Cicero describes natural law as 'right reason in agreement with nature...of
             universal application, unchanging and everlasting'. A fundamental part of
             natural law is the existence of absolute and unchanging values of right and
             wrong. In the world of business, priorities are constantly changing: there
             is no set purpose for businesses that underpins their existence. As a
             result of this, it can be claimed that natural moral law cannot be applied
             to issues of business ethics. Natural moral law is very much concerned with
             good, evil and the role of human reason in istinguishing between the two.
             Business ethics does not often involve clear cut decisions between right
             and wrong; more often than not businesses are concerned with balancing
             the interests of shareholders, with those of employees and customers.
             Therefore, it can be maintained that the absolute principals of natural
             moral law are not useful when applied to the complex issues raised by business
             Both the Aristotelian and Thomist forms of natural moral law are concerned
             with human purpose as a whole. Aristotle believed that the goal of every
             human was to achieve 'eudaimonia' or all-round flourishing as a human
             being. Aquinas, on the other hand related his ideas of purpose to the
             Christian beliefs of achieving unison with God and receiving beatific
             vision. From such a viewpoint, Aquinas deduced five 'primary precepts' that
             he felt needed to be adhered to in order to 'do good and avoid evil'.
             These were self-preservation, reproduction, education, living in society,
             and worshiping God. It is the narrow nature of these precepts that present
             one of the initial problems encountered when applying natural moral law to
             business ethics. Most businesses do not aim to fulfill the 'human purpose' -
             they have been established as a means of providing a service that generates
             If businesses were forced to create secondary precepts that promote
             such ...