Inphilosophy, thenatural order is themoral source from whichnatural law seeks to derive itsauthority. Natural order encompasses the natural relations of beings to one another in the absence oflaw, which natural law attempts to reinforce. In contrast,divine law seeks authority fromGod, andpositive law seeks authority fromgovernment.
The Ancient Greeks called ordercosmos, which the Romans later translated as ordo (Latin "order, rank, class") . Ordo has mainly two meanings: discipline on the one hand, andscience theory or philosophical on the other hand, reflecting on how to understand sequences and classes.
ThePhysiocrats, a group of 18th centuryEnlightenment French philosophers, thought there was a "natural order" that allowed human beings to live together. According to them it is an ideal order given to them by God, which allowed human beings to live together in an ideal society. The natural laws are the expression of the will of God. Men did not come together via a somewhat arbitrary "social contract."[2][better source needed] Rather, they had to discover the laws of the natural order that would allow individuals to live in society without losing significant freedoms.[3] The concept natural order ofPhysiocracy originated from "Way of Nature" of ChineseTaoism. The ChineseTaoism had believed that there can be good government only when a perfect harmony exists between the "Way of Man" (governmental institutions) and the "Way of Nature" (Physiocrats' natural order).[4]
The term was used byFriedrich Hayek in his writings.[citation needed]The term is used byHans-Hermann Hoppe in his 2001 book,Democracy: The God That Failed, to defendanarcho-capitalism.[citation needed]