natural law (1)

Question 1

telos

Answer 1

people have a unique purpose, Aristotle said rational thought. Aquinas develops into syderesis rule, do good and avoid evil

Question 2

primary precepts

Answer 2

Preserve innocent life
Reproduce
Education
Live in an ordered society
Worship God

Question 3

importance of the primary precepts

Answer 3

they are Aquinas’ idea- universal statements about what is good, secondary are derived from these. ie preserve innocent life means dont murder

Question 4

four tiers of law

Answer 4

eternal- the mind of God of what is right an wrong
divine- laws revealed by God in the teachings of revelation
natural- moral thinking we can all do
human- customs and practises of society

Question 5

catholic church

Answer 5

fixed secondary precepts, reject all artifical forms of contraception. people may say NL is too outdated and rigid

Question 6

eudamonia

Answer 6

Aristotle’s idea of flourishing, some want to go back to this and say we have to develop a good character to fufill eudamonia

Question 7

John Finnis

Answer 7

uses Aristotles idea of phronesis (reasoning) to say there are basic goods to human flourishing, like knowledge. from here more specific rules could be put forward and what we do matters, not just end

Question 8

natural law helpful in moral decision making

Answer 8

• not very controversial, merely goods valued by societies
• absoloutist, clear judgements
• still maintain flexibility, however some are less (Catholics)
• beleive some rights exist in any context

Question 9

natural law unhelpful in moral decision making

Answer 9

• basic goods do vary, secondary precepts cultural
• too legalistic when focusing on issues, there are clear problems
• naturalistic fallacy, observing what happends and assuming thats what must happen

Question 10

satre

Answer 10

existentalist- objects have a fixed nature and must carry out their purpose, however as an atheist he believed purpose could only be given by God so we must decide our own essence

Question 11

Satre and freedom

Answer 11

we have a tendency to deny our freedom, living in ‘bad faith’- we have no fixed essence and can liev however we want.

Question 12

essentalists

Answer 12

aquinas and aristotle- a belief that there is something in humans we cannot change

Question 13

natural law is right to base right/wrong off

Answer 13

• if essentialists are right and there is a basic human nature then there is good to strive towards
• the Bible reveals the ‘plans and purposes that God has for human beings’ Jeremiah 29:13

Question 14

natural law is wrong to base right/wrong off

Answer 14

• Aquinas make mistake by assuming all have the same purpose, we arent all the same (priests celibate)
• existentalists dispute whether humans have any purpose except the one chosen for themself
• evolution suggests purpose is not intrinsic but a human projection

Question 15

interior and exterior acts

Answer 15

interior- good motive
exterior- good action
both be good to be a good action

Question 16

doctrine of double effect

Answer 16

actions may have more than one effect, Aquinas thought intention is what mattered. He used the example of self-defense, even if you killed someone in the process you are not guilty of doing something wrong

Question 17

double effect: abortion

Answer 17

during pregnancy a woman is told her life at risk, you are allowed to get rid of the feotus in the name of a good action (surgery) to save a mothers life (consequnce)

Question 18

double effect: euthanasia

Answer 18

a large dose of a pain killer has the effect of relieving pain but killing the patient, it is intended good action and therefore jo one is guilty

Question 19

double effect justified moral actions

Answer 19

• double effect allows flexibility in other rigid moral decisions making
• recognition of complexity in real life, absolutists like Kant have no answers for real life situations

Question 20

double effect dont justify moral actions

Answer 20

• idea that a bad effect is permitted if unintended is difficult to judge, impossible to judge someones intention
• how far can we truly press double effect? contraception being use to prevent HIV controversial in catholicism.

Question 21

stoicism

Answer 21

Zeno and Airelius viewed the world as an ordered place, left with God’s divine reason. belived this spark is left within us, so right actions ones we are able to reason.

Question 22

Cicero

Answer 22

believes Natural Law is ‘right reason in accordance with nature’

Question 23

apparent/real good

Answer 23

aquinas idea that nobody ever does a wrong action, apparent good is mistakenly thought to be a real good

Question 24

people have an orientation towards good

Answer 24

• stoicism appeal to the order present in creation, ie Paley’s design argument
  -Aquinas is right that we do want to live life well and when we miss is because we are unclear
• natural law gives diginity to humans and allows them to reason

Question 25

people have no orientation towards good

Answer 25

- objection to the orientation of creation is to reject telelogical assumption of God. evolution? - Augustine would say concupisence means we have lost the ability to make good moral decisions - aquinas is too optimistic - aquinas' view on goods in naive, it seems people knowingly commit bad actions

Question 26

J.S Mill

Answer 26

biblical authority was only relevant in a more barbaric time

Question 27

science and telos

Answer 27

there is no proof an intrinsic telos, sean caroll says purpose not a part of universe architecture

Question 28

tegmark

Answer 28

argues that one day scientists will be able to explain why the universe exists

Question 29

Barth

Answer 29

"the finite has no capacity for the infinite", therefore we cannot use reason to know God

Question 30

proportionalism

Answer 30

action causes greater amount of good than evil it is justified, people like Hoose agree and say NL not flexible enough

Question 31

nature of the act condition

Answer 31

feature of double effect- the secondary consequence cannot be an innate evil, like killing an innocent person

Question 32

Aquina social context

Answer 32

having children outside marriage worse as women unable to work and provide around 60-70 X murder rate in Aquinas time

Question 33

Francis Bacon

Answer 33

claimed the idea of Telos was unscientific

Question 34

Sean Carroll

Answer 34

purpose not built into the architecture of the universe

Question 35

cross counter moral differences

Answer 35

Fletcher's criticism. if our conscious drives us towards morals then tehre should be more universal morals. as morals tend to fall along moral lines that is a better explanation.

Question 36

nature and reason

Answer 36

the nature of a thing dictates what is 'natural' about it. an acorn grows on a oak tree as that is the purpose of it.

Question 37

Aquinas

Answer 37

"the light of reason is placed by nature in every man"

Question 38

Dawkins

Answer 38

asks what is the 'colour of jealousy'. he uses this analogy to express that while we can ask something, it does not mean there is a specific answer.

Question 39

Polkinghorne

Answer 39

says that science cannot explains everything in the universe and why it is inclined towards purpose

Question 40

corruption

Answer 40

Barth argues that corruption of our mind means that we cannot know everything that God wants

Question 41

Hoose

Answer 41

uses a version of proportionalism. he says it is wrong to go against the Primary Precepts but there are times when it is needed. whatever action enables flourishing is an 'ontic good' factual goods like health.