Natural Moral Law Flashcards
Natural Moral Law is a _______ approach to ethics
Natural Moral Law is a Deontilogical approach to ethics
What does the term deontological mean?
The term deontological comes from the Greek word DEON meaning duty. The moral philosophy judges an act as moral or good based on the intentions of the individual committing the act and the duties the person is obligated to uphold.
Who created the theory of Natural Moral Law?
St Thomas Aqainus
What was Aquinas’s book called and what was it’s contents?
Aquinas wrote a book called Sumah Theologica. Basically, a summary about God. Everything he wrote about his religion is in this book. He wrote about how religion connects with the wider world.
What are the 4 levels of natural law? (how god is revealed in different stages of LAWS)
Eternal Law – represents how God created and continues to control the Universe and all within it. This would include all laws of nature and science
Divine Law – The revealed will of God is found in the Bible if 10 commandments which God tells humans rules
Natural Moral Law: The moral laws within creation that are part of human creation. How we should act
Human Law – The only one not set by God. The laws of the land that are created by humans as they try to form a functioning society
What is the Synderesis rule?
The syndereses rule – Aquinas taught that since the fall (Adam and Eve), humans have been in a broken relationship with God. Aquinas believed that humans have a duty to try and repair this relationship by doing good and avoiding evil.
Why does Aqainas believe we can think?
Because God had given us this power
Natural Law is the same ______ … there is a _______ of truth and right for _____ … which is known by everyone” (Aquinas)
What does this mean?
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 same for all men – its universal
Single standard of truth and right for everyone – no exceptions, if you were having an abortion but were young or poor it’s still unacceptable
What are Primary Precepts?
the five basic principles that Aquinas defined as being known innately by everyone
What are the 5 Primary Precepts?
(1) Preserve innocent life;
(2) Ordered living in society;
(3) Worship God;
(4) Educate children; and,
(5) Reproduction of the species.
What are Secondary Precepts?
The Secondary precepts are smaller, relativist actions that we can do to achieve the primary precepts.
These vary within different societies, and also allow for personal interpretations.
For example, in order to preserve life you could become a doctor. Or in order to worship God, you could go to church.
What does Teleological mean?
Based on Purpose
Summarise Paley’s watch analogy
A watch is a machine designed for the purpose of telling the time
The design of the watch suggests an intelligent designer
The natural world shows features of design
Therefore, the universe must have an intelligent designer
Paley develops his argument further then by giving examples, one of which is the hyman eye and antennae’s of earwigs because they all have a purpose.
“There is the same proof the eye is made for vision, as there is that the telescope was made for assisting”.
What are Strengths and Weaknesses of Paley’s watch analogy?
Advantage: His argument is convincing because these intricate objects had to have been made by a designer – God
Disadvantage: He compared a man-made watch with God, no correlation
If God is the deisgner, this means that he also created bad things aswel such as dharks and lice
What did Aquinas become a leader of and what was it’s purpose?
Aqainus became a leading figure of Scholasism which aimed to prove that Christian Theology and Belief were rational.
From part of the teachings of telos, from the theory that for everything to exist it must have a cause, what are the 4 causes?
A material Cause (eg bronze of statue)
A Formal cause (eg shape of statue)
A efficient cause (eg the artist who makes the statue)
A final cause (eg for the statue to be beatiful)
What is Telos?
Telos is the purpose for which a thing was created and the purpose which it should rightfully fulfil.
What are 2 sources that Aqainas believed humans could use to understand the purpose God has given humanity?
The Bible and the World: The world reveals God’s moral law becayse it was designed by God and therefore has signs of its creator in it’s design
Reason: Aqainas argues that through reason, we could know what actions would furfil our natiral purpouse
Who comes first: Aqaians or Aristotle?
Aristotle becomes first than aqainas in the timeline.
What is the Doctrine of Double Effect / What does it allow you to do?
Doctrine of Double Effect – Aquinas uses he example of self-defense and the attacker dies then the person cannot be held responsible.
Doctrine in Double affect allows for some flexibility because it says that we can think about the interntion behind an action.
What does Hume disagree with about Paley’s work?
Hume believe that it is unfair to compare natural objects and an object that is man made. Hume states that this argument is flawed because the world isn’t similar to. manmade object. Instead Hume suggested theat we should use this argument and compare a natural object such as a plant or vegetable.
Hume uses analogy himself to further illustrate weaknesses with using analogy to prove the design argument. He suggests that if we were to look at a house, we could conclude that it both had a builder and an archectict. One could argue H8ume’s analogy also relates to the rpoblem of evil as if th house is fauty then we put the blame on the people who are resposable who are the designer and the archetict. One cou, cmpaare this to the argument tht if there is a designer of the world, they shold be blamed for the evil and voilence in the world.
Hume also highlighted the Fallacy of Composition as a reason to reject design design arguments for the existance of God. The fallocy states that just because indiviual parts have a property doesn’t mean the whole collective has the same property. In example, just because each person has a mother doesn’t mean humanity has a mother.
What is Proportionalism?
A movment that began in the 1960s in the Catholic Church. This was during the hippie ciultures and everyone believed about accepting peolpe and breaking down the boundries in which people are held to. Proportionalism is in hindsight, a mdoern version of Natural Moral Law. The overall aim was to allow Natural Mroal Law to be more flexable/
What is Pragmatism?
Pragmatism – Practical approach to tehics. You can actualy use it to help you make moral descisions
Teleiological Arguement
Teleological Argument – Ethics interested in the end of actions, what we expect to happen as an resualt of our ethical decisions. We need to think about the cosequinces of what our action will bring
What is Situationalism?
Situationalism is the belief that our behaviours are determined by the situation.
What was Joseph Fletcher known for?
Joeseph Fletcher, born 1905, was one of the first theologans to challange the Western Church. Fletcher courted controversy for his advocay of euthenasia and abortion, but he is best remembered today for his enduring belief that love should be at the heart of all ethical descision making
He created situation ethics
How did Fletcher describe situationalism?
Fletcher considered situationalism a middle way between two equally unattractive moral extrmes. Ones an ethic that is completely lacking in any guiding moral principles, a position which maintains people should be free to do whatever they see fit in any given situation. Fletcher termed this approach antinomianism
What is Antisocialism?
Antisocialism –the view that there are no moral laws or rules. People should instead act spontaneously in each situation to decide what is right.
Legalism
Legalism– The view that morality should be based on laws or commands that must always be followed
What is Agape?
Legalism– The view that morality should be based on laws or commands that must always be followed
What is an A Priori Argument, Antylitical Argument, Synthetic Statement and Deductive Argument?
A Priori – You don’t need epxerience, its an argument relied on logic and reason
Anylitical Stayement – True by definition
Synthetic Statement – Statements based on impirical evidence and the 5 senses
Deductive Argument- It relies on premisis and conclusions, if the premisis is correct, the conclusion is correct
What is Ontos?
Ontos – The nature of God
