Aquinas' Natural Moral Law Flashcards
Finish Cicero’s Quote: ‘There will not be one law at Rome, another at Athens but…
…one law both everlasting and unchangeable will encompass all nations and for all time’
What did Aquinas believe about the nature of God?
- God is immutable
- God is absolutely good and the purpose of creation was to reflect that goodness
- The laws of nature reflect God’s nature and regulate the created world
What did Aquinas believe about our final telos’?
Earthly Telos: Eudaimonia
Final Telos: Beatific Vision
What are the four laws in the fourfold division of law?
- Eternal Law
- Divine Law
- Natural Moral Law
- Human Law
What is Eternal Law?
God’s blueprint for the natural and moral order of things
What is Divine Law?
God’s special revelation disclosed to humanity in the Bible and the teaching of the Catholic Church which contain truths that cannot be discoverable by human reason
What is Natural Moral Law?
God’s eternal law that can be understand by human reason and revealed through nature
What is Human Law?
The systems of law built up by human societies on the basis of natural law
What was Aquinas’ synderesis rule?
Do good and avoid evil
What did Aquinas believe about human nature?
Believed humans were by nature disposed to do good but could get confused between what real and apparent goods are
What is the difference between real and apparent goods?
Apparent Goods are false goods that we think are good whereas Real Goods are the actually good that God intended for them
Who were the manualists and what was their impact?
They were 17th Catholic writers who subdivided Aquinas 3 Primary Precepts into 5
What are the 5 primary precepts?
Worship God
Ordered Society
Reproduce
Learning
Defend the Innocent
Why are the secondary precepts important?
It provides guidelines for humans on how to apply the primary precepts in specific situations in their lives and overall are more flexible than the primary precepts
Why would Aquinas allow more flexibility than expected?
Aquinas interpreted ‘law’ as ‘principle’ rather than ‘rule’ means he would want to upkeep all moral standards and guides where possible but he can accept upkeeping the primary precepts may not always be accessible
What are the four cardinal virtues Aquinas adopted from Aristotle and how are they attained?
- Prudence
- Justice
- Fortitude
- Temperance
-> They are attained through human ability
What are the three theological virtues Aquinas takes from 1 Cor 13:13?
- Faith
- Hope
- Love
Why did Aquinas include the principle of double effect in his theory?
For difficult and expectational situations in order to help people know whether it might be right to set aside a secondary principle while still upholding the primary ones
What are the 4 conditions of the doctrine of the double effect?
Nature of the Act
Intention of the Act
Means End Condition of the Act
Proportionality of the Act
What is meant by the nature of the act condition?
The morality of the proposed action must be good or atleast neutral
eg. chemotherapy to kill cancer in a pregnant women - even though it may kill the baby it can save a life which is the intention
What is meant by the good intention condition?
The intention must be to achieve the good effect. The bad effect may be foreseen but it must not be the intention
What is meant by the means-end condition?
The bad effect of the actions must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved
What is meant by the proportionality condition?
The good effect must be at least proportionate in its significance to the bad effect
How did the Manualists change Thomist Natural Moral Law?
- Interpreted the precepts more rigidly and narrowly than Aquinas did
- Cut out any reference to the virtues
How has Natural Moral Law been modernised since the Manualists’ changes?
- More emphasis on the virtues
- Movement towards a more flexible interpretation
- More integration of proportionalism
What are some key features of applying proportionalism?
- It states that moral principle arising out of natural moral law should be firmly upheld unless there is a proportionate reason for not doing so
- There are no intrinsically evil acts
- The intention of the moral agent must be taken into consideration and the value of the good effect must always outweigh the bad effect
What are some strengths of Proportionalism?
- Implementation in Just War Theory shows it works
- In situation when it’s applied, it is typically the logical option that takes place
What are some weaknesses of Proportionalism?
- The Magisterium ruled it out as it sees no intrinsically evil yet how can you justify torture or rape or slavery?
- Consequentialist
- It cannot give an accurate prediction of the outcome when used
What are some strengths of Natural Moral Law?
- Guidelines and boundaries are helpful to most
- For some, morality is more than just an individual preference, there are intrinsic right and wrong
- NML can recognise people can get confused
- Religion is not necessary required to understand the theory
- Emphasis on the virtues encourages a focus on developing the person’s character
What are some weaknesses of Natural Moral Law?
- Casuistry can make hair splitting decisions - not every situation will be the same
- Many dispute about humans have a common nature such as modern science - ethical codes for everyone are subjective
- Applying the secondary precepts can lead to bad outcomes such as the ban of contraception leading to the spread of HIV
- Too anthropocentric. The hierarchy adopted by Aquinas from Aristotle make the whole animal kingdom and natural world subservient to humans
