Natural law

Question 1

What is natural law?

Answer 1

A moral judgment that relies on a fixed truth is called absolutist/deontological.

Question 2

What did Aquinas believe?

Answer 2

Christian Philosopher Thomas Aquinas believed human have an innate sense of right and wrong, he developed the absolutist argument of ‘Natural Law’ from the philosophy of Aristotle who wrote: ‘… That which is natural is unchangeable, and has the same power everywhere, just as fire burns here and in Persia’.

Question 3

What does Aristotle’s final cause refer to?

Answer 3

Aristotle’s Final cause refers to the purpose of the object and asked what the object is for? Perfection was only reached when an object did exactly what it was intended to do.

Question 4

What did Aristotle believe?

Answer 4

Aristotle believed our purpose in life (telos) was to seek happiness through general all-round wellbeing, for which he called Eudaimonia (Greek term for happiness). According to philosophy, everything we do in life is aimed at finding this happiness which enables us thrive.

Question 5

What is Aquinas’ telos?

Answer 5

Aquinas said an object achieves its telos when it does what God intended it to do. For humans, ‘made in the image of God’, means seeking union with God. That’s perfection, but it can only be reached in the afterlife.

Question 6

What did Aquinas believe about moral laws?

Answer 6

Aquinas believed there is a basic moral law which is divinely uninspired that underpins all laws and is there to guide what we do and why we do it. It’s that: ‘good is to be done and perused and evils to be avoided’.

Question 7

What did Aquinas use unlike other theologians?

Answer 7

Unlike many theologians of his day, Aquinas championed the use of reason as Aristotle had. Our God-given power to reason raises us above other animals and enables us to achieve our ultimate purpose- perfection or union with God. The use of reason leads a person to arrive at the right course of action when confronted with a moral dilemma. A human can choose to go against reason, but Aquinas said that is ‘equivalent to condemning the command of God’.
By employing their power of reason in any situation, a human is putting themselves in touch with Natural Law. This Natural Law, Aquinas explained, was a part of a hierarchical moral code that stretches down to us from God.

Question 8

What is eternal law?

Answer 8

1Eternal Law is the mind of God which humans cannot know. Contained within it are the laws which govern the creation of the universe and control the life cycle of everything in existence but humans cannot fully know the eternal law, they can sometimes glimpse reflection of it, for example, through scientific knowledge of aspects of the natural world.

Question 9

What is divine law?

Answer 9

Divine Law is the Law of God revealed to people through the Bible. They also believe Jesus brought Divine Law with him and the teaching of the Church transmit Divine Law to people.

Question 10

What is Natural law?

Answer 10

Natural law is the belief that everyone has a natural sense ‘that good is to be done and evil to be avoided’ which some call human nature. It’s what direct our conscience and if applied with reason to a situation will lead to the right outcome.

Question 11

What is human law?

Answer 11

Human laws are everyday rules that govern our lives, such as government laws

Question 12

What is the synderesis rule?

Answer 12

The key precept is to do good and avoid evil. Reason directs us to do good and avoid evil and all other principles flow from this reason.With the power of human reason we can distinguish the laws. We can deduce that our moral life is gained through reason. Reasoning about the common goods leads us to certain acts being prohibited and others promoted. Aquinas created the five primary precepts: rules which promote good and discourage evil.

Question 13

What are the 5 primary precepts?

Answer 13

To worship God- God is the source of eternal law, and God has sent this law to humanity through divine law and natural law.

To live in an ordered society- a lawful one where it’s possible to follow all the primary precepts.

To reproduce- to ensure that life continues as its God’s intention and as it’s necessary for the continuation of society.

To learn- to teach people about God, his eternal law, natural law, divine law and primary precepts.

To defend the innocent- life is most precious.

Question 14

What does a moral act lead us to?

Answer 14

A moral act leads us towards union with God. These acts fit the purpose we were made for and are in line with the primary precepts and so are good. Acts which aren’t in accordance with the primary precepts don’t fit the purpose human were made for and so are bad.

Question 15

Why is natural law key?

Answer 15

“This is the first precepts of law that ‘good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided’. All other precepts of the natural law are based upon this… (Summa Theological).
Aquinas believes things go wrong when a person becomes misguided in their judgement either because of their reasoning is faulty or they have misunderstood the divine law.They may think something is good when it isn’t really (apparent good), but reason teaches us that something actually is good (real good).

