The Natural Knowledge of God and the First Principles of the Natural Law in Thomas Aquinas

Abstract: A special challenge in interpreting Thomas Aquinas on the natural law concerns his assertion that the command to love God is a self-evident ( per se notum ) first principle of the natural law. This seems prima facie unlikely, since atheists exist, and since Thomas himself holds that the very existence of God is not self-evident in this life. The present article builds upon earlier studies by Lawrence Dewan and Randall Smith to offer a solution to this problem. By examining texts Dewan has identified as relevant, this article will trace Thomas’s development on the question of man’s natural knowledge of God with a view ultimately to explaining what Thomas means in STh I-II, q. 100 when he says that the obligation to love God is self-evident. Also important to the solution here offered is a clear understanding of what Thomas means by “self-evident” ( per se notum ) in that context.