Aaron Poelker
Outline

I. Law of Human Nature
1. Kind of standard of behaviour which you expect other men to know about
2. All men are governed by this law
a. can obey
b. can disobey
II. Some Objections
1. No such thing as good and bad impulses
2. Moral Law is not any set of instincts: it directs instincts
a. goodness
b. right conduct
3. People’s ideas make you suspect there is no Moral Behaviour
III. The Reality of the Law
1. Idea of Moral Decency
2. Do not practice moral decency
3. Cannot be sure there is anything over and above the facts
4. Ought to be unselfish ought to be fair
5. Behaviour we call bad, not exactly behaviour that’s inconvenient
IV. What Lies Behind the Law
1. Two views of the universe
a. materialistic
b. religious
2. Moral Law cannot be observed

How C.S. Lewis’s Idea of the Law of Human Nature Applies to Me Here and Now

In C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity he is able to present ideas about humans and our condition in a manner that is tough to argue against. I find myself believing C.S. Lewis more and more when he conveys the idea that all humans have this inborn law, that we can freely choose to obey or disobey, that we are governed by. I have often thought if there is such a thing as an objective moral code and by reading this essay I am more convinced that there is one. I do see the set of laws that we are governed by everyday in nature whether it be the law of gravity or the instinct to survive, but the law of moral code is more discreet. For instance, when the example was presented in class about a kid who said there is no such thing as an objective morality and the student received an F for saying this, he said that the grade was not fair. By saying the grade is not fair he accepts that there is some sort of higher standard that two people must agree on. That example really struck my as prevalent in my life because just the previous day when I was parking for school me and another students car were trying to get the same spot and when I got it and left my car the other student trying to get the spot began to argue the spot was his. This argument, or any argument in my life, showed me the exact point C.S. Lewis is making and that is that we all agree to some sort of right or wrong. The rationality of C.S. Lewis’s argument made it much easier to see that all people whether Jewish, Islamic, or Catholic all have similar moral codes because we are all governed by this law of human nature. My life is filled with instances, especially when discussing the differences amongst world religions, where I can see how much alike each moral system is. Through reading this essay I now have come to a better understanding about how religions can originate from different regions of the world and at different times but yet be so similar in their moral codes, and that is through the law of human nature.