2.3 Natural Moral Law Flashcards
Natural Moral Law
A Christian system of ethical thinking developed by St Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thirteenth-century monk who developed natural law theory
Absolutism
The type of morality system which has maxims which must always be adhered to regardless of the situation
Legalism
A form of ethics which adheres stringently to the rules without flexibility
Telos
The Greek term for an end of purpose
Proportionalism
A form of natural law theory which stipulates that you can break precepts should you have proportional reason to do so
Applications
The way in which ethical theories can be seen to work in practice
Primary Precepts
The first set of governing rules within natural law
Secondary Precepts
Smaller precepts which can be derived for specific situations within natural law theory
Bernard Hoose
Individual who developed proportionalism
Precept
A general rule which tells us how to behave
Casuistry
Applying principles to individual cases
Doctrine of Double Effect
Thomas Aquinas’ belief that the intention and action must be good even if the unintended outcome is negative
Aristotle Quote
‘Good has been well described as that at which everything aims’
Aquinas Quote 1
‘Man has natural inclination to know the truth about God, and to live in society: in this respect, whatever pertains to this inclination belongs to the natural law’
Aquinas Quote 2
‘Our faith is measured by divine truth’
Hoose Quote
‘It is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason which would justify it’
Five primary precepts - worked out by using reason and observing the natural world
- Preservation of life
- reproduction/procreation
- education
- an ordered society
- worship of God
Applying a primary precept to a secondary one
Primary precept of ‘preservation of life’ is followed by ‘Do not kill’. A follower of natural law theory might also argue assisted suicide is immoral on the grounds that it goes against the same primary precept.
Exterior and interior acts definitions - Aquinas makes the distinction
- An interior act is the intention behind the action
- An exterior act is the actual act that is performed
e.g. I may have the good intention to help a friend in need which leads me to steal money from my parents. Here the interior act is good but the exterior act is not.
Real and apparent goods
The function of humans is to use reason. Apparent goods go against secondary and primary precepts e.g. committing adultery is an apparent good: seems like a good idea, people involved feel some happiness but it is not a real good as it goes against primary and secondary precepts.
Using reason, Aquinas identifies four main virtues which Aquinas calls cardinal virtues
prudence - judging correctly whether a given course of action is right or wrong
temperence - restraining our desires or passions (e.g. not overindulging in food) but not denying ourselves either
fortitude - having courage and, while not seeking danger unnecessarily, standing up to one’s fears
justice - connected with the idea of rights, giving everyone their due
To keep to natural law, an individual should seek to develop the virtues and eliminate the vices, and this requires practice. The virtues must become habitual.
Strengths of natural moral law
- Firmly rooted in reason, which appeals to common sense, and in a vacuum it makes logical sense.
- Proportionalism and other modern amendments make the theory more flexible in application.
- Gives objective moral guidance which is not ambiguous. Meaning it is fairly easy to follow as there are clear rules about what is and isn’t considered moral.
- It appeals cross-culturally, many of the precepts are found across cultures e.g. preservation of life.
Weaknesses of natural moral law
- Requires belief in God as it is based on the rules of the Bible. Meaning it would not work for all people.
- Aquinas makes an assumption of purpose and order which is arguably an issue as modern science proves there is a great deal of chaos in the world.
- Can be viewed as being too strict on moral principles where other systems aren’t e.g. situation ethics is more flexible.
Hoose and proportionalism
Proportionalism is a modern development of the Natural Moral Law from the scholar Bernard Hoose. He argued we should generally follow the natural moral law until there is a significant reason that would mean it were temporarily fair to set aside these rules. Meaning acts are not inherently or always evil, assuming there is significant or proportional reason to set them aside.
