P1 - Natural Moral Law

Question 1

Who proposed Natural Moral Law?

Answer 1

Thomas Aquinas

Question 2

What was Aquinas’ theory

Answer 2

• God is immutable, therefore consistent
• God is absolutely good, purpose of creation made to reflect goodness
• laws of nature reflect God’s nature
• everything has a final cause (telos) for humanity, it is eudaimonia

Question 3

What are the fourfold divisions of Law?

Answer 3

Divine Law:
- God’s special revelation disclosed to humanity in the Bible + teachings, contains truths only through God’s grace
Eternal Law:
- God’s blueprint for the natural and moral order of things
Natural Moral Law:
- God’s eternal law revealed through nature and interpreted by reason; not dependent on belief in God or special revelation
Human Law:
- refers to the systems of Law built up by human society based on natural law

Question 4

What are primary precepts?

Answer 4

they are universally and absolutely binding precepts

Question 5

What are Aquinas’ 3 primary precepts?

Answer 5

What humans share with all other created entities – desire to preserve life, carry on existing
what humans share with other animals – desire to reproduce
what humans have uniquely as rational beings – to know the truth about God

Question 6

What are the three manualists precepts?

Answer 6

• the desire to preserve life
• the desire to reproduce, to care for their offsprings
• To know the truth about God and worship him, to live in an ordered society

Question 7

what are secondary precepts?

Answer 7

shows how humans can apply primary precepts to specific situations in their lives
this is sometimes seen as culturally relative – relative to one’s culture

Question 8

How does secondary precepts apply to specific situations

Answer 8

whatever promotes or hinders humanity’s telos is wrong
– e.g.. use of artificial contraception is wrong cause it hinders the fulfilment of reproduction which is the telos of sex
these are universally binding
– same with everyone regardless of culture
there are some flexibility
– “but it may be changed in some particular cases of rare occurrence” ~ Aquinas

Question 9

What are real and apparent goods

Answer 9

Humans fall short of God’s intentions for them

• humans can be good, but can be confused between real and apparent goods
• it is only good if there is interior actions
• real good is reached through the practice of virtues (a quality or disposition in a person held to be of moral value)

Question 10

what are the four cardinal virtues (from Aristotle)

Answer 10

Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance

Question 11

how can these cardinal virtues be attained?

Answer 11

through human ability

following real good

Question 12

what are Christian theological virtues?

Answer 12

Faith, hope and love are virtues – this is a gift from God

“… binds everything together in perfect harmony…”

Question 13

What is the principle of the double effect

Answer 13

helps avoid mistakes in moral reasoning in difficult cases

like how killing in self-defense can be justified as long as the killing was not intended

Question 14

what are the four conditions in the principle of double effect

Answer 14

nature of the act condition:
– the morality of the proposed action must be good or at least neutral
the means-end:
– the bad effect of the action must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved
the good intention condition:
– the intention must be to achieve a good effect. the bad effect may be foreseen but not intended
the proportionality condition:
– good effect must be at least proportionate in its significance to the bad effect

Question 15

how has Thomist natural moral law developed since Aquinas

Answer 15

in the seventeenth century…
manuals were written for priests in training
interpreted precepts were more rigid and narrow
- they count out any reference to the virtues
- approach was typical of Catholic thinking until Vatican II

in the twentieth century…
more flexible interpretation

Question 16

what is proportionalism?

Answer 16

holds that there are certain moral rules and it is never right to go against these rules

Question 17

what do modern proportionalists think

Answer 17

they argue that it makes sense to lie to save someone’s life if stealing is justified

“what the proportionalists have done is point out the inconsistency and invalidity of such thinking” – Hoose

Question 18

How can proportionalism be applied to modern situations

Answer 18

applied to many issues like medical ethics and just war theory
states that moral principle should be firmly upheld unless there is a proportionate reason to not do so
no intrinsically evil acts

Question 19

how to decide whether an act is moral or immoral

Answer 19

• the intention of the moral agent needs to be taken account of
• focus on interior acts
• the proportion of value of good effect to disvalue of bad effect in the act and intention of the act considered
• • e.g. surgeon cutting flesh

Question 20

what are the strengths of proportionalism

Answer 20

• use in just war theory (its been around for a long time, fairly robust), shows that it works
• in situations where it is applied, it makes good sense (e.g. lying to save a life)

Question 21

what are the weaknesses of proportionalism

Answer 21

• magisterium denounced it, cause of its claim that there are no intrinsic evils…. what about torture, rape or slavery?
• its calculation of value and disvalue seems consequentialist, in some cases, it may not be easy to give an accurate prediction of the outcome

Question 22

strengths of natural moral law

Answer 22

• a set guideline and boundary, makes it standardised
• many think that morality is more than just individual preferences: some things are intrinsically right and wrong
• different versions can be developed, not all have to be religious
• emphasis on the virtues encourages a focus on developing the person’s character

Question 23

weaknesses of natural moral law

Answer 23

• casuistry can make judgements seem hair-splitting – the view that we all share a single, common human nature is arguably false
• many dispute the idea of all having a common nature (modern science challenges this, its views on sex have caused great suffering)
• applying the secondary precepts can lead to bad outcomes (e.g. a ban on contraception which will contribute to the spread of HIV)
• anthropocentrism – the hierarchy adopted by Aquinas from Aristotle makes the whole of the animal kingdom and the natural world subservient to humans