Natural moral law

Question 1

What did Thomas Aquinas believe about natural moral law?

Answer 1

Aquinas believes that each human has a purpose and talents given to them by God. Whilst the goal of a relationship with God is open to all, God has distributed certain talents and goals to some and not others. Provided that we aspire and achieve our purpose, Aquinas suggests that this will ensure that natural law and order are maintained.

Question 2

What is natural law?

Answer 2

NML is an absolutist and deontological theory based on two fundamental authorities:
a} The Bible.
b} Aristotle - who claimed that the world is real and important.

Question 3

How can we know NML?

Answer 3

1} Through revelation.

2} Through human reason= Reason tells us that the ultimate purpose or telos of human life = fellowship with God.

Question 4

What are the primary precepts?

Answer 4

Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that eudaimonia is our natural telos. Then he added a moral dimension - happiness can only be achieved by pursuing certain good actions and achieving union with God.

Question 5

How can you achieve eudaimonia?

Answer 5

In order to achieve eudaimonia, Aquinas said that humans must follow certain natural laws or precepts. The primary precepts are required to ensure self-preservation.

• Live.
• Reproduction.
• Education.
• Worship God.
• Order society.

Question 6

What are secondary precepts?

Answer 6

Secondary Precepts are rules about things that we should or should not do because they uphold or fail to uphold the primary precept. Natural law identifies two secondary principles under the primary principles:

• Self-evident rules needed to uphold the primary precepts.
• Rules coming from a more complex process of reasoning.

Question 7

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Natural Moral Law?

Answer 7

Strengths:

• Natural moral law is a simple, universal guide for judging the moral value of human actions.
• Allows morality to become an important part of humanity.
• NML allows for a set of common rules to be applicable to all.
• NML is reasonable as the basic primciples of preserving human life.
• NML concentrates on the human character and their potential to flourish rather than on the rightness and wrongness of an act.

Weaknesses:

• NML is often considered too simplistic as humans do not have a fixed understanding of human nature.
• Consequences can be morally questionable.
• NML is not easily used when considering complex issues.