Natural Law Flashcards
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What is normative ethics?
The examination of right and wrong. A focus on ‘what kind of person should I be’
What does deontological mean?
Deon = Duty (greek) says that we should always focus on the right action.
Teleological
Telos = end/purpose (greek) This says we should always focus on the consequences.
What is telos?
The idea is that everything has a nature which directs it towards a particular end goal.
What ethical position is teleological?
Where actions are right/wrong based on the outcome and consequence of the action.
What ethical position is deontological?
Where Actions are intrinsically right/wrong despite the situation
What is moral duty?
A moral obligation. A duty which one owes and ought to perform, but which they are not legally bound to fulfil.
What is natural moral law? (in relation to Aristotle)
Everything has a nature and a purpose that directs it to a particular end, For humans this is eudaimonia. the supreme good is found when humans fulfil that purpose. Natural justice (law) is independent and applies to everyone no matter where they live.
What is eudaimonia?
The supreme good is found when a human fulfils its nature or purpose.
What is the purpose of humans? (according to Aristotle)
To reason between right and wrong.
‘Human good turns out to be an activity of the rational part of the soul in accordance with virtue.’
What did Cicero say about Natural moral law?
‘True law is right reason in agreement with nature’
‘there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law’
What did St Paul say about natural moral law?
‘they show that what the law requires is written on their hearts’
What is natural moral law (concerning St. Thomas Aquinas)?
a moral code existing within the purpose of nature, created by god.
Natural law theory?
Everything has a purpose, and mankind was made by God with a specific design in mind. This purpose can be known through reason.
What does Aquinas believe is the end goal for humans?
Glorifying God by following God’s moral law.
What quote can be used as evidence for NML (Aquinas)
‘the light of reason is placed by nature in every man, to guide him in his acts towards the end’
What is god- given reason?
The belief that god has given humans the ability to cognitively process the difference between right and wrong.
What are the four causes?
- the material cause
- the efficient cause (worshipping God)
- the formal cause
- the final cause. (Heaven)
whatever promotes the final cause is right, whatever goes against it is wrong.
What is the efficient cause
What gets things done?
What is the final cause?
The goal or end purpose.
What did Aquinas say about the four causes?
humans can work out what is good by working out the different causes.
What are the 4 types of law according to Aquinas?
- eternal law
- divine law
- natural moral law
-human law
What is eternal law?
laws that exist within creation because God put them there.
What is divine law?
revealed principles of morality from god, e.g. the message of the bible.
What is human law?
formulated by humans based on the rest of the four laws.
What does it mean to be an agent?
the moral agent- the person involved in making an ethical decision.
What is synderesis?
The innate principle in the moral consciousness of ever person which directs the agent to to good and restrains him from evil.
this directs our conscience and if humans apply god given reason it will lead to the right actions.
What is natural moral law?
A theory that proposes the existence of a law whose content is set by nature, derived from god and that therefore has validity everywhere.
What did cicero say?
‘True law is right reason in agreement with nature.’
What did st Thomas Aquinas say about natural law?
‘Man needs to directed to his supernatural end in a higher way’
What did St Thomas Aquinas say about Human nature?
There is a basic human law within all other natural laws played a part. ‘good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided.’(synderesis) (Human nature is essentially good)
What is an apparent good and how does this relate to St Thomas Aquinas?
Aristotle’s ‘apparent good’ refers to what someone believes or takes to be good and also, sometimes simultaneously, to what merely seems to be good as opposed to what genuinely is. this where Aquinas believes evil to come from. we may do something that seems good but has an evil effect.
What quote talks about reason and god?
‘To disparage the dictate of reason is equivalent to condemning the command of God’
What are the primary precepts?
W- worship god
O- ordered society
R- reproduction
L- learn
D- defend life (preservation of life.
Human purpose according to Aquinas?
ultimate purpose and destiny of human life is union with god. to achieve this human should avoid being enslaved by non-natural non-rational desires.
What is beatific vision?
The ultimate and direct self communication of God to humans.
What does Teleological mean?
In natural moral law , the primary precepts are teleological, their aim to bring in complete well-being in this life and union with God in the next.
The beatific vision.
According to Aquinas, humans are naturally inclined tp seek happiness but true happiness can only be achieved through a direct union with god. this is the beatific vison. This union is the ultimate goal of human life, and Aquinas believed it could only be achieved in the afterlife.
What is the final cause?
The final cause is the matter of intent - what was gods purpose behind sex? the final cause assumes a rational mind behind creation.
What is the efficent cause?
what gets things done? why is it done besides the intention of god.
In further detail what are the primary precepts?
A series of rules that are required to reach human flourishing. the natural world reveals these laws to us so we know them instinctively.
What are the secondary precepts?
deontological rulings about things that we should or shouldn’t do because they uphold or fail to uphold the primary precepts.
Natural law quote - Aquinas?
‘the natural law is altogether unchangeable in its first principles.’
What is cultural relativism?
the view that all beliefs, customs and ethics are relative to the individual within his onw social context. in other words, what is right and wrong is culture specific. no one has the right to judge another society’s customs.
