Natural Law

• Natural Law


  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 right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting” -Cicero, On the Republic
• Telos 


  End goal or purpose. Aristotle believed that the universe and everything within it had a telos. He arrives at this from the theory of the four causes (telos is the final cause).
• Eudaimonia 


  Human Flourishing and living well, 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 worship God

  •For Aristotle, the telos of human beings was Eudaimonia (human flourishing)
• “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 Four tiers of law?

  • Eternal Law- known in the mind of God. Unchanging and Universal.
  • Divine Law- revealed by God through commandments and teachings.
  • Natural Law- application of reason (accessible by all)
  • Human Law- 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 Martin Luther King, 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
• The synderesis rule

  “Do good and avoid evil”

  all other moral rules stem from this
• The 5 primary Precepts

  Preserve life, Ordered society, Worship God, Educate, Reproduce
• Secondary precepts

  More specific rules that can be deduced from the primary precepts.
• Casuitry


  The process of applying natural law principles to specific situations
• Real good


  The right use of reason, leading to actions that lead towards perfection
• Apparent good


  Thinking something is good when it isn’t really. Taking us further away from what god intended.
• Aquinas’ views on exterior and interior acts

  For Aquinas, both intention (interior act) and the act itself (exterior act) are important
• The Doctrine of Double Effect


  When an action may have two effects or ends (one can be good and one can be bad)