Natural Moral Law Flashcards
What does ‘teleos’ mean?
end/purpose
What does ‘deon’ mean?
duty
What does Aristotle say is the purpose of life?
Eudamonia (human flourishment)
what does aquinas say is the puropse of life?
To reach Eudamonia with God in Heaven.
Who is the main scholar associated with NML?
St Thomas Aquinas
What are Aquinas’ Five Primary Precepts?
Preserve life
Order society
Worship God
Educate the young
Reproduce
Aquinas believed that ‘the world can be explored through ‘what’ rather than faith?’
reason
Is NML Deontological or Teleological?
Deontological
who inspired Aquinas?
Aristotle
what must we use our reason to do?
to observe nature and and work out natural moral law for ourselves.
what is the Synderisis rule?
“That good is to be done, and evil to be avoided.”
after the primary precepts, what is there?
Sencondary precepts
what does nml assist us with?
directing actions in such a way that they may reach their eternal destiny (teleos) with God.
What is cultural relatavism?
a view that a persons moral beliefs should be judged in the context of their culture.
are primary precepts deontological and teleological?
Teleological.
what are humans naturally orientated towards?
doing good.
what is the Beatic vision and who believes in it?
Aquinas’ belief in the ultimate direct self-communication with God.
What are Aristotle’s four causes?
material cause
efficient cause (to get things done)
formal cause
final cause (goal)
“since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”
- Romans 3:23
why will humans fall short of God’s expectations of them?
because we live in a fallen world where we violated our perfect relationship with God and the natural order instituted by God.
why did aquinas believe human nature was essentially good?
NML is within all people through reason. we are orientated towards the good
what is a real good?
something that is good according to NML
What is an apparent good?
when we are unknowingly in persuit of something that is not perfection. They do not fit this human ideal.
A quote for apparent goods?
“it is sought indirectly, namely because it is a consequence of some good”
Name the 4 steps of apparent goods:
- humans naturally strive for perfection
- humans would never knowingly pursue evil
- when they do evil its an apparent good
- this is just an error in judgement.
what are the 3 theological virtues?
hope: the beatic vision
love: love of god above all things
faith: scripture and god
what are the four cardinal virtues?
prudence (practical wisdom)
justice
fortitude (courage)
temperance (self-cultivation)
which is better: an interior or exterior act?
interior as its what one intends to do, which is the most important thing
whats the difference between interior and exterior acts?
distinguish between intention and observable act
what is the doctrine of double effect?
if an action goes against human reason (precepts) but the effect is the accidental/unintended result of an action that follows the precepts then its acceptable
example of the doctrine of double effect:
if a woman has an eptopic pregnancy, and aborting the child (breaking ‘preserve life’) would mean that the mother would live, (preserving her life) meaning that the abortion is acceptable.
quote from aquinas on the doctrine of double effect?
(“nothing hinders one act…”)
“nothing hinders one act from having two effects,
only one of which is intended while the other is beside the intervention”
whats the difference between aquinas’ and the catholic church’s opinions on virtues and rules?
aquinas sees them as equally important
C.Church sees that rules are more important than virtues
what is manualism?
preference for a morality of obligation and rules led (17th cent.) scholars to write manuals on moral theology, designed to be taught to the clergy to apply NML into the Catholic church.
what is proportionalism?
a more applicable and modern version of NML.
proportionalism = NML + the situation
give an example of a proportionalist scholar:
Bernard Hoose
McCormick
why was proportionalism invented?
they believed that NML was too deontologically rigid, magisterium and confession-orientated etc.
what does mccormick say on proportionalism?
“theologians have - without disowning causistry - disowned an excessively causistic approach to moral life”
list some strengths to NML:
based on reason
focused on search for eudamonia
christian version unites faith and reason
Absoloute framework of primary precepts
clear cut/straightforward
common, universal rules
timeless (debatable)
simple ways to find soloutions
list some weaknesses to NML:
how do you decide what is ‘moral’?
duty bound so isnt adaptable
nature changes - evoloution
outdated - assumes we believe ina purposeful universe
aquinas is a hypocrite - if we all must follow them, why didnt he have kids?
