natrual law Flashcards
key aspects
- telos
- beatific vision
- four tiers of law
- synderesis
- teleological
- primary precepts
- secondary precepts
- real and apparent goods
- double effect
- catholic manualists
telos
- natural law originates from aristotle
- aristotle - distinctive feature of human beings is their ability to reason (to work towards their telos)
- aquinas takes up aristotle’s idea that the telos of human life is to achieve eudaimonia
- telos for humanity as a whole has an ultimate focus. complete happiness can only be seen in the beatific vision
four tiers of law
- eternal - universal absolutes, made by god
- divine - commandments given in god’s revelation
- natural - discovered through human reason
- human - laws humans make that cannot contradict divine law.
synderesis
- humans naturally inclined to seek good and avoid evil
- all other precepts of natural law are based on this
3 primary precepts
split into 5
1. worship god
2. ordered society
3. reproduction
4. learning and education
5. death (prevent it)
BUT aquinas wasnt giving a definitive list, this listing was done by later catholic manualists.
and Aquinas also said ‘and so forth’ to assert that his understanding wasn’t set in stone.
secondary precepts
- derived from primary precepts, apply reason to find them out, and give us direction.
- abortion
- masturbation
- euthanasia
- contraception
- polygamy (not against natural law as the man should be able to give reproduction to each wife BUT against divine law = Ephisians 5:21 (submit to husbands)
- catholic church takes law literally but Aquinas intended it as a “principle”
real and apparent goods
- we can be confused about the difference.
eg adultery is a short term pleasure v long term betrayal - vincible and invincible ignorance asw
double effect
avoids us making mistakes in dilemmas. doing a bad thing with a foreseeable outcome when it is not your intention
- the nature of the act condition - must be morally good/ neutral
- the means to an end condition - the bad effect must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved
- the right intention condition - the intention must be to achieve a good effect
- the proportionality condition - the good effect must = in importance to the bad effect
problems with double effect
- suicide is forbidden. case: a soldier throws himself on grenade, to save his comrades. but double effect would require him not to intend to sacrifice his life as intending own death is bad
- could argue it doesn’t matter your intentions as a good act is a good act
- consequentialist ethics generally argues that any act should be judged on its results. eg tortuting sally to discover the whereabouts of a nuclear bomb. BUT ALSO at what point is torture permissible, to save how many?
casuistry and manualist
applying laws with reason= criticism of those who are too concerned with rules and not enough with justice.
the catholic church has given great emphasis to rules and less orthopraxy = MANUALIST
matthew 6:2 - intentions
So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you
aristotle quote
“nature makes nothing without a purpose”
Louis Pojman
developed principle of double effect
notes that Aquinas’ position is absolutist. “humanity has an essentially rational nature, and reason can discover the right action in every situation”
cases
- killing in self defence allowable
- soldier throws himself on grenade ?
- torturing sally for nuclear whereabouts
abortion - 2ndary precepts
- foetus is likely to be disabled and have a poor quality of life
- not moral to get an abortion
antigone
disobeyed the orders of King Creon who forbade the burial of her brother. such an order defies natural law of proper burial
- not moral, King Creon should have buried her brother.
strengths of natural law x4
+ absolutist, provide clarity and firm moral principles
+ the secondary precepts are intended to be reasoned within the context of a society = flexibility
+ primary precepts are general consensus on desirable goods in human life.
+ values life and rights. Grotius says that human rights are evident when looking at nature.
weaknesses of natural law
- naturalistic fallacy, guilty of observing nature then making the leap to say this is what should happen
= bring in Hume is/ought gap - focus on lae and rules are overly legalistic
= but counter that is manualists, Aq said “principles” and “and so forth” - natural law is outdates. society has moved onto modern attitudes to homosexuality, contraception etc
- synderesis weak to dawkins and freud. also weak to rahner and augustine
- unclear conclusions and ambiguity - use example of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical which argued that obedience to natural law meant contraception shouldn’t be used. BUT could be argued that birth control means the child would be cared for and wouldnt lead to over-population
- calvin said that scripture is the word of god so that is all you should follow.
weakness of telos
- wrong to assume there is a purpose to all of us, it would be more obvious surely as reason alone does not always work in dilemmas
- natural may mean in accordance with our nature so discriminates against homosexuals
- existentialists critique that there may not be a telos at all. (ex = human existence rather than essence - humans are free and dont have a fixed nature)
more arguments to give and counter
+ offers best of both worlds where firm primary precepts but flexible when applying secondary precepts.
BUT - there is tension between the idea that natural law is “universal in its precepts” and “application of the natural law varies greatly” (CATECHISM 1956-7)
+Reliance on reason makes it fairly rational.
BUT - some think eg calvin that it reduces the role of scripture. also augustine thinks we have lost rational facilities in the fall
+ Natural law is a religious ethical theory but Grotius says that it does not require reason as it is obvious to reason and observation
BUT - grotius concedes that the answer to why we should follow law traces to God.
+ natural law defends natural rights
BUT Bentham says natural rights are “nonsense on stilts”
books aquinas, aristotle, catholics
aquinas - summa theologica
aristotle - Physics II 3
catechism of the catholic church 1956-7
Rachels criticism
just because sex means reproduction, doesn’t mean this is its only purpose
John Finnis
it upholds natural rights
