natural moral law Flashcards
What did Aquinas believe about God?
- God is immutable (changeless)
- God is good + creation reflects his goodness
What did Aquinas believe about final goal + humanity?
Everything has a final goal + the final goal of humanity is eudaemonia
What is the name for God given reason?
Recta ratio
What are the 4-fold divisions of law?
Eternal law, Divine law, Natural moral law + Human law
What’s eternal law?
God’s law - we will never be able to fully understand it
What is the synderesis rule?
Human inclination to do good + avoid evil
What’s divine law?
Scriptural revelation; Bible + Jesus
What is natural moral law?
Discovered through human reason + not revelation
What is human law?
Created to uphold natural law
What is the main element or natural moral law?
Reasoning
Who was Aquinas influenced by?
Aristotle
What are the 5 primary precepts?
Ordered society, reproduce, worship God, care for innocent, preserve life
What do the primary precepts come from?
We deduce from the natural world using our reasoning
What is Aquinas’ basic principle?
Seek/pursue what is good + avoid evil
What does NML encourage?
Encourages ppl to deduce moral codes from the natural world
What is the name of the human inclination to do good + avoid evil?
Synderesis rule
What is recta ratio?
God given reason
What are secondary precepts?
Shows humans how to apply primary precepts to spec. situations in more their lives
What’s the issue w secondary precepts?
Aquinas doesn’t give a hierarchy of the P.P so in an issue where S.P conflict, what do we do?
What’s an example of a secondary precept for preservation of innocent life?
Do not kill (SP)
What’s an example of a secondary precept for worship God?
Set one day a week aside for worship (SP)
What’s a real good?
The use of right reason leading to an action that leads us to perfection or eudaimonia
What’s an apparent good?
Misguided reason leading to an action that appears to be good but isn’t (e.g. of accidental adultery)
Can be forgiven w confession
What’s the principle of double effect (PODE)?
It’s ethically permitted to perform an action w a good intention which leads to a bad effect
What’s an example in terms of pregnancy for the principle of the double effect?
Ectopic pregnancy
“we can save your life but will have to terminate the baby”
NOT “we terminate the baby to save your life”
What does the principle of the double effect say you can’t do?
You can never do a ‘bad’ action to bring about a good consequence
What is an example of the principle of double effect in terms of terrorism?
You can bomb an enemy factory; foreseeing but not intending the death of innocent nearby civilians
BUT just bombing the civilians intentionally is not allowed
What are the 4 conditions for the principle of the double effect?
Nature of the act condition
Means end condition
Good intention condition
Proportionality condition
What’s an example of the principle of double effect in terms of a huge accident?
If paramedics arrive to the scene of a big accident + the victim is severely injured, unlikely to make it; the para. may administrate a large amount of morphine to ‘ease the pain’ but unintentionally euthanise them
What is the nature of the act condition (PODE)?
Morality of the action must be good or at least neutral
What’s the means end condition (PODE)?
Bad consequence must not be intended
What is the good intention condition (PODE)?
The bad consequence may be foreseen but not intended; intention must be to achieve good effect
What is the proportionality condition (PODE)?
Good effect must at least be proportionate in sig. to bad effect
What is proportionalism?
In NML there are absolute rules that must be followed
UNLESS theres a proportionate reason to justify not following rules in a certain context
When is proportionalism applied?
In a highly unusual/exceptional circumstance using Recta Ratio + synderesis rule as guidance
What needs to be taken into account w proportionalism?
- Intention of moral agent
- Value of good effect weight against disvalue of bad
What is Aquinas’ example for proportionalism?
A starving man stealing food to survive
What are 2 strengths of proportionalism?
- Its use in Just War theory shows that it works + is robust
- In situations where applied, it makes sense
What are 2 weaknesses of proportionalism?
- Magisterium denounced it bc of its claim that there’s no intrinsic evil (what about rape, slavery etc)
- Calculation of value + disvalue seems consequentialist
What are 4 strengths of NML?
- Morality is about what’s intrinsically good or evil
- NML system acknowledged ppl can make mistakes
- Eudaimonia may fit well w non religious ppl
- Absolute rules
What are 3 other strengths of NML?
- In line w Aristotle’s V.E. ~ focus of development of moral character
- Adaptable - If ppl think it’s too rigid we can app. proportionalism + double effect
What’s a weakness of NML in terms of atheism?
Some forms can app. to atheists but Aquinas assumed it was natural for all humans to worship God
What’s a weakness of NML in terms of alienation?
Aquinas assumes we can reason - what about ppl w learning difficulties?
He alienates millions of ppl
What’s a weakness of NML in terms of immorality?
Can lead to immoral outcomes - CC provides help for HIV/AIDS patients but NML prohibits contraception which increases spread
