Natural law Flashcards
normative ethical theories: religious approaches
scholar: Aristotle
-empiricist/ scientist/ Father of formal logic
-everything in the natural world has a purpose (telos)
-human telos is to reach eudaimonia (human flourishing)
-reason is the way to work out this purpose
scholar: Aquinas
-inspired by Aristotle’s ideas of purpose
-human telos is to become God like = perfection
-done by using reason (a ‘gift from God’)
-reason can be used to find out what God wants through the workings of nature
Religious developments
-main ethical principle around Aquinas’ time was ‘Divine Command theory’
-divine = God
-command = law/rule
-God commands what is right and wrong
-problem = God could say anything about what is right and wrong, would have to do it, what about new laws?, what happens if you don’t believe in God
-Aquinas made a new theory, disliked divine command theory
-made natural law theory – proposed; nature decides what is right and wrong, God made nature but it works on its own, ethics comes from nature
propositions of Natural Law
-proposed;
1.nature decides what is right and wrong
2.God made nature but it works on its own
3.ethics comes from nature not God
-combined science and God
four tiers of law
- Eternal law – mind of God, beyond human knowledge, principles by which God made and controls the universe, get little glimpses of it, humans cannot reach it
- Divine law – law of God revealed to people through Bible “Word of God’, Church transmits Divine Law to people, particularly the Sermon on the Mount
- Natural law – moral law of God within human nature, everyone has a natural sense ‘that good is to be done and evil avoided’ synderesis rule, directs our conscience and if applied with reason, leads to right action
- Human law – the law of nations, everyday rules
Atheist
-Aquinas believed that God made it possible for all human beings to achieve their ultimate purpose in life by power of reason alone
-by using reason (natural law) and word of God (divine law) makes it easier to reach God
-those who don’t believe will find it more difficult to achieve telos but not impossible
1. reason given by God
2. reason = works out purpose or telos
3. reason = helps us work out good from bad
Synderesis Rule
-“Good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided” - Aquinas
-know through ‘recta ratio’ (right reason) of basic moral principles
-thought process behind making moral decisions is known as synderesis
-technique used to work out telos of action to see if it’s ethically good = ‘casuistry’
-applying reason to particular situations of right and wrong = ‘conscientia’
-believes that we never purposefully pursue evil
-sometimes evil happens because of ‘apparent’ and not ‘real’ goods
Apparent Goods
-appear good but in reality don’t fit perfect human ideal
-reason why humans do things wrong and cause evil
-think you are doing the right thing but not
-example, helping a distressed man but only because he is good looking not because he is distressed
real goods
-supreme goodness
-reason used correctly
-fits with final telos achieved = perfection
-example, helping a distressed man because he is distressed
deontological
-focuses on actions and intentions rather than outcomes
-‘Deon’ = duty
-if actions (conscientia) and intentions (synderesis) are good = real good is met
-focused on intention not outcome
primary precepts
-foundation, most important, come first
-true to everyone without exception
-direct ‘reflections’ of God’s eternal law
-laws or precepts built into nature
-understood using reason
-in order for people to be able to concentrate on Natural Law, need to live in a civilised society were you are free to survive and flourish
-lead to five primary precepts
five primary precepts
- preservation of life - life won’t continue
- reproduction - don’t reproduce, human life will die out
- education of young -
- living peacefully in society -
- worship God -
-1-4 is what you have to do
Pope Paul VI
-heavily influences the Doctrines of Catholic Church
-“the Church … in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law … teaches as absolutely required that any use whatsoever of marriage must retain its natural potential to procreate human life”
secondary precepts
-each primary precept can be developed into secondary precepts which are practical human rules that govern our daily behaviour
-primary precepts = set in stone, secondary precepts vary from the law to what is accepted within families
-makes secondary precepts realistic and flexible
doctrine of double effect
-sometimes you cannot do good without bad consequences
-doctrine of double effect = solution
-always wrong to do bad intentionally to bring about good (bad to do good = wrong)
-but sometimes it is right to do good actions despite knowing it will bring bad consequences (good action leading to bad consequences = right)
-however, the bad is ONLY unintended side effects
-bad consequences foreseen but not intended
example: euthanasia
-roman catholic church = opposed to euthanasia as it’s murder; “a grave violation of the law of God”
-however, a doctor gives a large dosage of morphine to eliminate patients pain and results in death, seen as doctrine of double effect
-doctors intention to relieve pain not to end his life, foreseen possibility that is unavoidable
-intentions were true
evaluation: strengths
-based on reason - open to anyone who can use reason
-focused on search for happiness and fulfilment
-children seem to have an innate sense of right and wrong and natural law can appeal to this
-Christian version (Aquinas) unites faith with reason
-primary precepts provide an absolute framework - applies same principles to everyone
-clear, cut and straightforward - should be accessible to everyone
-establishes common, universal rules
-should be simple to find answers to ethical dilemmas based on something more concrete than personal opinion
-timeless - primary precepts could be said to apply to everyone throughout time
-secondary precepts allow for flexibility
evaluation: weaknesses
-how do you decide what ‘natural’ is? example, should doctors try to prolong the life of someone who is ill, when death = natural consequence of illness?
-quite general rules -not very adaptable or simple to apply to everyday situations
-nature changes – evolution = so does natural law change too?
-some principles of natural law can lead to absurd conclusions
evaluation: philosophical weaknesses
-Dawkins (in “The Selfish Gene”), would argue there is no God governing creation but everything can be explained in terms of evolution
-Moore, Aquinas talks of real and apparent goods, what is the meaning of goodness? trying to explain goodness is like trying to explain the colour yellow (synoptic link: meta-ethics)
-Barth, reason is fallible (untrustworthy), should rely on divine revelation in scripture for right and wrong
-Nielsen, not one unified human nature, it alters over cultural relativism and moral standards in society, humans have changeable natures, example, homosexuality in different countries, not taken into consideration
-Vardy and Grosch - Aquinas’ view on human nature is ‘too simplistic’
