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Ethics basics > Natural Law > Flashcards

Natural Law Flashcards

1
Q

What kind of ethic? (NL)

A

Absolutist
Deontological
Christian

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2
Q

What are the Five Primary Precepts?

A

Preserve life
Ordered society
Worship God
Educate
Reproduce

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3
Q

What is the principle of synderesis? (human inclination)

A

Do good and avoid evil.
“Good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided” - St. Thomas Aquinas

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4
Q

Aquinas’ view on Telos

A

Humans act to achieve happiness in heaven with God (eudaimonia)

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5
Q

What are the four levels of law

A

Eternal
Divine
Natural
Human

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6
Q

The eternal law

A

Universal and unchanging, the law of God

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7
Q

the Divine law

A

Laws and rules in the Bible, revealed by God that guide humans

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8
Q

the Natural law

A

humans become aware of eternal law through reasoning

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9
Q

the Human law

A

laws humans create in their society, derived from natural and divine law.

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10
Q

Secondary precepts

A

application of Natural Law in a specific situation that upholds the primary precepts

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11
Q

What is an apparent good

A

when someone makes a wrong decision unintentionally due to incorrect moral reasoning. pursuit of these is the cause of sin.

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12
Q

Doctrine of double effect

A

one action can have more than one effect that sometimes could be bad. as long as the intention upholds the primary precepts the action is not done immorally

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13
Q

What book includes Aquinas‘ arguments for God‘s existence and his natural law theory

A

Summa theologica

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14
Q

Who’s views was Aquinas attempting to harmonise with Christianity

A

Aristotle’s
Notably his observations of causation and telos

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15
Q

What about the influence of stoicism
pre-dates the Christian approach to natural law

A

World is an ordered place, within which is a moral law
Path to human happiness is accepting the natural order of things and living in accordance to nature’s rules

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16
Q

What is the semi-official teaching of the Catholic Church

A

Natural Law

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17
Q

NL BASICS: what is the telos of every human

A

to be in union with God in heaven

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18
Q

NL BASICS: why is God benevolent

A

he gave us the tools we need to achieve our telos (rationality)

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19
Q

NL BASICS: What did God give us to work out how to be good

A

rationality

20
Q

NL BASICS: what are we naturally inclined to pursue

A

five primary precepts

21
Q

NL BASICS: how do we deduce secondary precepts

A

apply rationality to the five primary precepts

22
Q

NL BASICS: when is evil brought into the world

A

when we mistakenly believe we are doing good, all immoral actions come from misapplied reason

23
Q

NL BASICS: intention matters because

A

actions lead to both good and bad effects, as long as the good consequences were intended and the act itself was good then the action was moral

24
Q

What is the similarity of Aquinas’ and Aristotle’s views of telos

A

Our human telos is eudaimonia (human flourishing) that leads to ultimate happiness, not merely pleasure

25
Q

What is the difference of Aquinas’ and Aristotle’s views of telos

A

Eudaimonia is merely an earthly goal for Aristotle, but for Aquinas it is with God in heaven

26
Q

When is something ‘good’ in the teachings of Aristotle and Aquinas

A

a thing is good if it achieves its telos. for example: a pen is good if it can be used to write

27
Q

what does Natural law involve

A

application of God-given reason to our natural inclination to do good and avoid evil.
we discover natural laws in considering what is good for Eudaimonia

28
Q

What does divine law do for natural law

A

it simply confirms what can be known rationally through NL.
Example: Jews knew rationally that adultery was wrong before the ten commandments

29
Q

what did Aquinas say on breaking human law if it doesn’t align with natural law

A

‘if rulers command unjust things, their subjects are not entitled to obey them’

30
Q

Examples of people breaking HL as it breaches NL (a reflection of EL)

A

MLK Jr: rejected human laws that prevented peaceful protest as ‘unjust’
NAZI GERMANY: Nazi leaders punished despite following human laws for breaking ‘natural laws’

31
Q

Biblical basis of NL (Romans 2:14-16)

A

‘even Gentiles […] show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, […] They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts’

32
Q

where does Aquinas show that a challenge to NL is a challenge to God

A

‘to ignore the dictate of reason is equivalent to condemning the will of God’

33
Q

Aquinas’ belief on people doing wrong

A

nobody is ever deliberately immoral

34
Q

what is a REAL GOOD

A

an action which is actually good and consistent with the moral principles of NL

35
Q

what is an APPARENT GOOD

A

action which someone mistakenly thinks it is a real good, but they have not reasoned correctly

36
Q

Example of misapplied reason when making moral mistakes

A

ADULTERY
mistakenly understood ‘pleasure’ as a real good

37
Q

what did Aquinas believe about the Primary Precepts

A
  • self-evident
  • natural inclinations
  • absolute
  • universal
38
Q

what is the greatest benefit to the secondary precepts

A

offers some flexibility (possible applications, not solid rules)

39
Q

how does the Catholic Church’s application of secondary precepts differ to Aquinas’

A

they have fixed secondary precepts, such as the absolute rejection of artificial contraception

40
Q

what does the Catholic application of NL prove

A

Rationality can lead to different conclusions.
CC rejects artificial contraception, Non-Catholics may see it as beneficial as it prevents spread of disease (P) and overpopulation (O)

41
Q

what can actions be broken into

A

interior acts: the motive
exterior acts: the act itself
BOTH MUST BE GOODFOR ACTIONS TO BE MORAL

42
Q

what example does Aquinas use for doctrine of double effect

A

SELF-DEFENCE: murder in self-defence is not immoral as it intends to save ones life, not to kill the aggressor

43
Q

Application of the Doctrine of Double Effect: abortion

A

Abortion is permissible if the operation (exterior act) is done to save the woman’s life as that is the interior act, not to end the life of the foetus

44
Q

Application of the Doctrine of Double Effect: Euthanasia

A

Doctor administers a large dose of morphine (exterior act) to relieve the patient’s pain (interior act) with the secondary effect of killing the patient

45
Q

How is the naturalistic fallacy a factor against NL

A

It falsely assumed that what is ‘natural’ to us (pursue good and avoid evil) is good and anything opposing that is bad

Ethics basics (5 decks)

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