Ethics Education Volume 18, Nos 1 and 2 2012 61 On “Nature” and “Law” in Natural Moral Law: A Prolegomenon for Normative Ethics? By Richard Colledge Australian Catholic University Abstract In light of the recent special issue of Ethics Education on Natural Moral Law 1 , what follows is an alternative reading of that tradition that in looking to renegotiate its two key terms, proposes a sense in which this tradition of thought remains an indispensible founding moment for contemporary moral philosophy. Keywords: Natural Law, Nature, normative ethics, human nature After an initial section that addresses the complexities of contemporary natural law scholarship, the paper falls into three main sections. In the first two of these sections, I address in turn the two major terms that name this tradition of thought – viz, “natural” and “law” – arguing that both terms are ambiguous and problematic. First, insofar as the term “natural” in this contemporary consensus is almost entirely reduced to human nature, I argue that most recent versions of the theory are unacceptably dismissive of the integral place of non-human animals, and that a broader vision of the inherent value and dignity of nature at large is essential after all. Second, I suggest that the “legislative” function of natural law must be carefully understood and circumscribed if the value of this tradition of thought as a whole is to be helpfully understood. This leads into the final main section of the paper in which I suggest that the natural law tradition should be understood less as a vehicle for providing concrete norms for action to be applied in complex moral situations, and more as a way of understanding what is most deeply at stake in moral reasoning and acts of practical wisdom. As such, it is perhaps best understood as a striving toward a prolegomenon for ethics insofar as it clears the way for, and orients (literally providing the ‘fore-word’ for) normative and applied ethics. The Weight of History: Negotiating the Natural Law Tradition 1 Ethics Education. 16 (2), 2010.