natural law

• • The focus of Natural law is not merely on following God’s commands in the Bible (the divine law) but also on comprehending and maintaining the purpose (telos) of our natural desires.
• Aquinas thinks we have a natural desire to reproduce, educate, protect and preserve human life and live in an orderly society. All of these primary precepts are threatened by sexual immorality
• • The only way for children to be provided for such that they can receive education is if they are born to married parents. So, Aquinas thinks that to follow the primary precepts requires confining all sexual behaviour to marriage – so pre/extra marital sex is wrong.
• Aquinas argued that if the primary purpose of sex is for the procreation of children then the purpose of marriage is to provide the most stable environment for them to be brought up in.  He therefore condemned sex outside of marriage, writing in Summa Contra Gentiles that ‘matrimony is natural for man, and promiscuous performance of the sexual act, outside matrimony, is contrary to man’s good. For this reason it must be a sin.’
• • Natural law ethics is available to everyone because all humans are born with the ability to know and apply the primary precepts. It is possible to follow the natural law even if you are not Christian or have no access to the divine law (Bible).
• • Aquinas’ Natural law ethics is increasingly seen as outdated. In ancient and mediaeval history, society was more chaotic. It made sense to create strict absolutist ethical principles, to prevent society from falling apart. This would explain the primary precepts. They served a useful function in mediaeval society
• The issue clearly is that all of these socio-economic conditions have changed. Today, we have contraception which disconnects sex from pregnancy and our society has more resources for helping single parents. So, the primary precepts are no longer useful.