Natural Law - morality based on reason

Question 1

What does Aquinas suggest is God’s involvement with moral laws

Answer 1

God created, sets and governs all moral laws.

Question 2

Who can know the moral laws

Answer 2

• only god can fully know the moral laws

- humanity can partially understand them by our god-given innate reason

Question 3

who was aquinas influenced by

Answer 3

aquinas was influenced by Aristotle.

Question 4

what did Aristotle argue about our ability to reason

Answer 4

that our ability to reason is what distinguishes us from the rest of creation

Question 5

how did Aquinas christianise Aristotle’s theory

Answer 5

by arguing that the human ability to reason was given by god.

Question 6

how is natural law a deontological theory

Answer 6

it considers correct action to be a duty fro all people universally, regardless of their situation.

Question 7

how is natural law absolutist

Answer 7

as it is an ethical system that believes there is a standard of right and wrong binding on humans

Question 8

what did aquinas value

Answer 8

• revelation through scripture

- Aristotelean reasoning