natural law

natural law

English

Noun

natural law (countable and uncountable, plural natural laws)

1. (philosophy) An ethical theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere.
2. (law) A generally accepted concept of the philosophical system of legal and moral principles purportedly deriving from a natural or divine justice and not from a position of positive law but of ideas of right and wrong.
3. Law of nature, relating to natural phenomena.

Related terms

• physical law (contradistinction)

Translations

An ethical theory

Chinese: Mandarin: 自然法 (zh) (zìránfǎ) Czech: přirozené právo n Dutch: natuurrecht (nl) n Finnish: luonnonoikeus (fi) French: droit naturel (fr) m German: Naturgesetz (de) n Hungarian: természeti törvény Italian: giusnaturalismo (it) m Japanese: 自然法 (しぜんほう, shizenhō) Korean: 자연법(自然法) (ko) (jayeonbeop) Romanian: drept natural (ro) n Russian: есте́ственное пра́во n (jestéstvennoje právo) Spanish: derecho natural m Swedish: naturrätt c Vietnamese: luật của tự nhiên

A generally accepted concept of the philosophical system of legal and moral principles

Finnish: luonnonoikeus (fi) Italian: giusnaturalismo (it) m

Law of nature

Finnish: luonnonlaki (fi) German: Naturgesetz (de) n Lithuanian: darna f Romanian: lege a naturii f

References

• Black's Law Dictionary 10th Edition (2014)