Ethics (p. 1-2) - St Thomas Aquinas Flashcards
Aquinas born in..
Europe (c1224 AD) - ‘Dark Ages’
!) Crusaders - new religious/intellectual ideas from the Holy Land (including Aristotle’s work
Aquinas studied/influenced by..
Studied at University of Naples/Aristotle’s work
Aquinas agreed with Aristotle’s ideas of..
- efficient/final cause
- everything having a purpose (but given by God)
- concept of ‘cultivation of virtues’ (to develop fully) - but given by God
Aquinas aimed to use reason to..
defend the Church - as opposed to pure faith
Aquinas’ 4 levels of Law:
- Eternal Law
- Divine Law
- Natural Law/Laws of Nature
- Human law/Positive law
Eternal law
God’s will/wisdom and ‘rational ordering of the universe’ - revealed via Divine law
Divine law
scripture/church guides humans to happiness in heaven
[quote - 2 Timothy 3v16-17]
(!) divine law made fully known in Natural law
“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for..
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3v16-17
Natural law/laws of Nature
fulfillment on earth - amalgamation of eternal/divine law
[Genesis 1v26]
“Be fruitful..
and multiply” - Genesis 1v26
Human/Positive law
regulated human behaviour withiin society (via state/gov)
“nothing else than the rational..
creature’s participation in the eternal law.” - Aquinas, on natural law
Aquinas’ assumptions (5)
- all people seek to worship God
- God created the universe and moral law within it
- every individual has a particular purpose
- since moral law comes from God, all humans should obey it
- human nature remained the same since creation
NL argues there is an objectively..
ideal way to be human - reaching ideal = maximum potential/closest to God
(!) we measure our humanity by this ‘ideal’
NL argued God created universe, establishing..
order/purpose reflecting his will
Ideal human nature exists, and sin..
is ‘falling short’ of this ideal
Aquinas didn’t believe people chose evil..
‘apparent goods’ lead people astray
Follow path of goodness =
‘summum bonum’
e.g. parable of Sheep and Goats, Matthew 25
“Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be..
avoided. All other precepts of the law of nature are based on this” - Aquinas, Summa Theologica (Primary/Secondary Precepts, NML)
Aquinas/NML believed humans must re-establish..
‘right’ relationship with God - broken by Adam/Eve
^ act of ‘original sin’ (disobeyed in Garden of Eden)
NML is an..
absolute ethic - actions judged as ‘natural’/’unnatural’
universal ethic - not culturally conditioned
based on ‘reason’ - not revelation
“The natural is that which everywhere..
is equally valid” - Aristotle
“Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely, his eternal..
power and deity, has been clearly percieved in the things that have been made” - Romans 1:20, Apostle St Paul
“For your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you..
to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” - Matthew 19:8
