NML (Detailed) Flashcards
deontological
An approach in ethics in which the rightfulness or wrongfulness of an act is judged by how it conforms to duties rules and obligations.
teleological
theory of which the rightness of an act is determined by the end result. Moral goodness is rooted in the consequences of our actions.
eudaimonia
ultimate happiness through union with God.
character based
Aquinas adopted ideas from Aristotle, he believed following the Natural Law could also help develop virtuous character and he focused on the four Cardinal virtues and the three Theological virtues. Being virtuous allows you to reach ‘real’ rather than ‘apparent’ goods.
deductive
if statements are true the conclusion must be true
a priori
something that can be known without sense experience.
absolute rules
must be obeyed, no exception or excemption to primary precepts.
synderesis
innate principle in moral consciousness of every person which directs us to good and avoids evil.
If we apply our god given reason it will lead to right actions.
what is moral obligation
a duty we are ought to perform but not legally bound to fulfil
Beatific vision
Ultimate direct self communication of god to humanity 
give an example of a Deontological statement
It is always wrong to kill no matter what the consequences
Telos
Purpose or end goal
What is natural moral law
A theory that proposes the existence of a law whose content is set by nature. derive from God that therefore has validity everywhere. 
What type of theory is NML
Deductive a priori theory
Starts with primary principles and from these the right course of action in a particular situation can be deduced
How is it a deontological system
Absolute rules
Looking at the intent behind an action in the nature of the act itself not at outcomes
Who are the two biblical backgrounds to study for natural moral law
The stoics
Aristotle
Who were the Stoics
A group of Greek philosophers who came after Aristotle and argue that the universe has a basic design on purpose which human morality should work in harmony with
What did the ancient Stoics emphasise
The importance of logos (Word of God) or rationality that governs the world sees human nature is part of one natural order
Link the Stoics to reason and gods nature
They believe that all humans have a divine spark within them that helps them to live according to gods will
Natural law a law reason
Quote Saint Paul wrote in the letter to the Romans
“Written in the hearts “
Basic beliefs by Aristotle
Natural justice not always the same as law is independent and applies to everyone no matter where they live
Everything has a purpose (TELOS) and supreme good is found when it fulfils purpose.
What did Aristotle believed eudaimonia was
The supreme good for humans
Means happiness and the final goal for humans to reach after living a life of reason
What is human flourishing
Live in life of reason according to virtue
According to Aristotle what Telos/function is peculiar to the life of plants
Life of nutrition and growth
According to Aristotle what Telos function is peculiar to the life of animals
Life of perception
According to Aristotle what telos/function distinguishes human beings
Reasoning
Eudaimonia
Human flourishing life of reason in accordance to virtue
Who was Aquinas
13th century catholic priest and theologian
Who was Aquinas influence by
Aristotle
Basic beliefs of Aquinas and natural moral law
Everything has a purpose
Faith must be grounded by reason
To for fill our purpose we have a desire to do good
To follow NML you don’t need a belief in God
God given reason
The belief that God has given humans the ability to cognitively process (think about) the difference between right and wrong
What actually is the natural moral law theory
But everything has a purpose and this purpose can be known through reason
As a result fulfilling the purpose of our design is the only good for humans
What are the four causes
The material cause The efficient cause The formal cause The final cause 
What is the material cause
The way things come to be
For example a statue made of stone
What is the efficient cause
What gets things done
E.g. builder causes a building
What is the formal cause
The definition of a thing
For example facts and descriptions
What is the final cause
The goal or purpose
E.g. staying healthy by walking
What are the fourfold divisions of law
Eternal law
Divine law
Natural law
Human law
What is eternal law
Only God knows this law
identical to his mind
Gods rational purpose and plan of all things
Unchanging and eternal
What is human law
General laws devised by human reason
Should not contradict NML
differs from country to country
What is divine law
Old and new testament of bible
Appears historically specially Through revelation
Old law - Ten Commandments
New law - Jesus teachings
Four claims to NML
Unchanging principles that exist in nature that define what is right and good
Accessible to all men and discovered by right use of reason
Apply to all men in all circumstances
Man made laws are just and authoritative as long as they are derivable from the principle of law in nature
Aquinas’ quote linked to synderesis rule and explain
Good is to be perused and evil is to be avoided
Directs our conscience if followed will lead to right actions
Our inclination draws humans like a magnet towards the highest goods (perfection)
Why does NML actually exist
To help humans direct their actions to do the right thing so they may live with God in the afterlife after reaching their telos
What is Aquinas’ basic precept
That good is to be done and perused and evil is to be avoided (synderesis rule)
What does Aquinas mean when he says we should not be enslaved by non rational desires
Use our free will the correct way and not for apparent goods
We are emotive beings we should put that aside to focus on precepts. They guide us.
