Natural moral Law Flashcards
Aquinas said natural law is…
The same for all men. There is a single standard of truth and right for everyone… which is known by everyone.
Aquinas - the fourfold division of law
Eternal Law, Divine Law, Natural Moral Law, Human Law
Eternal Law
God’s blueprint for humanity, the order - it is eternal and unchanging
Divine Law
Eternal law that has been revealed to humans. The Old and New Testament are the Old and New Law
Natural Moral Law
How humans can understand God’s eternal law through applying reason - accessible by and applicable to all people.
Human Law
Laws devised by humans. They reflect their own circumstances. They shouldn’t contradict natural moral law.
Synderesis Rule
“Good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided. All other prefers of the law of nature are based on this.”
How do humans know the eternal law
Revelation and Reason
What is revelation
It is the way eternal law is revealed to humans in the Old and New Testament. Jesus shows us that God has order intended in his creation
What are the 5 primary precepts
Reproduction Preserve life Educate children Ordered Society Worship God
What are secondary precepts
Things we should/ shouldn’t do because they do/do not uphold a primary precept. They are determined by complex reasoning.
Why do humans fail to follow natural law
Although humans can and want to know and follow NML, Original Sin means their perfect relationship with God has been violated so we fall short of what God’s best is for us.
‘Since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’
Aquinas belief on human nature
Human nature is essentially good, we can never knowingly pursue evil. We only pursue ‘apparent goods’ which don’t fulfil our purpose even though we think they do.
Quote for apparent goods
‘The fornicator seeks a pleasure which involves in him a moral guilt’
Real and Apparent Goods
Real goods fulfil our telos. Apparent goods feel good but do not actually fulfil our purpose. We must use reason to determine between them.
4 Cardinal Virtues
Prudence
Temperance
Fortitude
Justice
Theological Virtues
Faith
Hope
Charity
The 7 Vices
Pride Wrath Lust Envy Gluttony Greed Sloth
Interior vs Exterior acts
There has to be good intention AND good act
To do a good act with the intention to impress someone is wrong because this shouldn’t be why you do it.
But a good intention doesn’t make bad acts good.
The ultimate question is whether God is glorified by that action.
Double Effect
If doing something morally good has a morally bad side effect it is ethically okay to do it provided the bad side effect wasn’t intended.
Double Effect Quote
‘Nothing hinders one act from having two effects, only one of which is intended, the other is beside the intention.’
Pojman quote on double effect
‘It is sometimes permissible to do a good act despite knowing that it will bring about bad consequences’
Strength of double effect
It takes intention into account
It can’t be twisted to allow bad actions
It retains the strength + absolutist nature of NML
Weakness of double effect
Bad acts can bring about proportionately good effects so it is illogical to ban them in all circumstances
According to this, Jesus’ self sacrifice wasn’t permissible because it was a ‘bad’ act so it is contradictory.
Not every bad act is as bad as each other
