Knowledge in the Natural Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Knowledge in the Natural Law - Case Study Example Natural law and Natural Rights, on which the modern Jurisprudence exists to a very large extent, are as old as human race, and form the fundamental base of Human Rights. Natural law is based on the good feeling, on the wellbeing of people around us. It is directly connected with the original form of human life closely knitted with nature and nature is knowledge. Understanding nature is understanding right and wrong, knowing which action leads to which results, and having intricate knowledge of actions and reactions in nature that would eventually reflect on the welfare of humans. It is also knowledge about all natural forms, lives, organisms, animals and the natural right of all species to be allowed to live without being harmed. This basic principle of natural law depends heavily on the knowledge of values, compassion, fellow feeling, and celebration of life. There is no Natural law or Natural Rights in the absence of this basic knowledge and reasoning. Natural law is believed to be the closest that law could get to divinity. "For they are not of human position purely or simply, but are laws of God or Nature clothed with human sanctions. As obtaining at all times and obtaining at all places, they are styled by the classical jurists jus gentium, or jus omnium gentium," (Hart (19712). We hear that our unedu... According to Finnis, knowledge stems from basic value and basic practical principle. He argues that knowledge of human conduct is necessary to evaluate it against values and good principles. Another point is that with the background of sound knowledge, the principle application becomes self-evident, and unquestionable. This particular knowledge is not attained by exalted pursuit of the most intricate information. On the contrary, it is attained by compassion, understanding, friendliness and a desire to do justice against odds. It also owes its existence to the moral ethics, impartiality and consideration of other humans' feelings and rights to exist. It is acknowledgement of basic human rights. It is knowing how to preserve natural innocence. Ultimately it is the knowledge and acknowledgement of the truth and an ardent desire to establish it against negative circumstances. When knowledge becomes the basic aspect of a human being, that individual could be assessed as a complete person. Here Finnis agrees with Bentham and Kant, even though he does not touch the high morality prescribed by them. "The purity exacted by both Bentham and Kant consists in imitating qualities of the divine. For Bentham, the quality of benevolence takes precedence, but it turns out that the theory demands the divine attribute of omniscience as well.however different their paths may be, Bentham and Kant share the Enlightenment impulse of grounding a moral theory in attributes of the human condition," (Fletcher, 19963). Finnis goes on to argue that it should be the good knowledge, and not an unpleasant one that could be of no use to the person's surroundings. He reflects on the natural human compulsion of curiosity and insatiable inquisitive desire to know which will lead