Abstract

VANDRUNEN, David. Learning the natural law as maturation in wisdom. In Skriflig (Online) [online]. 2016, vol.50, n.1, pp.1-9. ISSN 2305-0853.  https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v50i1.2110.

Despite the technical character of natural law scholarship, most people who live in accord with the natural law do not do so because they have been persuaded by technical argumentation. How do people truly come to know the natural law? Learning the natural law is essentially the same process as maturing in wisdom. Building upon theological conceptions of natural law and wisdom, this article concludes that wisdom is the suitable power by which people apprehend subjectively what the natural law prescribes objectively. Thus the way in which we grow in wisdom - through a communal process of receiving instruction and observing and reflecting upon life experience - is also the primary way in which people come to know and practice the natural law. This conclusion suggests a revised perspective on how natural lawyers pursue their work as they seek to address the moral fragmentation of our day.

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