Natural Law Flashcards
St Thomas Aquinas
is a key thinker behind natural law. He believed that human conduct must follow certain principles found in nature.
Universal and fixed principles
These principles are universal and fixed. That is, they apply to everyone, everywhere, all of the time.As humans, we have the ability to reason and work out what these principles are.
Deontolgical theory
His theory is deontological, meaning it is only concerned with human action; not the result or consequence of that action.
“Do good and avoid evil”
The central principle or Synderesis rule of natural law is that “Good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided .Using this as the overriding guiding principle, we as humans must use our reason to work out what is the right action.
Eudaimonia
Aquinas believed that humans act to achieve happiness. This is not simply feeling happy; it is not bodily happiness. It is a deeper sort of happiness. It could be defined more closely as human flourishing. Aquinas believed that this sort of happiness cannot be achieved in this world but only once we are reunited with God.
4 tiers of law
Aquinas believed that there are four types of law that are made known to humans.
The Eternal Law
For Aquinas, the Eternal Law is part of God.it is universal and absolute - that is, unchanging and applies to everyone, everywhere all of the time.
The Divine Law
The laws and rules found in the Bible.For example, the Decalogue or Jesus’ Parables.
The Divine Law has been revealed by God.The Divine Law shows humans how they should live their lives
The Natural Law
All humans can become aware of God’s eternal law through Natural Law.Humans have the ability to reason (unlike animals) so they can work out, by observing the world, what actions follow this Natural Law.
Through natural law, humans can be aware of God’s Eternal Law even if they have not read the Bible.
The Human Law
The laws that humans create for their society that are derived from the Natural and Divine law.
Many societies have developed similar laws to preserve life or care for the sick, for example.
The five precepts - PROWL
Preservation of Life - to defend and protect human life.
Reproduce - to continue God’s creation.
Ordered Society - to live in a lawful society following the primary precepts.
Worship God - to pray to God who gives the eternal law.
Learn / education - to learn and teach others about God and his law.
Secondary precepts
is an application of the Natural Law to a specific situation.
The secondary precepts vary depending on the situation. But they will always uphold the primary precepts. e.g do not murder upholds the primary precept of preservation of life.
This continues to influence the Catholic Church today, which teaches that homosexual activity is a sin because it cannot lead to reproduction.
Apparent good
An apparent good is when someone makes a wrong decision because they fail to apply reason correctly.
They are not intentionally pursuing the wrong action. They have just made a mistake about what they think is the right thing to. For Aquinas, sin exists because humans give into temptation and pursue apparent goods instead of real goods.
Doctrine of double effect
accepts that one action may have more than one effect and that sometimes, the effect may be bad
Ectopic pregnancy , doctrine of double effect
For example, a pregnant woman who has an ectopic pregnancy undergoes a procedure to save her life. The primary aim of the procedure is to save the life of the mother; a secondary effect is that the pregnancy is terminated. Aquinas would accept that a bad effect has come out of good action, but that this is unintentional.
Reasons natural law is helpful
It provides a framework for making moral decisions rather than leaving morality open to subjectiveness.
It is universal and accessible to all.
it makes sense: we as humans want to protect those who are vulnerable and know education is essential for the good of society.
It supports human rights - natural law aims to protect and benefit all people equally.
Reasons natural law is unhelpful
Aquinas precepts are based on a belief in God - this is unhelpful to atheists.
It ignores the complex nature of human beings and assumes all strive for the same end.
Some argue that it is out of date and ignores what is now socially acceptable (e.g. homosexual relationships and same-sex marriage).
Humans strive for good
There must be some shared morality for society to operate.
E.g. the protection of life, the education of children, the continuation of the human species.
Humans do not strive for good
Hobbes argues that human nature is dangerous: that humans strive to get the things they want for themselves and do not consider others.
E.g. humans can be selfish.
We cannot all be striving for good because our collective actions are damaging nature itself.
E.g. deforestation and pollution
Does the universe have a telos?
Some argue the universe does not have a telos.
If someone does not accept that the world was created by God, then its creation and the universe is random and changeable.
Concepts that were once considered “natural” are then challenged.
The primary precept of reproduction entirely assumes that the female purpose is to have children.
Many people would consider this notion to be old-fashioned and challenges the idea that there is one single pre-established end.
Can the doctrine justify acts?
The doctrine of double effect allows for some flexibility in natural law when the moral problem seems impossible.
Aquinas uses the example of self-defence to illustrate his point.
If we are being attacked, we may use proportionate force to save ourselves. If this results in the death of our attacker, this is lawful as long as we used proportionate force and our intention was to save our own life.
Issue with doctrine: motives
Aquinas is concerned with motives. Herein lies the problem. We cannot know someone’s true motives.
They may say they acted to save their life, but how can we really know? This then opens the door to the doctrine being abused when the agent says they acted with good motives when really they did not.