Quote on moral life and reason
To disparage the dictate of reason is equivalent to condemning the command of god.
explain Reason tell us to do good and avoid evil
Moral life lived accordingly to reason
Humans have rational will
Ultimate goal is Our heavenly home and union with God and earthly life is a taste of heavenly happiness
What are the five primary precepts
To worship God Ordered society To reproduce To educate the young The preservation of life
What is the humans purpose
Human flourishing and god like perfection - telos
union with God - beatific bison
“Man needs to be directed to his supernatural end and a higher way”
Aquinas on sexuality and efficient and final cause
An efficient cause - sex for enjoyment
Final cause - procreation
Therefore sec is only good if procreation is possible
What did Aquinas say mans first rule was
Self preservation
Why are they called primary?
Idea of basic key natural and foundation laws
The laws that come first and help us to discover the secondary precepts
True to everybody without exception
Define primary precepts
Acts that accord with the main human purpose are good
The five primary precepts can be made to make deontological rules
What are the secondary precepts
Rulings about things that we should or shouldn’t do because they uphold or fail to uphold the primary precepts they can be flexible in how they are applied
Give some examples of secondary precepts for preservation of life
Wrong to murder
Wrong to abort
Wrong to commit suicide
Give some examples of secondary precepts for reproduction
Don’t masturbate
Don’t use contraception
Don’t have homosexual sex
Examples of secondary precepts for educating children
Wrong for children to not go to school
Divorce is wrong
Non Christian representative parents is wrong
Examples of secondary precepts for living in society
Wrong to steal
Wrong to commit adultery
Must treat others equally
Examples for worshipping God (secondary precepts)
Children must be taught to worship god
Must remember sabbath day
Why is masturbation wrong in the eyes on Aquinas
One cannot reproduce through it
Why does Aquinas see abortion as wrong
Stops reproduction
Kills the foetus does not preserve innocent life
Why does Aquinas see adultery as wrong
Goes against welfare of children
Children born from affairs may lack that permanent father and won’t be properly educated
Link cultural relativism to polygamy
Some people think it’s acceptable because it is natural in some countries. Leads to reproduction and possible education of children
Aquinas would argue it goes against laws of nature. As it goes against the monogamous nature of marriage relationship reflected between Christ and his church
Intrinsic good
Something that is ethically good in and of itself
Virtue
A quality or trait in a person held to be of moral value
Paul’s quote that recognised that following the natural law is not always possible
Since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god
Why is it accepted that humans will sometimes fall short of gods best for them
This is a fallen world
Humans violated their perfect relationship with God and the natural order was instituted at the creation.
Aquinas view on humans and attempting to always choose good
Believes that human nature is essentially good (NML in everyone)
Humans oriented towards achievement of perfection
Never knowingly choose evil
Quote for apparent good
A fornicator seeks a pleasure which involves him in moral guilt
The human mindset and apparent goods
Humans naturally strive for perfection
Humans would never knowingly Pursue evil
When people do choose evil they are following an apparent good
It’s just an error of judgment
Human nature is essentially good
Aquinas explains why sometimes people use their reason incorrectly
People may follow “apparent good “which seems to be a good action but in reality goes against the precepts
The only real good are actions that abide by the precepts
Hitler and real and apparent goods
Hitler was persuaded that Jews were not really human beings and were evil so rationalise the murder of the 6 million Jews
He thought his actions supported the good of creating a better Germany
Most Nazis would’ve been horrified at the suggestion that they were engaged in cold blooded mass murder on the grounds of irrational prejudice
They believed they were pursuing an apparent good although mistaken there was reasoning
Quick definition of real goods
Using reason to make decisions that will lead us to a purpose union with God
Quick definition on apparent goods
Decisions that make seem pleasurable but is actually taking us away from a purpose
Give some examples of apparent good
Lying to protect someone’s feelings
Sleeping with somebody that you love before marriage
Stealing a present for somebody else
What is sin
Falling short of gods intentions for humans to choose an apparent good is an error because it is not morally good for us
Using adultery explain real and apparent goods
The adulterer commits adultery because they believe that it is good
This is an error reason
Because this prevents the human from drawing close to what God intended
define the cardinal virtues
Aquinas selected four virtues listed by aristotle that he accepted as the foundation of natural morality
List the four cardinal virtues
Prudence (practical wisdom)
Justice (fairness)
Fortitude (courage)
Temperance (self control)
What do the cardinal virtues allow for
Allowed yourself to fulfil its purpose of telos and flourish
Prudence is the chief amongst the virtues for the ability to understand the situation and to use practical reason to work out what to do is the base of natural moral law 
List the three Christian theological virtues
Faith hope and love
Where did the theological virtues come from
Given to humans through gods grace
Explain the theological virtue of faith
Refers to belief in God and belief in what he has revealed in scripture
Explain the theological virtues of hope
Hope of heaven and the beatific vision
Explain thw theological virtue of love
Charity
Love of god
Love of all things
Love everybody
Quote from Paul’s letter to the colossians about virtues
Binds everything together in perfect harmony
What must the virtues become for an individual to adhere NML
Habitual
What did Aquinas mean by interior and exterior acts
Both intention and the act important
To act in a good way for the wrong reasons is a good exterior act but a bad interior act
God knows genuine intentions so everything should be done out of charity
Give an example of a good exterior act that bad interior act
To help an old lady across the road to impress someone
Quote That supports interior like to acts
So when you give to the needy do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrite to do
