This article was originally published by Wanjiru Njoya at the Mises Institute.
Natural law is often regarded with suspicion by social scientists because they conceptualize human nature, and increasingly even the nature of animals, as a social construct. In their view, there is no essential human nature by reference to which we can decide what is in the best interests of society. They argue that we must instead adopt an aspirational approach, by constructing a better and fairer world for the planet, and by discovering what is best for society through a process of scientific experimentation.
From that perspective, notions of “right” and “wrong” are nothing more than majority opinions ascertained through democratic debate and agreement, and it would be hopelessly arbitrary and subjective to decide right and wrong by reference to some “higher” law called the law of nature.
In The Ethics of Liberty, Murray Rothbard rejects these perspectives, arguing that the skepticism with which natural law is generally regarded is entirely misguided. Rothbard observes that,
Among intellectuals who consider themselves “scientific,” the phrase “the nature of man” is apt to have the effect of a red flag on a bull. “Man has no nature!” is the modern rallying cry and typical of the sentiment of political philosophers today was the assertion of a distinguished political theorist some years ago before a meeting of the American Political Science Association that “man’s nature” is a purely theological concept that must be dismissed from any scientific discussion.
Legal positivists are particularly keen to extinguish the idea that law is based on moral principles. Similarly, many utilitarians evaluate law based on its consequences for society, not based on morality. The debate in the UK about decriminalizing “assisted suicide” is an example of the desire to avoid theological or moral influences in debating law reform. It
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