2a-c Aquinas’ Natural Law Flashcards
Is relativist or absolutist?
Absolutist
Is morality a priori or a posteriori?
A priori - judgments rather than empirical evidence
Who has it been adopted by?
The Catholic Church - normative ethic
What does it argue?
“It argues that there is a natural order to the universe which was created by God. Ethics fits into this natural order.”
Nicomachean Ethics - Quote
“That which is natural is unchangeable and has the same power everywhere, just as fire burns both here and in Persia.”
Aristotle - Everything in Universe cause
Efficient cause - how is something made
Final cause - what is its purple (telos)
Aquinas - fuller natural law
Absolutist
Deontological - rule/law centred
Believed that God had created the world (Efficient cause) with a purpose in mind.
Everything has a Final Cause with God’s ultimate purpose as that Final Cause
Aquinas’ Efficient Cause
Humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 2:7)
“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living thing.”
Aquinas argued that our soul allowed us to reason. It is what set us apart from the animals
“Natural Law is the same for all men… there is a single standard of truth and right for everyone…which is known by everyone”
Aquinas’ Final Cause
- Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that it is more important to know the final cause because it allows us to perfect ourselves
- Our telos can be worked out from our reason which has been given by God
- Our final cause is to be as close to God as possible. This can be done by following God’s nature.
How do we know what God intends? AQUINAS
Aquinas believed that God is perfect
For something to be perfect it must be good
Therefore, God is good
We are in the image of God
Therefore, we are expected to be good
“Good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided” - Aquinas
Primary Precepts
Put in place to do good and avoid evil for humans
- Worship God
- Live in Society
- Educate Children
- Self preservation/preservation of the innocent
- Continuation of the species through reproduction
Secondary precepts
Smaller, relativist actions that we can do to achieve the primary precepts.
In order to preserve lives, you may become a doctor.
Good is revealed in stages of laws: Eternal, Divine, Natural and Human
Eternal laws are principles by which God made the universe and only he understands completely
Divine laws are seen as a reflection of these - they are laws from the Bible that can only be understood by those who believe in God
Natural law refers to the moral law of God that has been built into human nature
Syndersis
The idea that you should do good and avoid evil, and so religious belief isn’t needed in order to follow it.
Based on?
Aristotle’s agent centred idea that all human beings have a purple, and that they need to achieve it in order to flourish and achieve eudaimonia
Aquinas beliefs towards humans
Believe that all human beings have natural reason given by God that we use in order to flourish and understand God’s plan
Doctrine of the Double Effect - Aquinas
States that when faced with a choice between two evils, you should choose the lesser. As long as the resulting negative action wasn’t deliberate then it is not immoral. We also need to use our reason in order to tell the difference between real and apparent goods.
Apparent good
Sometimes actions seem like they are good and the right thing to do, but they have negative consequences and don’t fit the human ideal
Two types of virtues which could help a human to live a good life and help us reach our final cause
Revealed Virtues
The Cardinal Virtues
The 3 virtues - Revealed Virtues
Mentioned throughout the Bible, and according to Aquinas, the main virtues we should strive for. He argued that we could not completely reach these virtues in our lifetime. But, they were a good aim for us to have as they allowed humans to become better humans.
FAITH, HOPE, AGAPE
Faith
Driving force behind wanting to become smarter as intellectual pursuits allow you to understand God better.
Hope
Hope is what guides us to do moral acts. By doing good acts we hope that it will eventually allow us to meet our final cause and be with God
Agape
Agape means the unconditional love of all humans in the same way that God loves all of us.
It should be the reason behind all acts and the most important of the virtues
Agape - further
Most important virtues.
All interactions should stem from agape.
Agape led to wisdom.
More wise - helping humans - doctors
If humans practised agape, reach their telos as it was the main teaching of Jesus
Beautific Vision
Faith, hope and agape. Perfect - from God
Guide us to do other virtues
State of perfect happiness as we are in union with God.
“Humans attain their last end by knowing and loving God.”
Cardinal Virtues
Along with articles of faith there are some natural virtues applicable to all
Fortitude
Must not shy away from difficult tasks whether they be physical, moral or spiritual
However, Aquinas states that a courageous person should not be reckless as this will lead them away from God by not following His commandments
Justice
How we should act in society and it is also our laws we make. The aim of laws are to make the law a fairer place to live in.
However, Aquinas states that justice is not the same for everyone.
