Excerpts

The Natural Law and Logic

Why is logic so critically important to conservatism? Logic is important to conservatism because it, by nature of its principle, creates a rational basis of facts for the conservative ideology.

Often, conservatism is maligned as the ideology of the “old white male,” and in saying such, its opponents demonize conservatism as being out of touch with the average citizen. But the fact is, conservatism is more in touch than any of its opponents.

This idea of a reality of conservatism (seen through logic) is more aptly described as realism. Realism is defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as being based on two things, “existence ... [and] independence. ...” Conservative realism (when seen through logic) creates a state of mind in which one sees society through the idea that the state of an object’s existence is factual and true, and that what exists is not changed because of the thought of any individual human being.

This goes to the heart and soul of the conservative-versusgovernment expansionist battle.

Because conservatives are realists, they believe that the laws of nature say all human beings are independent of one another and that there are facts that support this. The left says, however, because of its basic ideological attachment to utopian philosophy, that all things must work together to achieve the government’s goal of total control.

The difference is in the individual.

Government expansionism holds that everything pivots on the government, while conservatism holds that everything pivots on the natural law of independence by which all human beings are naturally free and, similarly, want to be free.

The government expansionist replaces natural law with synthetic law, thereby denying logic its rightful place as the supreme ruler of the mind and upholding government in its place.

What is this natural law?

Natural law is the basis of logic. It is the principle that all facts are rooted within nature; for example, the fact that an apple falls downward from a tree is rooted within the principle of nature that is gravity. Thus, it is the application of fact to thought.

The principle idea of natural law as it relates to human civilization is that all society is based on a standard, all law is based on a standard, and all thought in general is based on a standard of reasoning and rationale. This standard is in itself the natural law.

John Locke discussed this idea in his “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” as “something that we, being ignorant of, may attain to the knowledge of, by the use and due application of our natural faculties.” Locke, being the empiricist that he was, is primarily pointing to the idea that the natural law is the basis of society that we can learn via experience.

Hence, realism is itself a manifestation of the natural law, a view that all things that are true by nature are certainly true within reality. Thus, we can better state that the natural law is more than simply the basis of logic. It is also reality. And we can also state that reality is the basis of logic.

Moreover, this law of nature is itself much deeper. Locke writes in his Second Treatise on Government: “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law [i.e., the natural law] teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” This is the thesis of logic and of conservatism.

But if the natural law—as I have mentioned and as John Locke has stated—is in itself the manifestation of reality, then reality itself becomes more than a view of what one sees. Reality is the truths held within the natural law. Hence what is real is only what is true within society. This—what Locke referred to as the “state of nature”—is a key truth of society and the natural law; in this manner, we find an affirmation of the natural law’s relation to this important aspect of reality.

Of course, the natural law and its properties are equally as practical as they are philosophically important.

If conservatism is truly the realist ideology, then it must be the more factual ideology. Moreover, if government expansionism is truly the utopian ideology, then it must, in turn, find itself the less factual ideology. What’s more, realism creates a logical argument for conservatism that is unbeatable: Conservatism believes in realism, realism is factual; therefore, conservatism believes in facts. While utopianism creates an argument for government expansionism, utopianism is generalized and hypothetical, and therefore, government expansionism believes in things that are generalized and hypothetical.

Conservatives are realists; make no mistake about that. This is not to say in the least that conservatives do not, at least in part, believe in ideals or believe in idealistic tenants. Quite the contrary! Logic warns against being too idealistic. Conservatives balance their ideals with reality and fact. If conservatives were to be wholly idealists, then they would demolish the whole truth factor of conservatism. But if they are realistic in their ideals, conservatism’s claims remain valid and their principles remain solid.

In other words, conservatism is an ideology that holds to ideals, but such ideals must always be balanced by logic and reality.