as the ideal and unwritten norms, constituted in the world of ideas. For the Romans, it was the natural order of things, determined by the laws of nature.
During the Middle Ages, the relationship between State and Church influenced the conception of natural law, being recognized as the laws of God. Whereas when the Enlightenment arrives, the source of natural law becomes reason.
For Enlightenment thought, natural law would be the discovery of the reason behind nature. In other words, the perception that actions until then understood as animal instinct, such as suckling the offspring for example, they are actually part of a set of norms of nature rationalized by all beings. It's the reason the female feeds the cub because she knows he needs it to live.
The origin of the set of jusnaturalistic norms has been discussed over many centuries, but its content is permanent and absolute. Its implications are among the discussions of the Philosophy of Law as an abstraction of the discipline itself, a way of thinking about a type of ideal ordering.
Characteristics of natural law
The main characteristics of Natural Law are stability and immutability. In other words, it does not undergo changes throughout the history and development of society, unlike later theories of law.
Natural Law precedes all other theories of law, it must be greater than the power of the State, and no law can go against this order.
natural law and positive law
Natural Law is the set of norms that establish by reason what is fair, in a universal way. It is prior to and superior to all other theories of law. Positive Law, on the other hand, is the set of laws instituted by a State, considering the variations of life and of the States as influencers of the laws created by men, based on Law Natural.
In short, the Positive Law will regulate the issues intrinsic to a given society, such as the Brazilian one. But this same set of laws does not fit the Argentines' social life, in this case.
Natural Law is the same anywhere and for anyone. That's why the Positive Law laws should not be superior to the natural jus norms.
And therefore, the laws regulated by positivism must be subordinated to Natural Law.
Learn more about positive right.
Examples of natural law
- Right to life
- right to defense
- right to freedom