Aquinas And Natural Law Flashcards
1
Q
When was Aquinas born?
A
1225-1274 in Italy
2
Q
A quote about faith
A
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation of possible”
3
Q
What are the 7 basic goods?
A
- life (self preservation)
- reproduction
- educate offspring
- seek God (calvin’s ‘senses divinitus’)
- live in society
- avoid offence
- shun ignorance
4
Q
Why do we seek the basic goods?
A
We are designed to - our instinct shows us the basic goods and reason allows us to derive natural law from them.
5
Q
What are the 4 laws?
A
- Natural law
- Human law
- Divine law
- Eternal law
6
Q
What are the primary precepts?
A
- Self preservation
- Reproduction
- Sociability
- Educate young
- Worship god
7
Q
What are the Secondary precepts?
A
- no abortions
- do not kill
- treat others well
- help those younger
- go to church
8
Q
What does absolute mean?
A
A value or principle which is regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things
9
Q
Criticisms of natural law
A
- if god created us to seek god, then why do people violate this law at the time? Why is there a need for prison?
- sometimes we seek what we think is good but we’re wrong, because we are seeking an apparent good rather than a real good - “even though we’re rational, we’re also emotional creatures”- we see what we should do but emotion overpowers our reason
- exclusive to religion
- ## it’s outdated
10
Q
Advantages of natural law
A
- there is a fair set of rules for everyone
- it is not just a large number of rules dictating what we should do
- all things that are good for us are celebrated, rather than focused on negative things
- humans are at the centre of this ethical approach, not rules
- it allows us to establish common rules in order to structure communities
- it allows us to use our reason and so feel in control of the secondary precepts
