Natural Law Flashcards
What is natural law?
Natural law is the moral thinking that we are all able to do, whether or not we have had the divine revelation of scripture
What is Synderesis ?
Do good and avoid evil
Is natural law deontological or teleological?
Deontological
What does deontological mean?
Always about the right action rather than the outcome,
The outcome cannot justify the action.
Who is the scholar for natural law?
Aquinas
What are the five primary precepts?
Reproduction, preservation of life, worshipping God, living in society and educating the young.
What is absolute morality?
Somethings are always right and always wrong.
There are rules that our behaviour should always abide by.
What are secondary precepts?
They are made up of more specific rules that can be deduced from the primary precepts.
Aquinas suggested that secondary precepts are needed
What are interior and exterior acts?
For Aquinas, a good act must have a good motive (interior) as well as being a good action as viewed on the outside (exterior)
What case study can you use in natural law?
Thalidomide Children
What is the case study of the Thalidomide Children ?
The intention was the doctors to create a drug to reduce morning sickness and it caused babies to be born with disabilities causing problems with the children’s limbs, organs and eyesight.
Why is natural law an absolutist theory?
Because we are always acting according to the natural law that exists in the universe.
Aquinas said that our power of reason will keep us on the right path, why?
Because the reason is our ability to know right from wrong and make rational decisions
What are real and apparent goods?
Aquinas said that if we follow the synderesis rule and the primary precepts we will achieve real goods and become closer to God
Aquinas said that we would never use a reason to choose to do the wrong thing, Why?
Because if we do the wrong thing it must be because we were mistaken and we were trying to achieve an apparent good
What is the doctrine of the double effect? (Bad and Good effects)
That for Aquinas what matters is which effect is intended and the intention (Thalidomide Children)
What is the negative of the primary precepts in today’s society?
Sometimes the secondary precepts clash for example reproduction is an issue as today in a society with equal rights how can this rule be abided by for same-sex couples.
Contraceptives
How do we achieve union with God?
Do good and avoid evil (Synderesis) 
How do we do good and avoid evil?
By following the five primacy precepts via the secondary precepts
Aquinas assumes that we are all reasonable human beings and believe that we veer towards choosing good, why?
Because we are made by God
Considering how we might do you good and avoid evil through working out the secondary precepts for situations, what does this involve?
A rational reflection on our human nature
