2D: John Finnis’ Development of NL Flashcards
Who is John Finnis?
- Australian ohsuoioihwe specialising in the philosophy of law.
- 1980: ‘Natural Law and Natural Rights’ was a restatement of NL
Background to Finnis’ theory:
- NL was developed by Aquinas and influenced by Aristotle
- Aquinas believed NL was an aspect of God’s eternal law accessed through human rationality
- however Finnis argues that NL’s purpose is to ensure a person is able to live a worthwhile life and to ‘flourish’
Background to the seven basic goods:
- Finnis’ NL starts with him rejecting the five primary precepts. This is because Finnis believes they natural law is not based on God.
- Finnis replaces rhem with the basic goods.
- the basic goods are self-evident, there are seven of them and they are universal
What are the seven basic goods?
1) life: covers various aspects of life
2) knowledge: means being well-informed
3) friendship and sociability: being social; acting in interests of one’s friends
4) play: refers to recreation, enjoyment and fun
5) aesthetic experience: means an appreciation of beauty and art
6) practical reasonableness; using one’s intelligence to solve moral problems
7) religion: a connection with the orders that transcend individual humanity
How are the basic goods universal?
- Finnis believes that seven basic goods apply equally to everyone, at all times
- however he confess that it is not true that everyone is automatically aware of all the basic goods, e.g. toddler may not understand the need for practical reasonableness. However they are known to every educated, mature person
Additional info on basic goods:
- basic goods work as an explanation of why we do things
- also argued that the basic goods are not fulfilled or achieves; they are participated in and pursued
- Finnis believes that those who do not repair the basic goods are wrong/bad
What are the nine requirements of practical reason?
1) long term: life should be views we w whole. Long-term view of pursuing basic goods and not short-term
2) priorities: have to priories Ferguson basic goods over others. However only should be done with good reason
3) equality: apply to everyone equally. Should always take into account the good of others.
4) not obsessive: make sure you don’t become too obsessed with a particular activity, i.e. if it isn’t helping you to flourish you should find another project
5) be involved: you should do activities and make an effort to flourish
6) do good: aim to do good and avoid evil
7) don’t harm: never do an act that directly harms a basic good; even if it will indirectly benefit a basic good
8) community: you should foster the common good of the community
9) practical reason: you should act only accordance with practical reason and not the authors of someone else
Why were the nine requirements of practical reason established?
- certain consisting will help a moral agent pursue the basic goods
- therefore Finnis developed the ‘nine requirements of practical reason’
- these help to create the optimum conditions in which to pursue the seven basic goods.
- like the basic goods they are self-evident
Making decisions using 7 basic goods and 9 requirements:
- good: doing actions that pursue one of the basic food in accordance with 9 requirements
- bad: doing actions that do not pursue the basic goods or pursuing a basic good but not in accordance with the nine requirements of practical reason
- all basic goods are equally fundamental and there is no hierarchy. There is no single correct act.
- however there are some choices which are wrong, e.g. spending all day in an empty room doing nothing - this isn’t pursuing one of the seven basic goods
What is the common good?
- Finnis argued that humans naturally need to live in groups. This is both required explicitly by the basic good of ‘friendship and sociability’ and implicitly by other goods. You are most productive when working together.
- each member of the community can effectively pursue the basic goods for themselves
Where is authority and need for laws?
- Finnis believe one of the strongest and most effective sources of authority is the rule or law. Therefore he concludes he rule of law is a morally necessary component of society.
/ argues some laws directly we’ve basic hood Horner most laws are not direct - instead they create a stable society in which people have the freedom and ability to pursue the basic goods. - authors of the law need to create w legal system that supports the basic goods. He believes it was a moral ‘good’ legal system only if it does this.
