A Proscription for Liberty Natural law is a tradition or school of thought which proposes that a reasoning person is naturally inclined to act toward the greatest good for all, and will modify her behavior accordingly. Within this formulation lies an implicit paradox. Natural liberty gives everyone the right to everything for the preservation of their lives, yet for harmony to exist, limits must be imposed. Thus liberty is necessarily bound to law.
Natural law is the manifestation of the duties that accompany our inborn right to everything.
Notable philosophers interested in the idea of natural law include Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Hobbes. Although the concept of natural law is not specifically espoused by Aristotle, his recognition of self-interested motives and natural justice are forerunners of the theory that our behavior is governed by a law which is inherent in human nature. The concept of natural law has persisted through the ages because its truth is self-evident. This idea has been revisited many times, and I am particularly intrigued by Hobbes' unique contribution to this body of theory. That natural law is universally applicable to all of humankind, and is a product of reason, is a belief Hobbes shared with his predecessor, Saint Thomas Aquinas.