Natural Moral Law

• Who's theory is this

  Aquinas
• When was it developed

  13th century
• What was Aquinas' approach to decision making

  Catholic
• Immutable 


  Changeless
• Eudaimonia

  Happiness
• Beatific vision


  The ultimate, direct, self communication of God to humanity
• What are the 4 levels of law

  Eternal Law

  Divine Law

  Natural Law

  Human Law
• What did Aquinas believe about God 


  He is immutable and therefore consistent
• Why was the purpose of creation to reflect gods goodness

  He is absolutely good
• What is the final cause (goal) of humanity

  Earthly = Eudaimonia

  Final cause = beatific vision
• What was Aquinas' guiding principle

  Seek what is good and avoid evil
• What are the 5 primary precepts

  Preservation of life

  Ordered society

  Worship God

  Eduction of the young

  Reproduction
• What does obeying the primary precepts lead to

  Eudaimonia
• What are secondary precepts

  Rules showing humans how to apply the primary precepts
• Virtue

  A quality/disposition in a person held to be of moral value
• How is a real good reached

  Practice of the virtues
• What are the 4 cardinal virtues

  1. Prudence - disaplin
  2. Justice
  3. Fortitude - courage
  4. Temperance - self control
• Where did Aquinas adopt the cardinal virtues from

  Arostotle
• Where did Aquinas get the theological virtues from

  1 corinthians
• What are the theological vitues

  1. Faith
  2. Hope
  3. Love
• 1 corinthians 13:13

  These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love
• What is the principle of double effect

  Four criteria that help people know whether it might be right to set aside a secondary principle while still upholding primary ones
• What are the 4 criteria of the principle of double effect

  1. The nature of the act
  2. The means-end
  3. The good intention
  4. The proportionality
• What does the nature of the act condition mean

  The morality if the proposed action must be good or at the very least neutral
• What does the means-end condition mean

  The bad effect must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved
• What does the good intention condition mean

  The intention must be to achieve the good effect. The bad effect may be foreseen but must not be intended
• What does the proportionality condition mean

  The good effect must be at least proportionate in its significance to the bad effect
• What is proportionalism

  The moral principle arising out of NML should be firmly upheld unless there is a proportionate reason for not doing so
• What 2 things must be taken into account for proportionalism

  1. The intension of the moral agent
  2. The value of the good effect against the disvalue of the bad effect
• What are 2 strengths of proportionalism

  1. Its use in Just War theory shows it works
  2. In situations where it is applied it makes good sense
• What are 2 weaknesses of proportionalism

  1. The magisterium has denounced it because of its claim there are no intrinsic evils
  2. It's calculation of value and disvalue seem consequentialist - it may not seem to give an accurate prediction of the outcome
• What are 5 strengths of NML

  1. Many find guidelines and boundaries helpful
  2. Many think morality is more than just individual preferences - some things are just intrinsically right and wrong
  3. The distinction between real and apparent goods recognises people get confused about what is right and wrong
  4. Many different versions can be developed, not all have to be religious
  5. The emphasis on the virtues encourages a focus on developing a person's character
• What are 4 weaknesses of NML

  1. Casuistry can make some judgements seem hair splitting
  2. Many dispute the idea of all having a common nature - modern science challenges this
  3. Applying secondary precepts can lead to bad outcomes - e.g. banning contraception contributing to the spread of HIV
  4. Anthropocentrism - makes the the whole animal kingdom and natural world subservient to humans