Eternal Law and Human Law

Eternal Law and Human Law As humans live in this world, laws and regulations are strictly enforced for the justice, safety, and rights of the humans. Whether those laws are eternal or temporal, all laws require standards. Saint Augustine’s On the Free Choice of the Will discusses these standards and defines what each laws mean. Most importantly, Augustine argues that eternal law is necessary for temporal law to exist and for the nation to function properly. I agree with Augustine’s argument on the necessity of both eternal law and human law and the belief of how temporal law is based on eternal law.According to Augustine, eternal law is a law that is just, unchanging, and follows the proper ordering and reasoning. This eternal law is also what the ordering of everything is based on. He also believes that when one pursues his or her life based on eternal things, such as truth, knowledge, and love, then they are living a life under eternal law. However, if one decides to live a life of desire for temporal things, such as money, possessions, and physical appearances, then they are living under a temporal law where their happiness will not last long.This law, which is interchangeable with human law, makes a nation well ordered, where the people are allowed to designate officials with their own choices and obtain many other rights. Eternal and human laws proposed by Augustine are essential to society; though both essential, Augustine differentiates the two. Augustine explains that eternal law bases its standards on God and He is the ruler of this law; this law is the law by which God rules all creation. It can also be characterized as the â€Å"divine reason or the will of God, a will which enjoins the natural order† (Fitzgerald & Cavadini, 583).On the other hand, temporal law is subject to change in such instances as the election of a new president, or institution of new laws. While eternal law both regulates human affairs and governs eternal t hings, human law is solely limited to the regulation of human affairs. Eternal law is immutable and irreversible; there are no officials or a president to eternal law because God is the standard, and therefore it is unchanging. Eternal law is universally applicable where human law differs in between nations and countries, even tates. Though there are many differences between eternal law and human law, Augustine elaborates that eternal law is both necessary and crucial for human law to exist. He believes that what is considered just in human law is derived from eternal law. In other words, â€Å"eternal law is the measure of the temporal law’s justice† (Dilman, 77). What is considered temporal may be revised in accordance with the changing circumstances of men and their social arrangements, but still remain just by the measure of eternal law.Human law exists because eternal law is present to us right now in this moment. Augustine concludes that eternal law is just; ther efore everything is ordered in the highest degree under this law. I agree with Augustine in that eternal law encompasses human law. Reading through Augustine’s On Free Choice of the Will, I was convinced that eternal law is unchanging because it is independent of the changing circumstances of men, but temporal laws are constantly changing as years pass by because we face new generations.Therefore, there must be a boundary where temporal law can base on. And that boundary is eternal law. For clarity, an example of human law and eternal law can be compared. A well-known law that everyone should follow is that of the legal drinking age. In the United States, the legal drinking age is 21, however, in other countries such as Mexico, the legal drinking age is 18. Human law is different between many countries and it is temporal because people in United States are raising their voices to lower the drinking age to 18.Therefore, the legal drinking age law is subject to change as citize ns are constantly bringing up this topic. However, in eternal law there is no drinking age but it is telling the rational human being to not to become addicted to drinking and to find healthier desires other than the consumption of alcohol. Under eternal law, drinking is not what life is all about; there are so many other significant tasks and experiences that human beings need to fulfill during their life times in this world.Eternal law says to love eternal things, not what is a temporal joy. With this example, I am arguing that human law is based on eternal law because human law establishes the legal drinking age so that young generations can find what their true wisdom is before being introduced to worldly pleasures and find themselves lost without having realized the true purpose of their existence. To follow temporal law is to love the creature and the creation more than the Creator.The desire for artificial and materialistic things will lead to discontent, both for the individ ual and the society as a whole. However, if all men loved only eternal things, then there would be no need for temporal law, which governs our daily lives. Therefore, temporal law is necessary to restrain the actions of those men who love temporal things. Temporal law is not meant to punish men who do love temporal things, but is rather for the criminal actions that men commit because of their excessive desires for these things.This all comes back to the idea that God created the universe and He is the man of eternal law, and we need to love him more than any other things in this world. Great benefits and blessings will be rewarded to those men that earnestly seek for wisdom, love, genuine virtues, and truth than to those men that live wrongfully longing only for wealth, lust, physical beauty and many earthly things. In conclusion, it is both crucial that laws govern society and important that laws order human choices and interpersonal relations.But it is more valuable that eternal law governs these laws of society because it is always present, ultimate standard and suffers no exceptions. Therefore eternal law is necessary for human laws to exist and control the corrupted society for the better. Works Cited Dilman, Ilham. â€Å"Free Will: An Historical and Philosophical Introduction. † Google Books. Routledge, n. d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Fitzgerald, Allan D. , and John C. Cavadini. â€Å"Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia. † Google Books. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. , n. d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

PERSONAL STATMENT (short) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Internet and Ideology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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The Decision Making Process of Property Crime Offenders Research Proposal

The Decision Making Process of Property Crime Offenders - Research Proposal Example All social behaviors occur through a process of decision making, so does criminality. As seen earlier on the decision-making process is cognitive, and as odd as it may seem even criminal offenders go through the process of decision making. It is  a continuous process based on an individual’s interaction with the environment that ends when an acceptable or suitable solution is reached. The main motivation of criminology is the avoidance of pain and pursuit of pleasure. Property crimes have a greater percentage of all crimes that happen. If there is an intention to commit a crime, this is burglary. If none such breaking and entering into a place alone called illegal trespass of property. (Nee.C, 2003) Academic and policy-driven interest in situational crime prevention has stimulated a variety of offenses-specific research from the 1980s onwards. This has resulted in considerable development in both ‘grounded’ methodological approaches and our understanding of the burglar’s behavior and decision-making during the criminal event (Nee, 2003). It is of great importance to master the psychology of the person who commits the crime. Find out why, how and for what reason. It is also important to find out the various phases that the criminal offender goes through during different stages of the offense.

