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Ethics > natural law > Flashcards

natural law Flashcards

1
Q

what did aquinas believe

A
  • god is immutable (changeless) and therefore consistent
  • god is absolutely good, and the purpose of creation was to reflect that goodness
  • the laws of nature reflect gods nature and regulate the created world
  • everything has a final cause and the final cause of humanity is eudaimonia
    • the earthy goal of eudaimonia relates to
      humans
    • the final cause is the beatific vision
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2
Q

what is the beatific vision

A
  • eternal life with god
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3
Q

what are the parts of the four fold division

A
  • eternal law
  • divine law
  • natural moral law
  • human law
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4
Q

what is eternal law

A
  • gods blueprint for the natural and moral order of things
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5
Q

what is divine law

A
  • gods special revelation given to humanity in the bible and the teachings of the catholic church, which contains truth not discoverable by human reason but only through gods grace
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6
Q

what is natural moral law

A
  • gods eternal law revealed through nature and interpreted by reason
  • it is not dependent on belief in god or special revelation
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7
Q

what is human law

A
  • the systems of law built up by human societies, based on natural law
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8
Q

what are Aquinas’s three primary precepts

A
  • what humans share with all other created entities
  • what humans share with other animals
  • what humans have uniquely as rational beings
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9
Q

what are the five manualist precepts

A
  • sanctity of life
  • preservation of life
  • reproduction of the species
  • worship god
  • living in an ordered society
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10
Q

who were the manualists

A
  • the seventeenth century writers of manuals for training catholic clergy
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11
Q
  • what are the secondary precepts
A
  • rules showing humans how to apply the primary precepts to specific situations in their lives
  • whatever promotes or hinders humanities telos is either right or wrong
  • e.g contraception is wrong because it prevents the reproduction of the species
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12
Q

what are real and apparent goods

A
  • despite the desire to do good, humans fall short of gods intentions for them because they confuse what seems to be good with what is actually good
  • the real good is reached through the practice of the virtues
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13
Q

what are the four cardinal virtues aquinas stole from aristotle

A
  • prudence
  • fortitude
  • temperance
  • justice
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14
Q

what are the four criteria of the double effect rule

A
  • the nature of the act condition (the morality of the proposed action must be good or neutral)
  • the means-end condition (the bad effect of the action must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved)
  • the good intention condition (the intention must be to achieve the good effect. the bad effect may be foreseen but must not be intended)
  • the proportionality condition (the good effect must at be at least proportionate in its significance to the bad effect)
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15
Q

what is proportionalism

A
  • a moral principle should be firmly upheld unless there is a proportionate reason for not doing so
  • there are no intrinsically evil acts
  • two things must be taken into account
    • the intention of the moral agent
    • the value of the good effect weighed against
      the disvalue of the bad effect
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16
Q

strengths of proportionalism

A
  • its use in just war theory shows that it works
  • in situations where it is applied, it makes good sense
17
Q

weaknesses of proportionalism

A
  • the magisterium has denounces it because of its claim that there are no intrinsic evils
  • its calculation of value and disvalue seems consequentialist
  • in the cases where it is used, it may not be easy to give an accurate prediction of the outcome
18
Q

strengths of natural law

A
  • easy to follow rules
  • many think morality is more than just individual preferences: some things are intrinsically right and wrong
  • the distinction between real and apparent goods allows for human error
19
Q

weaknesses of natural law

A
  • many disagree with the idea of having a common nature. (homosexuality)
  • applying the secondary precepts can have disastrous consequences (banning contraception leading to the spread of HIV)
20
Q

how would natural law respond to theft

A
  • theft breaches the primary precept of living in an ordered society
  • aquinas made an exception in the case of a starving man stealing food
  • proportionalism would agree with Aquinas’s exception since the intention behind it is good and the value of saving a life would be proportionately greater than the disvalue of theft
21
Q

how would natural law and proportionalism respond to lying

A
  • lying breaks the precept of living in an ordered society
  • its generally accepted to be included in the commandment relating to perjury
  • aquinas viewed all forms of lying as wrong however he saw keeping back the truth as okay (a necessary lie)
  • proportionalism would agree that in most cases lying is morally wrong
  • the value of lying to save someone’s life is worth more
22
Q

how would natural law respond to IVF

A
  • creation of an embryo through IVF breaches three PP
    • Worship of God – those responsible for the
      IVF process are playing god. god alone is the
      creator of life
      - Reproduction – its wrong to seperate the
      sexual act from the procreative act
    • Living in an Ordered Society
23
Q

how would natural law respond to the destruction of embryos

A
  • breaches a PP and a commandment
  • in NL the intention and the action must be good
24
Q

how does NL respond to the creation of designer babies for social reasons

A
  • goes against two PP
    • breaches worship of god as god is taken out
      of the equation
    • breaches living in an OS as it assesses
      human life in terms of its value to society
      and devalues the weak, leads to
      discrimination based on wealth and may
      lead to a super race of humans
25
Q

how would natural law respond to abortion

A
  • doesnt like it except in the case of the double effect rule
26
Q

how would you apply natural law to voluntary euthanasia

A
  • dont like it as it breaks three PP
    - worship god – life is gods gift
    - preservation of life – god is the only one
    who can take life
    - ordered society – encourages
    discrimination against the disabled
  • suffering can have the positive purpose of enabling spiritual growth
27
Q

how would natural law apply to capital punishment

A
  • ok if carried out by the state
  • supports the precept of living in an ordered society
28
Q

how would natural law respond to issues involving animals

A
  • hierarchy of the souls
  • any legal penalty was given to the owner not the animal
  • animals have no right to life
  • animal testing fulfills a PP
  • rejects any kind of cloning
29
Q

how do modern catholics view the issues surrounding animals

A
  • softer approach
  • its view is still anthropocentric and so the needs of humans are priority
  • at the same time the catechism of the CC states that animals are created by god with intrinsic value and that ‘men owe them kindness’
  • animal testing is allowed because of its value to humans but suffering must be kept to a minimum

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