On Augustine’s View Of Natural Justice

As one of the core concepts in the western philosophical tradition,natural justice has undergone tremendous changes in the understanding of ancient and modern people.Augustine was the first person who tried to subvert the traditional concept of natural justice.He succeeded in constructing his own unique concept of natural justice on the basis of inheriting the theoretical intention of classical thought tradition.Therefore,clarifying Augustine’s view of natural justice is of great significance for people to grasp and understand the ancient and modern evolution of natural justice.This paper first discusses the theoretical background of the formation of Augustine’s view of natural justice,which constitutes the cognitive premise of Augustine’s view of natural justice.Then,the paper analyzes the cognitive basis of Augustine’s view of natural justice.It can be said that the different understanding of the view of nature is the fundamental basis that makes Augustine’s view of natural justice different from the traditional view of natural justice.Nature is the absolute perfecter of the eternal essence,which means that Augustine must reevaluate the value of nature.In this regard,Augustine rejects the dualist values of good and evil,arguing that the value of all things has only one origin,and that is the eternal perfection of God himself.In this sense,all forms of existence are subject to God’s eternal law,and there are only two kinds of law in the world: the supreme and unchanging eternal law,and the changing secular law.Thus,the division of the two forms of law actually constitutes the concrete content of Augustine’s view of natural justice.Objectively speaking,as the faithful successor and the biggest subverter of the classical theory of natural justice,Augustine’s view of natural justice has not only profoundly influenced the study of later theories,but also brought a lot of reflection and thinking to the present world.Specifically,through the inheritance and development of Eleugena and Thomas Aquinas,Augustine’s view of natural justice laid the theoretical foundation of the thought of natural law in the Middle Ages.The reflection and reference of augustine’s view of natural justice not only help people to critically and dialectically view the results of medieval philosophy,but also help people to develop and construct the connotation of contemporary theory of justice.