Give an example of a good intention but a bad action
To steal money to give it to your friend the theft isn’t made good by the intention to help a friend
Why can’t physical pleasures be the final end
Because animals can experience them
Academic pleasures aren’t accessible to everyone so the ultimate aim open to all humans is God
What did Aquinas believed that the interior motive
Act in accordance with that ultimate purpose should be given glory to God
Give three examples that go against Aquinas belief that humans never choose evil just apparent goods
Rape
terrorist attacks
the Holocaust
Define double effect
To do something morally good that has a morally bad side-effects is ethically okay as long is the bad side effect wasn’t intended
It is also okay to foresee the bad effect
Quote On double effect and who is it by
Reason can discover the right action in every situation
Pojman 
Using a mugger attack explain double effect
A mugger attacks you with a knife
You defend yourself in fear for your life (preservation of life)
You intended to save your life
The muggers death was unintended
Use the example of an ectopic pregnancy and double effect
A fertilised egg is implanted in a woman’s fallopian tube rather than the womb
This is fatal for the fetus and if left untreated will be fatal for the mother too
A doctor removes the woman’s ovary to save her life so they are following the first precept
The accidental consequence is that the fetus dies
However this is still acceptable
What are the four conditions of double effect which make it morally permissible
The nature of the act
The means end
The right intention
Proportionality
Explain the nature of the act as one of the conditions for double effect
Action must be morally good or neutral
Explain the means end as one of the four Conditions of double effect
The bad action cannot be the reason for the good affect
The bad effect has to be unintentional
Explain the right intention as one of the four conditions of double effect
The intention was to only be to achieve the good effect
The actions arent moral if the bad effect is needed to bring the good affect
Bad act can be foreseen but not intended
Explain proportionality as one of the four conditions of double effect
The good affect must be equivalent in importance to the bad affect
Using the example of a terminally ill patient whose death is brought sooner via doctors increasing doses to control the pain examine the four conditions of double effect
Nature of act – reduces pain so good
Means end – early death of patient is bad but isn’t the reason the patient relief is achieved
Right intention – intention is to relieve suffering the death occurring soon isn’t the intention but it is foreseen
Proportionality – the good effect (relief of pain) is equivalent in importance
According to Aquinas how would lying breach the primary precepts
Lying breach is the primary precepts of order society
He viewed all forms of lying is wrong even though is intended to save a life
Are there any instances of exceptions with Aquinas and lying
No lying contravenes both the divine law and the cardinal virtues of courage and justice
lying goes against your reason because we are naturally creatures of truth
How could we apply lying to the idea of double effect with Aquinas
Aquinas believed that keeping back the truth was morally permissible if it was necessary
What is Aquinas mean by keeping back the truth
If a murderer came in and said where is Amy with the intention to kill her
You could respond saying I’ve seen her in the last 10 minutes
Therefore you aren’t lying but you aren’t exactly saying when you saw them
According to Aquinas How would theft breach the primary precepts
Theft can be accepted if used to preserve life
As this is the key and most important rule
Do you think there are any instances or exceptions where Aquinas will accept theft
Proportionalism Would rule that the intention behind the theft was good
eg to save life
and that the value of saving life is proportionately greater than injustice of theft
How can we apply the idea of double effect to the issue of theft
Could be seen as practising the cardinal virtues of justice and the theological virtues of love
What does casuistry mean
From the Latin casus, ‘case’ so case law
The Catholic manuals are complications of casuistry
Definition of manualism
In the Catholic Church the tradition of producing manuals for use in Catholics seminaries to train clergy in applying natural moral law to difficult cases
How did natural moral law become fully deontological
Manualists were producing moral rule books
What’s the difference between Aquinas NML and the churches
Catholic natural moral law is more concerned with rules that it forgets the principles and virtues
Manualists in their work cut out Aquinas’ accountS of virtues
Manualisms amounted to a considerable narrowing of the scope of Aquinas’ natural moral law
In recent decades what has changed in Catholicism manualism
Renewal of interest in Aristotle’s virtue ethics
1992 Pope John Paul II summarise beliefs with reference to Cardinal and theological virtues
Another sign of a more flexible approach to the natural moral law and the Catholic Church
How was proportionism originated
Originated from catholic scholars in Europe in America
Arose from increasing concern that catholic tradition was too deontologically rigid
How does proportionalism respond to natural law
Working within a framework without insisting on fixed inflexible and absolute interpretation of a greater good
Where proportionate reasoning exists it would be right to ignore the rule in that situation
What are the two things proportionalism considers
The intention of the moral agent
The value of the good effect weighed against the disvalue of the bad effect
Proportionalist quote 
What the proportionalists have done is point out the inconsistency and invalidity of such thinking
what is proportionalism
When the intention is considered in order to decide whether or not something is morally right
Reason is based on the uniqueness of an individual situation
It is deemed acceptable to break any precepts as long as the good that comes from that outweighs the bad
Discussed lying with proportionalism
Acceptable to lie in order to save somebody’s life
Although Aquinas considered lying
unlawful
However Aquinas considered a starving man breaking the secondary precepts to steal as lawfully permissible because he was saving his life
Aquinas seems to be very hypocritical and argument makes very little sense
How is proportionalism different to double effect
Proportionalism more lenient. The act itself can be bad to bring a good consequence.
