Criticism of Finnis's Natural Law Theory

During many centuries, “Natural Law” doctrine has been interpreted in differentways; so there have been propounded various theories which trace back to theancient Greek age, and which today play a central role in the domains of socialsciences. One theory as regards the natural law is Aquinas’s theory of natural law;and a recent popular explication of Aquinas’s position is John Finnis’s interpretation. According to Finnis, an action is wise only when it is done to gain one of the basic goods. These goods, on Finnis’s view, are: life, knowledge, skilled performance, play, friendship, marriage, practical reasonableness, and religion. Each of these goods is self-evident, intrinsic, independent of each other, having equal value, and non-based on facts. The essay firstly explains Finnis’s natural- law theory; and then, based on the doctrines of Islamic Transcendent Theosophy, it offers a criticism of Finnis’s theory.