Natural Moral Law Flashcards
Where does ‘deontological’ come from?
The Greek deon meaning duty
What do deontological theories make judgements based on?
Whether actions are consistent with moral laws
What is our duty as rational beings?
Doing good and avoiding evil (synderesis rule- Aquinas)
Where can the roots of NML be found?
The Ancient Greek and Roman world
What does Aristotle write in Nichomacean ethics?
The natural is that which everywhere is equally valid
Aquinas said humans have a natural purpose towards which god wants us to aim. How can we understand this purpose?
The bible- revelation
The world- designed by god
Human reason- we know what actions fulfil our natural purpose
What does Aquinas say about reason?
To disparage the dictate of reason is equivalent to condemning the command of god
Through the bible, the world, and reason it is clear that there are primary precepts. What are these?
Preserve life Reproduce Educate God is to be worshipped Orderly society to be created
What is human nature oriented towards?
The achievement of perfection
Humans have a tendency to do good
What can be deduced from the primary precepts?
Moral rules
Vardy- the secondary precepts are unpacking the primary precepts
Show the legalistic character of the ethic- doing right is a case of applying a rule to a situation
What does Aquinas say about the flexibility of applying primary precepts to situations?
The general rule admits of expectations
What are real goods?
Actions which are consistent with natural purposes and are morally good
What are apparent goods?
Actions which the moral agent thinks are real goods but they’ve used their reason incorrectly
What is a good exterior act?
Good act
Bad intention
What is the doctrine of double effect?
The action isn’t wrong so long as the intention was good
What is proportionalism?
Hoose’s theory
Modern version of NML
‘It is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason which would justify it’
What is a negative of proportionalism?
There’s no method for deciding what constitutes a proportionate reason to abandon NML
What is positive about absolute moral rules?
Morality is uncomplicated
Universal nature
What is attractive about common rules for society?
We live in a relativist era thats suffering from a breakdown in traditional social structures and moral uncertainty
What’s negative about the reproductive precept?
Can we move from the fact people have children to say that people should have children?
What have Protestants argued is negative about NML?
NML removes them need for gods grace because being good means following the rules, not being saved
What does Kai Nielson say about the one size fits all human nature?
‘There is no such thing as an essential human nature which makes a man a man’
What does Kai neilson note about Eskimos?
They used to kill members of their families who wouldn’t make it through the winter
Differing moral standards; is there a common natural law?
