Preliminary comments on the genesis of the concept of natural law in the approach taken by St. Isidore of Seville

Abstract

The aim of this study is to discuss information on the origins of natural law (ius naturale) in Etymologiae (Etymologiarum sive Originarum libri XX) written by St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636). Such a choice of the subject matter seems reasonable mainly because research on Christian concepts of natural law as a rule places the study of St. Thomas Aquinas’s natural law theory as its focal point. Previous Christian concepts are only briefly touched upon. Meanwhile, they have immense historical significance that have determined the entire Christian reflection on the idea of natural law since as early as the 13th century. The research allows a conclusion that the definition of natural law constructed by St. Isidore of Seville, along with the examples presented in his Etymologiae, is an exceptional creation that has no clear archetype in juridical and non–juridical sources. It quite clearly presents elements taken from Ulpian. However, the very essence of natural law as a normative system, that connects all people (not people and animals) due to their “natural instinct” (instinctus naturae) and that is independent of the will of the positive legislator, remains under a marked influence of the Christian thought.

Keywords

• ius naturale
• St. Isidore of Seville
• Etymologiae
• Roman law