Question 16

What is real and apparent good?

Answer 16

As Aquinas believed everyone has an innate sense of good, he believed evil was, of course, not good. ‘No evil can be desirable, either by natural appetite or by conscious will. It is sought indirectly, namely because it is the consequences of some good’. For example, the reason for a man to cheat on his wife is not because he thinks it’s good to break up his marriage but because he is mistaken about what he truly desires. The pleasurable desire leads to disaster, and not what he truly wants. ‘A fornicator seeks a pleasure which involves him in moral guilt’ (Summa Theologica). An immoral act or sin is failing what God intended for mankind. So it’s not in accordance with the purpose for humanity. These are known as apparent goods.Apparent good is basically an error of reasoning or absence of it. Aquinas explained we should use reason correctly to distinguish between apparent goods that tempt us and real goods which guide us to a better path.

Question 17

Give an example of doctrine of double effect

Answer 17

For example: A man attacks a women, who in self-defence, pulls out a mace spray as a form of self-defence. This causes him to collapse and bang his head on the ground, which accidently kills him. So if taking life breaks the primary precepts then the women would be wrong for defending herself?

Question 18

what does Augustine argue about the doctrine of double effects?

Answer 18

Some argue (such as Augustine) that indeed this it is wrong: ‘private self-defence can only proceed from some degree of inordinate self-love’. But Aquinas argues otherwise: “Nothing hinders one act from having two effects, only one of which is intended, while the other is beside the intention…” (Summa Theologica).

Question 19

What is doctrine of double effect?

Answer 19

o Thomas Aquinas was a deontologist (someone interested in actions), ethical acts are what’s important in making moral decision but he distinguished between interior and exterior acts. Interior acts are about our motivation- our intention behind the act (what we want to happen and why we are acting). While exterior acts are the act that is visible (the act that’s actually performed). Aquinas believed the best way to act is when both interior and exterior act are good.
o Example of exterior and interior acts: raising money for charity (a good act- exterior) to fool people into thinking I’m a good person (a bad act- interior). So it’s better to do it for selfless reasons (good intentions).
o An action may have two effects or ends. If it’s good (in the example of self-defence, the intention was to protect herself) and your intention was to only protect your life, then self-defence is permissible. However, the force used should be proportionate.
o So for Aquinas’ theory of double effect, the action itself cannot be bad but good (saving a life is good). The bad effect shouldn’t be the means by which the good effect is achieved (it’s the saving of life that saves life, not the taking of life). The motive should be focused on the good effect (hoping to save life). The good effect should be at least as important as the bad effect (then life is balanced).

Question 20

Can the doctrine of double effect be used to justify an action, such as killing someone as an act of self-defence?

Answer 20

Natural law seems quite fixed on its approach to making moral decision and it seems to protect and prevent life from being taken. But the doctrine of double effect, in many cases, is hard to work out as it allows a person to intend for one thing to happen whilst there is also another outcome as well.
For the example about the woman with the mace-spray; her intention was always to protect life but this resulted in a life being taken. So we shouldn’t be motivated out of an intention to act against the natural law but to instead support it.
This might allow for self-defence. However how do we agree when an intention is to save life and not take it? Can the ‘protecting life’ act also be a ‘taking life’ act at the same time? Ultimately, Aquinas is centrally interested in human intention- the extent to which every person knows their own motivation. The double effect rule can be seen as a helpful method for dealing with difficult decisions, in that the double effect rule can distinguish between intentions and the actions that take place. But, some find these fine distinctions unlikely. Deontologists are mostly interested in actions as they can be observed. How can an act to save a life that involves taking a life only have one intention, when the life that is taken is somewhat connected to the life saved? Having a secondary purpose is a way of smuggling something past the prohibition on killing. What this means is that there is a flaw in Natural law- when it faces harsh choices natural law seems less convincing. It needs the use of uncertain judgements.