For example having an abortion to save the mother
Whereas principle of double effect says that no matter what a bad act cannot be performed even to bring about a good consequence. However a good act with a foreseeable consequence is okay.
For example performing surgery to remove cancerous cells on a mother which leads to the termination of the pregnancy is okay. Because their intention was to save the mother
What are ontic evils
Ontic Evil is the belief that there is a lack of perfection that exists in the world; due to ‘the fall’.
Given that there is Ontic Evil in the world, Proportionalists would also consider the intention, the situation, and the consequences of the moral action – before deciding whether the act was an evil moral act.
What is the just water theory
Set of conditions that must be met in order for war to be justified and proportionate
How does the Catholic Church respond to proportionalism
Condemned by Catholic Church they view it as a weak theory
Pope John Paul II stated proportionalism is wrong on the grounds that it denies that any action can in and of itself be intrinsically evil
Eg rape and child torture
Thus the possibility of intrinsic good and evil must be taken seriously
What’s the churches view on intrinsic evils
Maintains that good consequences do not justify intrinsic evils
For example population control through artificial contraception
Strengths of proportionalism
Allows a more compassionate stance and takes into account modern issues
Allows individuals to be a total mess and is based on common sense within the framework of natural law
Flexible recognises that natural laws must change in accordance with individual circumstances
Weaknesses on proportionalism
Strongly condemned by Catholic Church, denies that an action can be in and of its self intrinsically evil (child molestering)
Relies on human judgement making it fallible and not following what contended
If the law is natural then how can it be changed it appears to be far too subjective make small decision making unclear
 how can we make accurate predictions about values disvalue and what the outcomes will be
Give an example of how proportionAlism is more compassionate
Value of allowing contraception in countries where there has been at HIV epidermic. Outweighs the disvalue of the church’s teachings on the final end of reproduction. Saves lives by preventing the spread of a killer disease
Give an example of how proportionalism allows individuals to be a Thomas
It is common sense to lie in order to save someone’s life which would adhere to the Precept of preserving life
Weaknesses of the double effect
A logical to say that sacrificing your life to save others is a bad act. It’s heroic loving even. For example a soul to jump on a grenade to save comrades - just like Jesus died to save us
Consequently lists would claim any actual be judged by its results e.g. torture in order to save the execution of 1 million people is valid
Inconsistent thinking – how is stealing allowed to save someone’s life but not lying
Intention shouldn’t be the main focus if an act could lead to a good consequence 
Strengths of double effect
Torture will never be permissible this seems like a loving concept because it is so inhumane and there is no real sensible answer to make it so

Strengths of natural moral law
They are common universal rules that everyone can follow in every society regardless of culture
Should be simple to find answers to ethical dilemmas as based on something more concrete rather than personal opinion
Aquinas allows for exceptions to be made if following the doctrine of double effect
Weaknesses of natural moral law
Outdated in today’s world – a moral system that argues that it is unnatural to be a homosexual or to have sexual pleasure is disregarded in many cultures
Nature changes – evolution = so does natural law change to. Richard Dawkins would argue that there is no God governing creation and everything can be explained in terms of evolution
Aquinas was rather idealistic in his view of human nature by assuming if we do wrong it is because we mistakenly believe we are doing the right thing. Clearly this is not the case. It’s difficult to accept that the rapist believe that they are acting morally
What does GE Moore say about NML
Aquinas talks of real and apparent goods. What is the meaning of goodness. Trying to explain goodness it’s like trying to explain the colour yellow
Highlights a weakness of NML
