Aquinas and Hobbes

In his writings on Early Christian Ethics, Thomas Aquinas proposed the existence of four distinct types of laws. These laws are eternal, natural, human, and divine. Aquinas defines eternal law as that which orders everything in the universe. It is a cosmos which issues from the will and wisdom of God. He defines natural law as a subset of eternal law. He states that the natural law is the location for the fundamental principles of …

…html). In terms of natural right, May mentions that Hobbes believed that natural law and natural rights were dictated by the Leviathan because in the state of nature, there are no rights, and once the social contract is formed, natural law and natural right is defined by the Leviathan. However, self-interest is an important part of the development of natural right because self-interest motivates the escape from nature and the formation of the social contract.