Mulatto Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Effects of Maritime Homeland Defense Capability Gaps and Essay

Effects of Maritime Homeland Defense Capability Gaps and Recommendations for Improvement - Essay Example The most smuggled things are drugs, weapons and people (Simons, 121). These threats are defined as the capability gaps that exist in the homeland defense. This necessitates the application of security capabilities in curbing the threats posed. The department of defense has critically used the gap analysis model to identify these existing deficiencies (Simons, 121). The capability gaps identified have been divided into three regions or zones. These territories are within the borderlines of homeland security. The capabilities gaps necessitate planning the implementation procedures for the capabilities (Holder, 15). The challenges faced in the implementation are unique and include the international cooperation to ensure transparency. The effect brought out by these capability gaps is enormous. They have necessitated different security agencies to try to work together. This can create a lot of negative effects on the running of the agencies. From a managerial perspective, each group need s to be given its own authority and mandate. Failure to use this approach will create a conflict of interests between the heads of different groups. The execution of these capabilities under such conditions shall be restrained. This has an enormous negative effect as the capability gaps identified can not be rectified with infighting within the system supposed to correct them. The gap of unforeseen events, like pirates, requires a different capability. The DOD recommends the use of military force as a way of handling this gap. This kind of approach is considered efficient as opposed to a detailed operation plan. A detailed operation plan would be best fitted for a specific threat. In this approach the homeland defense will be providing guidance to the other subordinate departments that shall be helping in the execution of the capability. A detailed operation plan would, however, be used when dealing with threat of adversary nations’ naval forces. This is going to entail a pla nned course of action. With the threat being known homeland security can prepare effectively. The previous threat of unforeseen events however, needs preparedness. It means that there has to be a group kept ready waiting for such an occurrence (Antommarch, 32). These deficiencies have had several effects on the homeland security system. With the identification of the gaps, the operations of homeland security need a total overhaul. There appears the need to alter the budgetary allocation so as to cater for the execution of these capabilities. The effect of doing this shall be creation of extra gaps as opposed to correcting the existing one. Since the government has already made its financial allocation to the homeland security, an internal alteration shall have to be done. Cutting down of spending shall entail identifying the allocation from which some money can be recovered. This shall in turn stretch the capability of homeland security to undertake the correction. Another effect th at can come out of these capability gaps is the ability of a single security agency to handle these capabilities. There brings the need to acquire new equipment which may not be available at the moment. The Federal Acquisition Regulations requires the use of appropriate fund in any such process. With the pressure exerted on homeland security, some of those regulations may be hard to follow. This would mean that the capabilities

HCR210 record formats Essay Example for Free

HCR210 record formats Essay Source oriented medical record (SOR), is a traditional patient record format that organizes information about a patients care according to the source of documentation within the record. Patient records are filed under their specific sectionalized areas in chronological order. Many medical facilities use this format. One of the advantages is that it is easy to locate documents. For example, if a physician needs to reference a recent lab report, it can easily be found in the laboratory section of the record. Another advantage is that same source documents can be filed together. Some of the disadvantages of the SOR format is that filing reports can be time consuming, several sections within a record need to be created and it can be difficult to follow one diagnosis. The Problem oriented medical record (POR), was developed by Lawrence Weed in an effort to improve the organization of patient records. This format is a more systematic method of documentation, which consists of four components, database; problem list; initial plan and progress notes. The POR record also utilizes the SOAP structure (subjective, objective, assessment, plan). The database serves as an overview of patient information such as chief complaint, present conditions and diagnoses, social data; past, personal, medical, and social history, review of systems, physical examination and baseline laboratory data. The problem list is filed at the beginning of the patient record and serves as a table of contents, containing a list of all the patient’s problems. Each problem is numbered, which aids in indexing documentation throughout the record. The initial plan, describes what actions will be taken to learn more about the patient’s condition according to three categories, diagnostic/management and therapeutic plans as well as patient education. The discharge summary is documented in the progress note section of the POR, and summarizes patient care, treatment, response and condition. If a patient is transferred, a transfer note is also documented. Some advantages of using the POR are that it is very organized, it facilitates patient treatment and education and that all documentation is linked to specific problem. Some disadvantages are that filing this format is time consuming, it requires specific training and that all data associated with more than one problem must be documented several times. The Integrated record format arranges reports in strict chronological date order or in reverse date order. This format allows for observation of how the patient is progressing and responds to treatment based on and according to test results. Most hospitals integrate physician and ancillary progress notes only, requiring progress note entries to be clearly identified by discipline, which needs to be identified at the beginning of each progress note, (i.e. dietary). The advantages of using this format is that it is easy to use, it is less time consuming to file reports and all information on care is filed together. Some disadvantages of this format are that it is difficult to compare as well as retrieve information from the same discipline.