What is an intrinsic good?
something that is ethically good in and of itself.
What is a virtue?
a quality, trait or disposition in a person, held to be of moral value.
If we have reason, why do things happen that go against the primary precepts?
‘since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god.’
humans will always fall short of what is best for them because this si a fallen world and humans violated their perfect relationship with god and the natural order that was instituted at the creation.
What does aquinas believe about human nature?
human nature is essentially good ans the natural law in everyone. humans are oriented towards the acheievement of perfection, and they could never knowingly pursue evil
What quote can be used to back up the apparent good?
‘a fornicator seeks pleasure in that which involves him in moral guilt.’
What quote can be used to support the idea of human nature (aquinas).
‘no evil can be desirable, either by natuarl appeticte or by consious will. it is sought indirectly namley because it is the consequence of some good.’
What is a real good?
using reason to make decisions that will lead us to our purpose , union with god.
How can humans reach the real good?
aquinas argues that it is morally essential for us to follow virtuous behavior. the four cardinal virtues are Prudence, Justice , Fortitude,and temperance these virtues allow the self to fulfil its purpose and telos (to flourish)
What are the theological virtues given by god’s grace.
Faith, Hope and love. Faith refers to the beleif in what is revelaed through scripture and the church. Hope i the hope of heaven and the beatific vision. And love is love of god above all things, and love of ones neighbour through love of god.
What is St pauls quote about love?
‘love…binds everything together in perfect harmony’
What is the CCC quote about the virtues?
‘the theological virtues are the foundation of christina moral activity….they are infused into the souls of the faithfull to make them capable of acting as his children and meriting of life.’
What are interior and exterior acts?
for aquinas botht he intention and the act are important. to act in a good way for the wrong reason is to perfom a good exterior act but a bad interior act. it should be done out of charity and not for the sake of admiration by others.god knows all geniune inteneions.
What is a quote used to back up aquinas thoughts about interior and exterior acts?
’ so when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do.’
What is the doctrine of double effect?
if an action has an effect that goes against human reason but tht effecct is the accidental and unintended result of and action that follows the precpets, then it is acceptable.
what did POJMAN say about the DODE?
‘it is sometimes permisable to do a good act sepite knowing that it will bring about bad consequences.’
What did Aquinas say about the DODE?
‘nothing hinders one act from having two effects, only one of which is intended while the other is beside the intnention.’
‘since one’s intnetion is to save one own’s life is not unlawful.’
An example of a situation where the double effect is used is
in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilised egg implants in a womans fallopian tube, rather than in her womb.this is always fatal for the foetus but if left ubtreated is fatal for the mother too. a doctor who removes a womans ovary when she has an ectopic prganacy is acting to save her life, so they are follwing the first precept. an accidental consequence is that the fetus dies, but this is acceptable.
What is manualism?
the tradition of producing manuals (rule books) for use in catholic seminaries to train clergy in applying NML to difficult cases.
What are manuals?
rule books designed for use in catholic church seminaries to train the clergy in understanding how to live out their faith morally
How did manualism come about?
In the seventeenth century, the preference for a morality of obligation and rules led the catholic church to write manuals of morality.
What is proportionalism?
A move to simplify NML and make it more applicable to everyday life. it arose from an increasing concern that ethics in catholicism was too deontological rigid.
What is proportionalism in more detail?
It responds to NML by working within its framework but without enforcing a strict, inflexible and absolutist regime. So, where proportionate reason exists, it would be right to ignore a precept in that situation.
What does proportionalism consider?
- the intention of the moral agent
- the value of the good effect weighed against the disvalue of the bad effect.
How does the catholic church respond to proportionalism?
- PJP in his encyclical ‘veraitis splendor’ stated that proportionalsm is wrong because it denies that any action in and of itself can be instricly evil. ie. rape or child torture
- they worry that it would justify evil actions that bring about a good consequence.
What are the strengths of proportionalisim?
- allows a more compassionate stance and takes into account modern issues.
- flexible and recognises that natural laws must change under individual circumstances.
- allows individuals to be autonomous. as is based on common sense within the framework of NML
- has been around a long time and Is robust.
What are the weaknesses of proportionalism?
- it relies on human judgement, making it fallible and not following what god intended.
- denies that an action can be intrinsically evil.
- consequentialist way of making moral decisions- how can we make accurate predictions about the value/ disvalue of an action an what the consequences will be?
- if a law is natural how can it be changed it’s too subjective making moral decisions unclear.
What did Bernard Hoose say about Natural law?
‘but a system of guidelines which individuals must navigate for themselves.
What did McCormick say about natural law?
‘magisterium dominated, canon law centred and seminary controlled.’
What did Aquinas say in relation to proprtionalism?
‘if the need be so manifest and urgent..’
What did Bernard Hoose say about proprtionalism?
‘what the proportinalists have doneis point out the inconsistency and invalidity of such thinking’
quote, that argues for breaking the precepts?
‘this situation must be sufficiently unusual and of sufficient magnitude to provide a reason which would overturn what would otherwise be a firm rule.’
