An ethical theory that suggests there is a natural order to the universe and that all things are better when they act according to this order or purpose.
Natural law is Deontological, meaning…
The theory considers the act and not the consequences. The moral act itself has moral value.
Is natural law absolutist or relativist?
Mainly absolutist (synderesis rule and primary precepts are absolute however the secondary precepts are not fixed)
When was St Thomas Aquinas Alive?
•1225-1274
•He was a medieval philosopher
Who did St Thomas Aquinas draw inspiration from?
The stoics and Aristotle
How did the Stoics view the world?
As an ordered place arranged by nature or by the Gods
What did the stoics believe?
There is a divine spark within us. We should accept natural order and live in accordance with nature.
”True Law is the rightreason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting”-Cicero, On the Republic
Telos
Endgoal or purpose. Aristotle believed that the universe and everything within it had a telos. He arrives at this from the theory of the fourcauses (telos is the final cause).
Eudaimonia
Human Flourishing and livingwell, the ultimate end that all actions should lead Towards.
What were the different ideas Aquinas and Aristotle had about telos?
•For Aquinas, the telos of human beings was to worshipGod
•For Aristotle, the telos of human beings was Eudaimonia (humanflourishing)
“Ultimate and perfect beatitude (happiness) can consist only in the vision of the divine essence, which is the very essence of goodness”-Aquinas
What are the Fourtiers of law?
EternalLaw- known in the mind of God. Unchanging and Universal.
DivineLaw- revealed by God through commandments and teachings.
NaturalLaw- application of reason (accessible by all)
HumanLaw-customs and practices of society
Probalism
Law that conflicts with natural law is not a law
Laws that were implemented to prevent peaceful protest by civil rights groups in 1960s America could be broken, argued MartinLutherKing, as they were 'unjust laws’
Nazi leaders on trial for war crimes argued that they were just following orders; they were only obeying the law. This was rejected by judges on the grounds that surely 'nature' shows that such laws were morally wrong