Natural Law Theory

The tradition holding that law's source-based character, its dependence on social facts such as legislation and custom, can still create sound reasons for action and genuine moral obligations, because law properly made treats human persons as ends in themselves and serves as a remedy against anarchy and tyranny. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy traces its roots to Plato and Aristotle and, above all, to Thomas Aquinas, whose systematic medieval statement of the theory remains its classical reference point.