On The Transforming Thoughts Of Natural Law In Sixteen To Early Seventeen Centuries

In the transforming progress from Aquinas ’s theological natural law theory as therepresentative of the natural law in ancient to modern natural law thought in the westernthought of natural law, the movement of Reformation and Counter-Reformation which as themost important event of western history in sixteen to early seventeen centuries plays a veryimportant but often ignored role. The study on the thought of natural law from ancient tomodern transformation effects not only to make up the natural law thought history of a pieceof " blank " but also contributes to a more profound understanding of the "the basic characterand direction " of modern natural law thought.In the actual arrangement, the part of introduction will be focus on values and significancesof this thesis in order to highlight the special contributions of transformation from Aquinas ’stheological natural law theory to modern natural law thought and state that the Reformationand Counter-Reformation plays a major rule on this transformation. So,the first thing we needto elaborate was that there had been a fundamental difference in the attributes,foundations andcontents about natural law between Aquinas ’s theological thought of natural law and modernnatural law theory after make a short explanation on the conception of natural law. At thesame time,as a common opinion recognized that thinkers were the persons whose lived in hisera,we needed to make a comprehensive carding about the background of Reformation andCounter-Reformation movement. These include the Pope and church’s ruling power on temporalgovernment and their corruption,the development of commodity economy which triggered risingforce in secular and along with a intense conflict between the naturalism and voluntarism.These factors led to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation movement occurred while alsoaffecting this period ’s thought of natural law.With the help of following discussions, the paper intended to explain the Reformation andCounter-Reformation movement’s role of promoting natural law’s transformation fromThomas’s theology of natural law to modern natural law in three aspects: Firstly,from the point of natural law’s attribute,Suarez’s effort in reconcile God’s willcorrect reason demonstrated he believed there were a mixed views of Sacrednessand Secularity about natural law;on the other hand,Luther’ criticism on Aquinas ’s theologicalnatural law and thinking of a secular natural law theory had greatly promoted the process.Secondly,on the origin of the political society, Luther’s thoughts to trace the origin of thesecular government back to the command of God proved to be "old and decayed", at the sametime, the theory of natural state had achieved a great development form Counter-Reformer.The refute on a divine origin of secular government made that a necessity in prove a naturalstate prior to political society, the establishment of political society is a result of people’sconsentaneous contract.At the same time, the recognition on man’s natural reason and naturallaw limits the potency of consentaneous contract.Finally, the content of natural law had shifted from obligation to right in this transformation,Suarez’s point that the rights in human law did not violate the rights of natural law and thejudgment that the essence of the right is general will and not natural reason and Luther’sdemonstration on a Christian freedom promotes the eventually formed theory of naturalrights.