<P> Greek philosophy emphasized the distinction between `` nature '' ( physis , φúσις ) on the one hand and `` law '' , `` custom '' , or `` convention '' ( nomos , νóμος ) on the other . What the law commanded would be expected to vary from place to place , but what was `` by nature '' should be the same everywhere . A `` law of nature '' would therefore have the flavor more of a paradox than something that obviously existed . Against the conventionalism that the distinction between nature and custom could engender , Socrates and his philosophic heirs , Plato and Aristotle , posited the existence of natural justice or natural right ( dikaion physikon , δικαιον φυσικον , Latin ius naturale ) . Of these , Aristotle is often said to be the father of natural law . </P>
<P> Greek philosophy emphasized the distinction between `` nature '' ( physis , φúσις ) on the one hand and `` law '' , `` custom '' , or `` convention '' ( nomos , νóμος ) on the other . What the law commanded would be expected to vary from place to place , but what was `` by nature '' should be the same everywhere . A `` law of nature '' would therefore have the flavor more of a paradox than something that obviously existed . Against the conventionalism that the distinction between nature and custom could engender , Socrates and his philosophic heirs , Plato and Aristotle , posited the existence of natural justice or natural right ( dikaion physikon , δικαιον φυσικον , Latin ius naturale ) . Of these , Aristotle is often said to be the father of natural law . </P>
who established the natural laws of the universe
who established the natural laws of the universe
Aristotle
Aristotle