Aquinas' Natural Law

• Aristotle - Final cause:

  It is easier for objects, it is more difficult for people

  1. Use reason to find final cause
  2. 2. use reason to pursue final cause through actions
  3. 3. these actions are good actions
• Aristotle - Final cause:

  • The final cause is the purpose of an object – what is it for?
  • By achieving this purpose an object reaches perfection
  • Living a good life involves finding and fulfilling your purpose
• Aristotle - Final cause:

  • "Man is a thinking animal"
• Aristotle – Eudaimonia:

  • Aristotle says our purpose is to reach eudaimonia
  • This is happiness in a wellbeing sense (how is this different from Bentham’s view of happiness?)
  • You reach eudaimonia by using reason to find and fulfil your purpose
  • Happiness – reaching eudaimonia – is what makes life worthwhile
• • Everything has a purpose, or a place, in the natural order of the universe
  • Fulfilling that purpose through applying reason is how we act morally
• Aquinas - makes Aristotle's ideas Christian:

  • Aquinas didn’t see the use of reason as a threat because reason is God-given.
  • We should use reason to fulfil what God wanted.
  • God is the creator so God gave us all a purpose.
  • Actions that fulfil this purpose are good. We have a duty to fulfil this purpose.
• 4 Levels of law:

  • By following these four levels of law humans can hope to reach God.
  • It is possible just using Natural Law (reason) but will be easier the more levels of law are used.
• 4 Levels of Law:

  • Eternal law - The mind of God – laws which humans cannot know and fully understand. The laws which govern creation, these can only be occasionally glimpsed by science
  • Divine law - The revealed word of God as found in the Bible. The teachings of Jesus.
  • Natural law - The application of reason to do good. The desire to do good and avoid evil (making moral judgements)
  • Human law - The everyday rules of society and governments
• The first Precept :

  • A precept is a law or rule
  • “good is to be done and evil is to be avoided”
  • Natural law means using reason to apply this precept

  If reason is correct that is a real good (good actions)

  If reason is incorrect that is an apparent good (bad actions)
• The first precept:

  “The first precept of law, is that ‘good is to be done and evil is to be avoided’.All other precepts of natural law are based on this”
• 5 Primary precepts:

  Five rules that will allow people to apply their reason in a civilised society

  1. Preservation of life
  2. 2.Reproduction
  3. 3.Educating the young
  4. 4.Living in an orderly society
  5. 5.Worshipping God

  These Primary Precepts become practical secondary precepts
• Secondary precepts:

  • Apply reason to the Primary Precepts to come up with actions and practical rules to follow.
  • Secondary precepts are flexible in the way they can be shaped to the specific situation but an action is always right or wrong – Primary Precepts are fixed
• Why do we have to follow the primary precepts?

  • •In order to establish a ‘right’ relationship with God.
  • i.e. gain eternal life with God in heaven 
  • Which is our ultimate purpose
• Cardinal Virtues:

  • A virtue is a positive personal quality, literally translating as ‘excellence’
  • Aquinas came up with four cardinal virtues
  • These are qualities needed to form a moral life
• 4 Cardinal virtues:

  • Prudence - The ability to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time
  • Temperance - To be able to practice self restraint
  • Fortitude - Courage. The ability to confront fear in the pursuit of a goal
  • Justice - This virtue helps us balance our interests with the rights and interests of others
• 3 Revealed Virtues:

  Faith – belief in God and the truth of revelation.

  Hope – expectation of eternal life.

  Charity – selfless and voluntary loving.
• 3 Revealed Virtues:

  • Revealed through scripture (St Paul in 1 Corinthians 13)
  • They cannot be achieved through human effort. A person can only gain them through divine grace
• Interior and exterior acts:

  • Interior act = motive behind an act
  • Exterior act = the external act a person can see

  To be a good action people must perform a good exterior act with the right motivation (interior act).
• Real good:

  • •Real good is an action that helps humans move closer to God
  • Real goods develop the virtues
  • Real goods(correctly reasoned goods that help the moral agent achieve their telos)
• Apparent good:

  • Apparent goods take us away from the ideal nature God intended, even if they seem good at first glance
  • Apparent goods (wrongly reasoned goods that don’t help the moral agent achieve their God-given purpose)
• The revealed virtues are needed to have a union with God

  God gives us these virtues because of his grace
• "If in any point it deflects from the law of nature, it is no longer a law but a perversion of law"
• "Natural law is the same for all men, there is a single standard of truth and right for everyone, which is known by everyone"
• "Every judgement of conscience is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins"
• "The things that we love tell us what we are"
• "If i give all i possess to the poor, but do not have love i gain nothing"
• "Love is patient and kind. it does not envy, not boast, it is not proud"
• "Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution"