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Thomas Aquinas

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8. Thomas Aquinas on the four parts of law Thomas Aquinas argues that the natural law is a universal law, which morally binds all human beings. It is based on reason and the purpose is to promote common good. Aquinas wants to focus on the good over the evil, which is where the natural or moral law comes into place. Further, the natural law goes hand in hand with the eternal law. Aquinas divides his definition of law into four parts: reason, the general good, legitimate authority, and promulgated. The first part, ordinance of reason, refers to the fact that there should be reason behind doing something otherwise it makes no sense. If a law were enforced without reason, no one would follow it because it would make no sense. A law needs to be reasonable to be a law; otherwise no one would follow the law. The second part, the general good, refers to the fact that something is not a genuine law unless it really does promote the general good. There is a difference between a rule and a law; according to Aquinas, something is not a law unless it is really for the sake of the good. Therefore, According to Aquinas, if a law does not enforce the better, it should not be a law. …show more content…

For instance, someone who properly is the right sort of person to be in charge of the community should be the one with the legitimate authority to put the law into place. If you do not have a legitimate authority, the law cannot be enforced since this authority figure needs to be someone who is in a proper state to enforce the law. Therefore, a legitimate authority is needed to enforce a

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