One gets the idea that “natural law,” like appeals to “the common good,” just saves everyone the trouble of making an argument.
most people embrace that common element of natural law theory whether they realize it or not. But it does not save its advocates from the work of defending their positions with arguments.
In perhaps its most basic sense, to invoke natural law is to affirm moral objectivity and to acknowledge a standard that transcends positive or civil law.
the law of nations, or ius gentium: the positive law common to all or most places, insofar as the rationale for such laws follows closely from these basic moral norms
Discussing natural law in this way will not settle many debates about its content but, again, is to affirm the existence of a moral law graspable by human reason and one which sets limits on the legitimacy of positive or civil law. Such a claim has value, and most people affirm it even if they do not speak explicitly of “natural law.”
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