On Law: Reflections on Aquinas & Gratian

By Richard Hazzlewood

This essay looks at the nature of law with guidance from St Thomas Aquinas and Gratian, author of the Decretum. It considers the tripartite structure of law as considered by Aquinas: Divine, natural, and human, in a gradation. It considers philosophical issues pertaining to law.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Hazzlewood
• Release date: Oct 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463268957

Richard Hazzlewood

Quiet academic type from North West England. BA English, MA Renaissance Literature.I studied in exile by the rivers of Babylon for 3 years, aka Cambridge. And I descended into Egypt, aka PricewaterhouseCoopers. Now I live in a spiritual hermitage where I study literature, philosophy and religion.I am a Roman Catholic convert, and particularly find spiritual fulfilment in the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Liturgy of the Hours.Beer, wine, and spirits are my three branches of government. I am currently especially interested in French and Italian red.Philosophy is really the driving force of my life, and I always seek to question and open up new vistas on being. From Classical ethics to Medieval metaphysics to existentialism, I like to run the gamut of philosophical thought.Poetry is an abiding passion of mine.Finally, a list of books I hold very close to my heart: Augustine, 'Confessions'; Bonaventure, 'Journey of the Mind to God'; Dante, 'The Divine Comedy'; Plato, 'Phaedrus'; Cervantes, 'Don Quixote'; 'The Bhagavad Gita', & of course, 'The Bible'.

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On Law: Reflections on Aquinas & Gratian

Richard Hazzlewood

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Copyright 2018 Richard Hazzlewood

Preliminaries

Before I embark on a reading of Aquinas, I wish to consider some preliminary thoughts on conscience, and the triumvirate of Divine Law, natural law and human law. I think this will be helpful as a starting point.

Conscience is like a microcosm of the law: it operates on the level of the individual, independent of statutes. In fact a man who was ignorant of all legal statutes could be guided by his conscience. Such was perhaps the lot of the Medieval peasant – although even he is supposed to possess a rudimentary knowledge. Conscience should be an internal warning system that alerts us to