Natural Law Flashcards
What is Aristotle’s concept of telos?
Telos refers to the purpose or aim of everything in the universe. Aristotle believed that all humans and actions have a telos.
What does Aristotle see as the telos of humans?
The telos of humans is eudaimonia—flourishing and living well. This requires pleasure, participation in society, and academic development.
How did the Stoics view the world?
The Stoics saw the world as ordered and arranged by nature or the gods in the best way possible.
What role does reason play in Stoic philosophy?
Stoics believed that a divine spark within humans helps them reason and understand the universe, leading to a good life.
How did Stoics believe one could achieve happiness?
By accepting the natural order of things and living according to nature’s rules.
What three key ideas does Aquinas base his natural law theory on?
Telos – Humans have a purpose or end.
Reason – The world is ordered and rational, and humans can understand it through reason.
Nature – Humans should act in accordance with their nature.
What are Aquinas’ four tiers of law?
Eternal Law – Moral truths in the mind of God that humans cannot fully understand.
Divine Law – Laws revealed by God through scripture (e.g., the Ten Commandments).
Natural Law – The moral thinking that humans can do through reason, even without scripture.
Human Law – The laws made by societies, which must align with divine and natural law to be just.
What does Aquinas say about laws that do not align with divine and natural law?
They may be legally valid but are not morally just.
What is the synderesis rule?
The principle that humans should “do good and avoid evil.”
What are the five primary precepts in Aquinas’ natural law?
Preservation of life
Reproduction
Learning
Living in an ordered society
Worshiping God
What are secondary precepts?
Specific moral rules derived from the primary precepts, such as “do not kill” from the precept of preserving life.
What is the difference between real and apparent goods?
Real good aligns with natural law and leads to moral flourishing.
Apparent good seems desirable but does not truly fulfill human telos (e.g., pursuing pleasure over moral integrity).
How does Aquinas apply natural law to sexual ethics?
If a married man is attracted to his friend’s wife, he may justify an affair as an “apparent good” (pleasure), but it is morally wrong because it does not align with true human flourishing.
What is the Doctrine of Double Effect?
The idea that an action with both good and bad effects can be morally permissible if the intention is good (e.g., administering pain relief that unintentionally shortens a patient’s life).
How does John Finnis’ view of natural law differ from Aquinas’?
Finnis focuses on basic forms of human flourishing, such as life, knowledge, and spirituality, rather than Aquinas’ rigid precepts.
What does Finnis argue are necessary for a good life?
The pursuit of basic goods for all, a sense of purpose, and acting according to conscience.
What are the strengths of natural law?
It provides clear and firm moral principles (absolutist).
The primary precepts align with widely accepted moral values.
Secondary precepts allow for some flexibility in different contexts.
What are some criticisms of the idea of telos?
Not all humans have the same purpose (e.g., hermits choosing isolation).
The naturalistic fallacy—assuming that what is natural is what ought to be.
Existentialist philosophers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, argue that humans create their own purpose rather than having a predetermined telos.
What are criticisms of natural law itself?
Too legalistic—focusing on rigid rules rather than human dignity.
Outdated—some views (e.g., on homosexuality and contraception) seem out of touch with modern society.
The assumption that all moral mistakes are due to reasoning errors is naïve—some people knowingly choose to do evil.