Temperance
The idea is very closely linked with Aristotle’s notion of golden mean. If we have moderation, then we will not have vices which means we will be less likely to perform sins.
Aquinas believes that temperance is important as it is mentioned by Jesus on his Sermon on the Mount “blessed are the Meek, for they will inherit the earth”
Prudence
Acting ethically. What would Jesus do>
Counsel, judgment, command
Interior + Exterior act
How I intend to act - Interior
Acting on my intention - Exterior
= A Moral or Immoral action - an act can appear moral but evil due to intention
Influencing Human Law - positive
Gives us clear, absolute, laws to follow
Influences Human Law to achieve our telos of perfection
Natural Law resides in our reason so everyone can become a good citizen without a need for Christianity
Natural Law - influencing Human law
Natural Law does not fit with today’s society
Pointless if you are an atheist
What happens if we’re in a moral dilemma between 2 primary precepts?
Influence human law - responses
- The deontological aspects are too restrictive. Rather we could just follow Situation Ethics which is teleological and relativist. HOWEVER, these laws are from God who is perfect so it isn’t our place to change these.
- Natural Law does not fit with today’s society. HOWEVER, NLT is the ethical code for Catholics so it is applicable to a modern society as over a billion people are Catholic
What is abortion?
The induced termination of pregnancy to destroy the foetus
Legal in the UK
Since 1967
Up to the 24th week of pregnancy
After this time of the life, the mother is at serious risk of the foetus is severely disabled.
Two doctors have agreed to the procedure.
It is performed on registered premises
Peter Singer - when does the zygote become a human being?
The ethicist Peter Singer stated:
“To kill a human adult is murder, and is unhesitatingly and universally condemned. Yet there is no obvious sharp line which marks the zygote from the adult. Hence the problem.”
Abortion opposition
Pro life Vs. Pro choice
Pro life- Christians
Sanctity of Life
The quality of being Holy or Sacred
Sanctity of Life: the idea that all life is God-given and therefore sacred and Holy
This concept affects their belief on abortion
Catholic belief - abortion
Belief that life begins at conception
“Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception”
Protestant Churches - ensoulment
This is the view that the zygote does not have a soul until the quickening happens. (WHEN THE MOTHER FIRST FEELS THE MOVEMENT OF THE FOETUS)
Pro-Choice
This is the view that the foetus is not a human life until a certain date. Due to this, the potential mother has rights to her own body and can decide what she wants to do with her body
Mary Ann Warren
PRO CHOICE
Change from women’s role in the home to equal opportunities.
For abortion as in the past women suffered having top have many children who died young and they coulnd’t care for.
Burdens society of families
Limited education and employment
Essential for the well-being of society
Active Euthanasia
Assisting in the death of the patient
Passive Euthanasia
Removing treatment that is keeping someone alive
Voluntary Euthanasia
When someone asks for help to die; often called ‘assisted suicide’
Active Euthanasia
Assisting in the death of the patient
Voluntary Euthanasia
Illegal in the UK but passive euthanasia is not.
Assisted dying bill
Signing a legal declaration that they wanted to die - a patient’s doctor could prescribe a lethal dose of medication that the patient could take themselves in order to end their life.
- Only people with less than 6 months live
- Who are suffering unbearably
- Deemed to be of sound mind
- Not depressed
Euthanasia - legal in Switzerland
Dignitas - non-profit organisation, people outside of this country can go.
Incurable disease.
2 doctors have to agree.
You have to be of sound mind.
The courts will make sure that the case was ethical and legal.
No doctors work for dignitas
Hippocrates was an Ancient Greek Doctor who wrote some of the earliest medical texts we have.
The Hippocratic Oath is taken meaning you cannot harm your patients.
Sanctity of life - euthanasia
Many people believe in this notion. The concept of the sanctity of life is that all life is sacred and cannot be tampered with.
In relation to a Christian standpoint, it would be argued that a life cannot be terminated as it goes against God’s wishes.
“A time to be born, and a time to die…”
“You shall not murder”
Tony Nickilnson
Quality of life argument states that a life is only worth living if they want to live. Who are we to tell them?
Lord Walton
Concerned that vulnerable people - the elderly, lonely, sick or distressed - would feel pressure, whether real, or imagined to request early death.
Hippocratic Oath
Are doctors in the best position to judge if a person has a good or poor quality of life? Removes autonomy
Real goods
Correct goods so morally agents can reach their telos
