Natural law

Question 1

what is natural law theory?

Answer 1

Natural law is a deontological, absolutist theory.
It states that God created all things to work within a natural order to fulfil their purpose (telos).
God gave the humans the power to reason.
There is a natural order of the world.

Question 2

what did the stoics believe?

Answer 2

We should live by nature.
In doing so we would be working in harmony with God’s plan of the universe.

Question 3

what were Key thinkers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas concerned with?

Answer 3

Concerned with what gives laws legitimacy

Question 4

Paul extract Romans 2:14-16

Answer 4

“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)” (Paul extract Romans 2:14-16)

Question 4

what is a just law?

Answer 4

A just law is a law that is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or law of God.

Question 5

what is an unjust law?

Answer 5

An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law or as Thomas Aquinas would say, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in natural or eternal law.

Question 6

what four types of law did Aquinas say there was?

Answer 6

Four Types of law: Eternal law, Divine law, Natural law and Human law.

Question 7

what is eternal law (Aquinas)?

Answer 7

Eternal law is the mind or reason of God. The wisdom of God is reflected in his creation (known directly by man).

Question 8

what is divine law (Aquinas)?

Answer 8

Divine law is the law revealed directly in the scriptures.

Question 9

what is natural law (Aquinas)?

Answer 9

Natural law is the order of all things according to the divine lawmaker (God). Essentially all rational creatures participate in natural law.

Question 10

what is human law (Aquinas)?

Answer 10

Human law is laws created by humans rooted in natural law.

Question 11

what is the synderesis principle?

Answer 11

According to Aquinas, when God created us, he gave us natural syndereresis inclinations. Rationality, the ability to reason is essential to the synderesis faculty. synderesis is an aspect of practical reasoning, which entails reasoning about the performance of moral actions

Question 12

what is the first command of law according to Aquinas?

Answer 12

“…the first principle for the practical reason…the first command of law [is] ‘that good is to be sought and done, evil is to be avoided.’ All other commands of Natural Law are based on this.”

Question 13

how do we achieve our purpose according to Aquinas?

Answer 13

For Aquinas, we can achieve our purpose by reflecting on our natural inclinations.

Question 14

what are real goods?

Answer 14

Real goods direct us to happiness or flourishing that results from fulfilling our essential natures in accordance with the precepts of the Natural law.

Question 15

what are apparent goods?

Answer 15

Apparent goods are where there is a lack of practical judgement or virtue that misdirects our actions to ends we mistakenly take to be good).

Question 16

what are primary precepts?

Answer 16

The primary precepts are the goals to which human action gravitates. They are absolute and universal self-evident principles and express natural human inclinations.

Question 17

what are the 5 main primary precepts?

Answer 17

Preserve life and health.
To live in an ordered society
Worship God
To learn and seek the truth and educate offspring
To reproduce

Question 18

what are secondary precepts?

Answer 18

Secondary precepts are derived from primary precepts through practical reasoning. They tend to be more specific. To work out a secondary precept we must identify and then be guided by the relevant primary precept. Primary precepts are descriptive whereas secondary precepts are prescriptive, primary precepts are absolute whereas secondary precepts can vary and are widely based on circumstance.

Question 19

what is phronesis

Answer 19

Phronesis is needed to avoid being swayed by our passions and do the right things for the right reasons.

Question 20

what is the difference between exterior and interior acts?

Answer 20

For an action to be morally right, both the intention and the act must be right.

Interior acts: intentions or motives
Exterior acts: actions

Question 21

As rational creatures, what did Aquinas say we are responsible for?

Answer 21

As rational creatures, we are responsible for both our desires and our motives according to Aquinas. The intention that wills the act determines whether it is good or evil.

Question 22

Romans 5:28?

Answer 22

“He who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Romans 5:28)

Question 23

what is casuistry?

Answer 23

Casuistry is the term used for how the general principles of Natural Law are applied to specific circumstances. It is a form of reasoning that tries to resolve moral problems by looking at how theoretical rules have been used in one situation and then applying these to new ones

Question 24

what is the doctrine of the double effect?

Answer 24

The principle of the double effect is an example of casuistry. This doctrine says that if doing something morally good has a morally bad side-effect, it’s ethically OK to do it providing the bad side-effect wasn’t intended.

The doctrine (or principle) of double effect is often invoked to explain the permissibility of an action that causes a serious harm, such as the death of a human being, as a side effect of promoting some good end. According to the principle of double effect, sometimes it is permissible to cause a harm as an unintended and merely foreseen side effect (or “double effect”) of bringing about a good result even though it would not be permissible to cause such a harm as a means to bringing about the same good end.

Question 25

what is an example of the doctrine of the double effect?

Answer 25

Eg. A pregnant woman has a cancerous uterus. To save the mother’s life a medical procedure results in the death of the foetus. As the intention was not the death of the foetus but the saving of the woman’s life, this accords with Natural Law.

Question 26

From Aristotle, Aquinas learned that…

Answer 26

The final cause of humans( to fulfil their purpose) was to achieve a maximal state of flourishing in their lives or eudaimonia which means all-around contentment.

1) nature is goal-directed; Aquinas believed that all creatures naturally pursue the behaviour and goals appropriate to their nature (telos).

2)humans possess a rational soul that can recognise God’s law. For Aristotle, the soul is the essence of all things and within it is the potential for growth or the actualisation of its essence.

3)True happiness or flourishing (eudaimonia) is bound up with a virtuous life. True fulfilment (eudaimonia) comes in the pursuit of excellence (arete) in terms of moral and intellectual virtues.

Question 27

what is the essence of a person?

Answer 27

his or her soul

Question 28

what are the three types of soul?

Answer 28

The soul of material things: Vegetative (potential for nutrition, growth and reproduction)

The soul of animals: Appetitive (potential for nutrition, growth, reproduction, sensation movement and the training of offspring)

The soul of humans: Rational mind (potential for nutrition, growth, reproduction, sensation movement, training of offspring, practical and theoretical reasoning, intellectual and moral virtues and Worshipping God.

Question 29

From Augustine, Aquinas learned that…

Answer 29

1)Human nature and reason are corrupted by the fall. Without divine grace, humans are incapable of living up to its standards let alone God’s.

2) Mankind’s proper end is a harmonious relationship with his creator God.Mankind’s imperfect happiness and fulfilment in this life is an indication that our souls were created for another life beyond death. This should direct our reason to the heavenly and eternal beatific vision of God as the ultimate source and satisfaction of human desire.

Question 30

romans 7:14

Answer 30

“ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” (Romans 7:14)

Question 31

privatio boni meaning

Answer 31

Evil is the privation of good (privatio boni).

Question 32

what is proportionalism?

Answer 32

Proportionalism is seen to be a middle theory between consequentialism and deontological ethics. It is the weighing of good and bad in unavoidable circumstances and then choosing the lesser of two evils.

Proportionalism is the application of Natural law and practical reasoning to bring about a proportionate good as opposed to the cruel inflexibility of exceptionless laws.

Question 33

criticisms of natural law

Answer 33

Evolutionary science has led to a widespread rejection of final causes or purposes in nature.

The Fact-Value Gap

The list of basic human goods varies across time and cultures.

Its absolutism can lead to negative consequences.

Natural law is too closely allied to the Roman Catholic Church

A theological objection: the fallen reason of mankind is not free and it is optimistic to think that it only goes wrong when mistakenly aiming at apparent rather than real goods.

Question 34

what is the fact-value gap?

Answer 34

The fact-value distinction distinguishes between what is the case (facts) and what people think ought to be the case (values) based on beliefs about what is good, beautiful, important, etc