Really helpful. Thank you for this lucid explanation. I'm working on Burnside's thesis on biblical law, and thinking through our Western tradition's alternatives to legal positivism.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 📚 Natural law is a philosophical concept that refers to principles or ideas derived from human nature, rationality, and what is considered right or just. 01:25 🗝️ Natural law was well-established in the Middle Ages, particularly by Catholic thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas, who defined law as an ordinance of reason directed to the common good, made by the community, and promulgated. 03:48 💭 Some laws may be borderline cases, lacking certain features, but still considered valid laws. Blatantly unjust laws, however, may not be considered law at all according to the natural law perspective. 07:04 🏛️ Law, according to natural law jurisprudence, serves the purpose of helping individuals and society flourish together, promoting the common good. 14:39 📖 William Blackstone, an influential jurist, subscribed to principles of natural law in his work, "Commentaries on the Laws of England," though his approach wasn't as systematic as some later natural law theorists. 16:54 📜 Blackstone defined municipal law as a rule of civil conduct, prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong. 19:09 ❓ The ambiguity in Blackstone's definition of law raises questions about whether certain directives, even if considered law and obeyed, can still be considered just and valid according to natural law jurisprudence.
![Early Positivists: Bentham, Austin and the “Command” Thesis [No. 86 LECTURE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/X_g8t1JbHgc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Early Positivists: Bentham, Austin and the “Command” Thesis [No. 86 LECTURE]](/img/tr.png)
![What is Jurisprudence? [No. 86 LECTURE]](/img/n.gif)
Really helpful. Thank you for this lucid explanation. I'm working on Burnside's thesis on biblical law, and thinking through our Western tradition's alternatives to legal positivism.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 📚 Natural law is a philosophical concept that refers to principles or ideas derived from human nature, rationality, and what is considered right or just.
01:25 🗝️ Natural law was well-established in the Middle Ages, particularly by Catholic thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas, who defined law as an ordinance of reason directed to the common good, made by the community, and promulgated.
03:48 💭 Some laws may be borderline cases, lacking certain features, but still considered valid laws. Blatantly unjust laws, however, may not be considered law at all according to the natural law perspective.
07:04 🏛️ Law, according to natural law jurisprudence, serves the purpose of helping individuals and society flourish together, promoting the common good.
14:39 📖 William Blackstone, an influential jurist, subscribed to principles of natural law in his work, "Commentaries on the Laws of England," though his approach wasn't as systematic as some later natural law theorists.
16:54 📜 Blackstone defined municipal law as a rule of civil conduct, prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong.
19:09 ❓ The ambiguity in Blackstone's definition of law raises questions about whether certain directives, even if considered law and obeyed, can still be considered just and valid according to natural law jurisprudence.
Rather ten guilty persons are free than one innocent person is imprisoned