Natural Law and the American Founding

Natural law maintains that human conduct is subject to eternal and unchanging moral laws. These moral laws originate, not in human legislation, but in nature or a divine lawgiver. These moral laws govern all people, at all times, and in all circumstances. These moral laws are unwritten, but man can discover their content by intuition, careful reason, or divine revelation. Human happiness depends on obeying these moral laws and pursuing justice.

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Further Reading

• Berman, H. 1983. Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. This work explains the six legal revolutions since medieval times that formed the Western legal tradition. Google Scholar
• ———. 2003. Law and Revolution, II: The Impact of the Protestant Reformations on the Western Legal Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. This work explains the impact of the Protestant Reformations on the Western legal tradition. Google Scholar
• Rommen, H. 1998. The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund). Rommen traces the natural law tradition from the legacies of Greek and Roman thought to the displacement of natural law theory by legal positivism in the 20th century. The work concludes with the re-emergence of natural law thought in the Western legal tradition. Google Scholar

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Houston Christian University, Houston, TX, USA John O. Tyler

1. John O. Tyler