道德自然律 Natural moral law

道德自然律 Natural moral law

●字源（中文說明，不併入長句）

natural moral law = natural + moral + law

natural 來自拉丁文 naturalis，源自 natura「本性、自然」，natura 又來自動詞 nasci「出生、生成」，所以字面是「與生俱來的」。同源的英文詞有 nature、native、nation、innate。

moral 來自拉丁文 moralis，是西塞羅仿希臘文 ēthikos（倫理的）所造，源自 mos（複數 mores）「習俗、品性」。同源的英文詞有 morale、morality。

law 來自古英語 lagu，源自古北歐語 lag「放置、規定」，字面是「被定下來的東西」，與 lay、lie 同源。

拉丁文說 lex naturalis，希臘文的背景是斯多噶學派的 nomos physeōs（自然的法則）。字面意思是「依本性而定的行為準則」。

中文「自然」本指「自己如此」，出自《老子》，用來翻譯 nature 是近代的事。「道德」本是「道」與「德」，後來合為一詞。「律」是法規。這個詞的具體傳入過程以專書為準。

譯名：「自然律」與「自然法」並行。「自然法」偏重法律哲學，「自然律」偏重倫理與神學，前面加「道德」是為了與物理學的「自然律」（law of nature，如重力定律）區分。兩者英文都可說 natural law，所以要看上下文。

●例句（約96 words）

Natural moral law, the term for the body of moral principles that human reason is said to discover in human nature itself, has never been easy to prove, for such principles take forms as various as a ban on murder found in every code, a duty to rear children recognised by every people, and a right to defend oneself acknowledged by every court, so that it was largely by examining these forms that thinkers built the rival accounts of why nature should bind the will, of which Aquinas's, according to which the law of God is partly known through reason, is among the most influential.

●排列為比較容易閱讀的方式

Natural moral law,

the term for the body of moral principles

that human reason is said to discover

in human nature itself,

has never been easy to prove,

for such principles take forms

as various as

a ban on murder found in every code,

a duty to rear children recognised by every people,

and a right to defend oneself acknowledged by every court,

so that it was largely by examining these forms

that thinkers built the rival accounts of why nature should bind the will,

of which Aquinas's,

according to which the law of God is partly known through reason,

is among the most influential.

●分解為原初的短小句

Natural moral law has never been easy to prove.（主結構，9字。主詞與動詞之間隔一個長同位語，has been 要等到 human nature itself 之後才出現。後半難點在 of which Aquinas's…is among the most influential：要跳過 according to which 子句才看到最後的 is，而這個子句裡還有自己的 is known。）

Natural moral law is the term for a body of moral principles.

Human reason is said to discover them in human nature itself.

Such principles take various forms.

One form is a ban on murder found in every code.

Another is a duty to rear children recognised by every people.

Another is a right to defend oneself acknowledged by every court.

Thinkers examined these forms.

They largely built the rival accounts of why nature should bind the will in this way.

Aquinas's account is among the most influential of these.

According to it, the law of God is partly known through reason.

●文法解析

主句：Natural moral law…has never been easy to prove。這個詞組是不可數的單數名詞，所以用 has。同位語 the term for the body of moral principles…夾在主詞與動詞之間。that human reason is said to discover in human nature itself 是關係子句，修飾 principles，that 是 discover 的受詞。is said to discover 是「被動 + 不定詞」，意為「據說會發現」，等於 people say that human reason discovers them。itself 是強調用法，意為「本身」。easy to prove 是「形容詞 + 不定詞」，prove 的受詞就是主詞 natural moral law。

for such principles take forms…：for 是對等連接詞，意為「因為」，前有逗號，只能放在子句前。

forms as various as a ban on murder found…, a duty to rear children recognised…, and a right to defend oneself acknowledged…：as various as 是同等比較，列舉三個名詞，各接一個過去分詞片語（found、recognised、acknowledged），是後置修飾，等於 which is found 等。三個片語並列，容易讀錯成動詞。其中 a duty to rear children 的 to rear 是不定詞，修飾 duty，recognised 則修飾整個 a duty to rear children，要分清楚。a ban on murder 的 on 意為「對……的禁止」。

so that it was largely by examining these forms that thinkers built…：so that 引導結果子句，內為強調句型 it was…that…，被強調的是 largely by examining these forms。還原為 thinkers largely built the rival accounts by examining these forms。

the rival accounts of why nature should bind the will：why nature should bind the will 是名詞子句，當 of 的受詞。should 表「應該」，bind the will 意為「約束意志」。

of which Aquinas's, according to which the law of God is partly known through reason, is among the most influential：of which 指 the rival accounts。Aquinas's 是省略名詞的所有格代名詞（= Aquinas's account）。專有名詞 Aquinas 以 s 結尾，所有格寫成 Aquinas's。according to which 插在主詞與動詞 is 之間，先找 Aquinas's，再找最後那個 is。插入語內部另有一個 is known，不要把它誤認為主句動詞。is known 是被動，partly 是副詞，插在 is 與 known 之間。among the most influential 後面也省略名詞，等於 among the most influential accounts。

●參考譯文

道德自然律是指一套據說人的理性能在人性本身中發現的道德原則。它向來不易證明，因為這類原則的形式五花八門：有每部法典都載有的殺人禁令，有每個民族都承認的養育子女之責，也有每個法庭都認可的自衛之權。思想家大體是藉著考察這些形式，才建立起彼此競爭的、關於「自然為何應約束意志」的說法，其中阿奎那的說法影響最大之一，依該說，上帝的律法有一部分可藉理性認知。

●補充說明

阿奎那在《神學大全》（Summa Theologiae，約1265至1274年）中區分永恆律、自然律、人法與神法。他認為自然律是理性受造物對永恆律的分有，所以人憑理性就能認識一部分上帝的律法，其第一原則是「應行善避惡」。句中只取「上帝的律法有一部分可藉理性認知」這個核心主張，以免過長。

其他說法如斯多噶學派（依理性與自然而活）、格勞秀斯（即使沒有上帝，自然律仍然成立）、洛克（自然權利）、休謨與邊沁（批評自然律混淆事實與應然）各有不同進路，所以句中說 among the most influential，不說 the most influential，也不暗示阿奎那的說法是定論。

「思想家大體是藉考察各種形式才建立理論」是概括說法，並非所有理論都是這樣來的，所以句中用 largely。

「殺人禁令、養育子女之責、自衛之權」三個例子各代表生命、家庭、自保三方面，是舉例。「每部法典、每個民族、每個法庭」是誇飾性的概括，實際上各文化的細節差異不小，這正是批評者質疑自然律是否普遍的地方。

「自然律」與「自然法」在中文常混用，天主教傳統多稱「自然律」，法學界多稱「自然法」，句中不區分。

字源中 nomos physeōs 的斯多噶背景與 lex naturalis 如何進入拉丁基督教傳統，可作延伸閱讀，具體年代與用法以辭典及專書為準。

這一句的文法重點：長同位語夾在主詞與動詞之間、關係子句內的 is said to discover、for 對等連接詞、as various as 帶三個後置過去分詞、so that 帶 it was…that 強調句型、why 引導的名詞子句、省略名詞的所有格代名詞 Aquinas's、according to which 插入且內含另一個 is known。

●長難句組合寫作練習

不看例句，用譯文與上列10個短句組合回原來的長句：