Witherspoon Institute

On the First Principles of Moral Reason

On the First Principles of Moral Reason

July 07, 2020 | by Paul R. DeHart

No natural lawyer in the classical natural law tradition derives an ought from an is because, when it comes to practical reason, natural lawyers do not derive ought. Rather, they begin with the first principles of practical reason, which are underived. They then use these principles together with an understanding of the nature of the thing at hand to arrive at moral conclusions.

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