Ethical Theories Flashcards
What type of theory is Natural Moral Law?
An absolutist theory
What is an absolutist theory?
A moral or ethical framework that posits existence of objective and universal moral principles that apply to all situations and are not dependent on subjective factors
Who is most commonly associated with Natural Moral Law?
St Thomas Aquinas
Who is St Thomas Aquinas?
An Italian Philosopher, Theologian and Priest
What is Natural Moral Law based on?
Five Primary Precepts
What are the Five Primary Precepts?
1- Preserve life
2- Ordered society
3- Worship God
4- Education
5- Reproduction
What is the main principle of Natural Law?
“Good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided” (synderisis rule)
What are the Secondary Precepts?
Humans are to use their reason to establish rules that will fulfil the requirements of the Primary Precepts
What are some examples of Secondary Precepts?
- Do not murder
- Do not abort the unborn
Why are Christian views regarding animals consistent with the views of Natural Moral Law?
Thomas Aquinas’s anthropology of the soul
What book does Thomas Aquinas outline the anthropology of the soul in?
“Of God and his creatures”
What are the three divisions of the soul?
- The vegetative
- The sentient
- The intellectual
(these divisions are set in a hierarchy)
What does the vegetative soul allow for?
The basics of existence:
- nourishment
- growth
- reproduction
(plants have only a vegetative soul)
What does the sentient soul allow for?
- sentient cognition
- sentient appetite
(inherent in animals)
What does the intellectual/rational soul allow for?
The soul responsible for reason and thinking
(specific to human beings only)
Which souls do human beings possess?
- vegetative
- sentient
- intellectual/rational
What Primary Precept does the anthropology of the soul adhere to?
To live in society
How does the anthropology of the soul adhere to the Primary Precept of “to live in society”?
Conforms to the Biblical rules of creation
What is the Biblical Doctrine of the great chain of being?
A hierarchical structure thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God