Natural Law📖 Flashcards
who was natural law created by?
Saint Thomas Aquinas
what were Aquinas’ dates?
1225-1274 AD
who was Aquinas influenced by?
Greek philosopher, Aristotle
what were Aristotle’s dates?
384-322 BC
what type of ethic is natural law and where is it practiced?
religious ethic practiced in the catholic church
is natural law teleological or deontological?
both but mainly deontological
what does ‘deon’ mean and what language is it?
duty in Greek
what does ‘telos’ mean and what language is it from?
end in Greek
what does deontological mean?
only the action itself is judged and not the reason for the action
what is the purpose of natural law?
Aquinas wanted to illustrate what the end purpose is for humanity and show humanity ways to achieve that end purpose
according to Aquinas, what can moral agents use their reason to do?
to work out God’s purpose for humanity
who was Aquinas inspired by for the ‘reason’ part of his theory?
Aristotle
what did Aristotle believe about reason?
key element of human existence that distinguishes us from the rest of the creation
what did Aquinas believe about reason?
he ‘christianised’ this theory and said that the human ability to reason was a gift from God
“The moral life is the life…”
“…according to reason.”
Aquinas
who was Aquinas influenced by with his theory of the ‘highest good’?
Aristotle
what does the term ‘highest good’ mean?
ultimate end purpose
what did Aristotle believe was humanities highest good?
Eudaimonia- the pursuit of happiness
what did Aquinas argue was humanities highest good?
to become more like God
how can humanity develop into the image of God according to Aquinas?
by obeying our end purposes set by God which natural law will reveal
what are the ‘four levels of law’ according to Aquinas?
eternal law
divine law
natural law
human law
what is eternal law?
the deontological laws that god created that control the whole universe e.g gravity
can humans fully know eternal law?
no, we can only see a reflection because human brains don’t have the capacity
how can humans see a reflection of God’s eternal laws?
through divine and natural law
what is divine law?
laws in the Bible e.g the 10 commandments e.g “thou shall not steal”
what is natural law?
law revealed through our god given innate, our ability to think
what is human law?
the deontological rules in our society enforced by the police and courts, e.g laws that state that you can’t murder
what are the 3 types of precepts that Aquinas reasoned out?
key, primary and secondary
according to Aquinas what was the key precept?
“Do good and avoid evil”
“Natural law is the law written…”
“…on all our hearts”
why do we need the primary precepts?
to know what’s good and what’s evil
what were the primary precepts according to Aquinas?
5 human purposes based on humanities natural inclinations, they are permanent, universal and unchanging
“there is a single…”
“…standard of truth for everyone.”
what are the 5 primary precepts? (POWER)
preservation of life orderly living in society worship God education reproduction of the human species
how do we get the deontological secondary precepts?
by reasoning out the primary precepts
what happens when you follow the primary precepts?
moral agents will re-stablish a a right relationship with God and gain eternal life in heaven, with God when they die
what is a virtue?
an excellence in our character
what is a vice?
a weakness in our character
how many virtues are there?
7
- 4 cardinal
- 3 revealed
what are the 4 cardinal virtues?
fortitude
temperance
prudence
justice
what are the 3 revealed virtues?
faith
hope
charity agape love
where do the cardinal virtues originate from?
the theories of Aristotle
where do the revealed virtues originate from?
the Bible
what is an exterior act?
the deontological actions that can be seen e.g helping an old lady across the road
what is an interior act?
the intention behind an action e.g the reason behind helping the old Lady across the road
according to Aquinas what must we have to be morally good?
both good actions and good intentions
what is the real good?
reasoning out and following natural law correctly
what is an apparent good?
reasoning out something that’s good that is actually bad- using our God-given reason incorrectly
did Aquinas think that people actually intend to be bad?
no, he believed that we are all inclined to be good because we have the God-given ability to reason, we can just have an error of reason
what do we need to apply natural law to?
abortion and voluntary euthanasia
