The term "law" as used by Aquinas is equivocal, meaning that the primary meaning of law is "human law", but other, analogous concepts are expressed with the same term. Strictly speaking, this is a definition of human law. Thus from the four preceding articles, the definition of law may be gathered and it is nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated. It is promulgated so that the law can be known. It is made by the proper authority who has "care of the community", and not arbitrarily imposed by outsiders. It is for the common good because the end or telos of law is the good of the community it binds, and not merely the good of the lawmaker or a special interest group. Law is an ordinance of reason because it must be reasonable or based in reason and not merely in the will of the legislator. Aquinas' notion of law Īquinas defines a law as "an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated." Along with Aristotelianism, it forms the basis for the legal theory of Catholic canon law. It forms questions 90–108 of the Prima Secundæ ("First of the Second ") of the Summa Theologiæ, Aquinas' masterwork of Scholastic philosophical theology. Treatise on Law is Thomas Aquinas' major work of legal philosophy.
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