NML - "It is impractical to follow the Primary Precepts in all ethical decisions" Discuss

Question 1

Introduction - what is NML?

Answer 1

religious ethical theory that argues that certain rights are inherent by virtue of human nature, endowed by nature—traditionally by God or a transcendent source—and that these can be understood universally through human reason, deduced by Thomas Aquinas

Question 2

Introduction - Synderesis & PP

Answer 2

In Aquinas’ book ‘Summa Theologica’, he states the “first principle of practical reason is… that good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.” This view became known as the Synderesis rule; this is is the natural capacity or disposition of the practical reason to apprehend intuitively the universal first principles of human action. He continued on to state that “…All other precepts…are based upon this” which are collectively known as the primary precepts which Aquinas proposes. The five primary precepts are: to worship God; to live in and ordered society; to reproduce; to learn and educate (about God); to defend and preserve innocent life.