Question 21

Does natural law provide a helpful method of moral decision-making? (FOR)

Answer 21

• -Natural law offers clarity and consistency in a world which some think has become relativistic and has lost a sense of moral decision: ‘… in the diversity of cultures, the natural law remains as a rule that binds men among themselves and imposes on them, beyond the inevitable differences, common principles.
• -Natural law provides the kind of system that can be used to frame and inform rules for society. Natural law provides ‘… the solid foundation on which man can build the structures of moral rules to guide his choices’.
• -The idea of a universal natural law, however, does have an enduring appeal in the world. It’s rational for universal human rights, providing some basis for the hope that a global system of justice would protect every human from injustice.

Question 22

Does natural law provide a helpful method of moral decision-making? (AGAINST)

Answer 22

• -However the primary precepts are inspired by a religious belief in God, which makes them potentially unhelpful for those who don’t believe in God. Some might not interpret the world as having meaning and instead just an accident. Because of crimes, some people view the world as a chaotic place with no God behind what’s happening around it.
• -Critics of natural law say it puts people into boxes where they are defined by their ‘ends’- a simplification of human behaviour and purpose that suggests our actions are driven towards a final purpose.
• -In making moral decisions, natural law might encourage us to copy socially accepted conventions, when perhaps some occasions they should be challenged. For example homosexuality was once labelled wrong. Also the definition of male and female are now being challenged by science and social practices, many things that are now considered as social norms were once immoral years back.

Question 23

Does human nature have an orientation towards good?

Answer 23

Aquinas has a positive view of human nature, believing we have a natural response to do good. The moral law originates from this natural response and support the view of a created world where life flourishes. However many people argue otherwise. Philosopher Thomas Hobbes lived during the English Civil War and saw Parliament execute their own king, families being destroyed and human nature being a danger. ‘Men from their very birth, and naturally, scramble for everything they covet, and would have the world, if they could, to fear and obey them’. To survive, human nature perhaps needs to be limited, as if it was allowed to do what comes naturally, it would become destructive. Human development is damaging the natural world (e.g. pollution). While Aquinas believed humans have a natural urge towards goodness, many challenge this belief and explain we instead have a natural urge towards self-preservation, towards furthering our own genetic lines of life (as some genetics argue), or simply purse our own pleasure (as utilitarian’s argue).

Question 24

Can a judgment about something being good, bad, right or wrong be based on its success or failure in achieving its telos?

Answer 24

Aristotle’s ideas of telos teaches that a good person fulfils their end or purpose, however is this always true? Natural law is a Catholic moral theology and as such informs the moral thought of the Bible. It provides an ordered approach to life, a system to weigh moral judgment based on reason and the interpretation of experience, and combines attention to actions as well as the laws of life. Natural law offers stability, and arguable enhances community life, it’s focussed to wider needs, and beyond individual pleasure or personal opinion. Catholic teaching prohibits artificial contraception, masturbation and homosexuality because natural law tells us that the only purpose (telos) for sex is for procreating. St Augustine wrote, ‘intercourse even with one’s legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the contraception of offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Judah, did this and the Lord killed him for it. Some believe that it leaves no proper place for human rationality. Rationality doesn’t sit on top of natural acts but guides human process and acts, to bring order and intelligence to the world. Some argue that natural law results in a distorted view of the ethical human act which sees it exclusively in terms of the physicality of the act. Society has evolved over the ages- at one point women were seen as just house wives. However as time has progressed, people who were once forced into thinking their life had a simple end are now allowed to vote and live normal lives. Like society, to say our world has a simple end is limited.
But the idea we are all equal is encouraged in natural law. Universal human rights are arguably the most significant worldwide example of the benefits of natural law.

Question 25

Has the universe as a whole been designed with a telos?

Answer 25

Natural law assumes a fixed end for all things that have been created, but many don’t view the universe as something that has an intention or design behind it. Atheists use science to explain the universe, so for them natural law seems impossible if there is no creator (in their point of view), or no order to things. Even those who have some belief in God find the use of telos in natural law difficult. Hans Kung thinks the idea of the natural is naive. He thinks that the use of ‘natural’ is based on a rather subjective distinction between natural and artificial as if things like sexuality are simply about biology and not psychology and social attitudes. The idea that we have fixed sexual orientations towards the opposite gender is challenged recently with the increase of transgender and homosexuals. These undermine notions of a single predetermined end.