natural law: laws and precepts

what kind of ethic is the natural law theory?

a religious ethic, particularly influential with the catholic church

who was the natural law theory created by?

saint thomas aquinas (1225-1274AD)

who was saint thomas aquinas?

a theologically influential italian priest who is best known for his book: ‘summa theologica’

who was aquinas influenced in his work by?

ancient greek philosopher aristotle

how is natural law an absolutist ethic?

because aquinas believed that god ordained all actions either good or bad in themselves

how is natural law mostly a deontological ethic?

it mostly judges actions and has rules

why is natural law casuistry?

because it will have a set of rules, this means it will apply these rules to all ethical issues

is natural law teleological?

it is mostly deontological, however, there are certain elements of natural law that are teleological

what does aquinas argue god created, set and governs?

all moral laws

who can only know these moral laws that god created, set and governs?

only god can fully know these moral laws

how can humanity partially understand the moral laws which god created, set and governs?

by using our god given innate (natural) human reason

aquinas’ quote on our god given innate human reason

‘natural law is the law written on all our hearts’

who was aquinas heavily inspired by for the idea that we have a ‘god given innate human reason’ part of his theory?

the work of aristotle

what did aristotle argue that the ability to reason was?

the key element of human existence, also stating that the ability to reason is what distinguishes humans from the rest of creation

what did aquinas do to aristotle’s theory regarding humanity’s ability to reason?

aquinas ‘christianised’ aristotle’s theory

how did aquinas christianise aristotle’s theory?

by arguing that the human ability to reason was a gift from god

what did aquinas argue we can do using our innate god given reason?

we can reason out gods ultimate end purpose (telos) for humanity: he called it right reasoning. as he stated: ‘the moral life is the life according to reason’

aquinas reasoned that the universe was created by god with what?

an end purpose (telos)

why must humanity too have an ultimate end purpose (telos) set by god?

because humanity is the fundamental part of gods created universe

aquinas reasons out natural law to achieve two purposes:

1. to explain what the god created end purpose (telos) is for all humanity

2. to illustrate the way in which gods end purpose for humanity may be achieved

what did aquinas believe that the ultimate end purpose (telos) for humanity was?

to gain post-mortem (after death) eternal life in heaven, with god

what does the ultimate end purpose (telos) for all humanity being to gain post-mortem eternal life in heaven, with god, entail?

re-establishing a right relationship with god; broken when adam and eve committed the ‘original sin’

how can humanity attain their ultimate end purpose according to aquinas?

by achieving the ‘highest good’

what is the highest good & where does the term come from?

this term comes from the ancient greek philosopher aristotle, who used it to describe a moral agent’s ultimate end purpose (telos)

what did aristotle believe the highest food for all of humanity was?

the pursuit of happiness aka ‘eudaimonia’

what was humanity’s highest good according to aquinas?

to ‘become more like god’ as aquinas states: ‘natural law is the same for all men.. there is a single standard of truth for everyone’

what did aquinas mean when he said ‘become more like god’?

that moral agents are born with the god given end purpose (telos) to develop as closely as we can into the image of god

what is the purpose of aquinas’ natural law?

to act as a guide to help all moral agents (humanity) to develop closely into the image of god

what has a moral agent achieved if they managed to closely develop into the image of god?

the highest good and will achieve their ultimate purpose (telos) of residing with god, in heaven, post-mortem

what did aquinas argue was impossible for humanity to do?

to perfectly reflect the image of god in our lives, on earth, but it was our purpose to move as near to it as possible

how many types of precepts are there?

3

what are the 3 types of precepts?

the key precept, the primary precepts and the secondary precepts

what is the most important precept according to aquinas?

the key precept

what does the key precept state moral agents should do?

‘do good and avoid evil’

why should moral agents ‘do good and avoid evil’?

because god created (when he created the universe) which actions are morally good and which ones are morally bad (therefore they’re absolutist)

which actions should moral agents ‘do’?

actions which god deemed are good i.e ‘do good’

which actions should moral agents avoid?

actions which god deemed evil i.e. ‘avoid evil’

what does it mean when we are following gods character in what is ‘good’ and what is ‘evil’?

this means we are achieving our telos of developing into the image of god (the highest good)

why did aquinas reason out the primary precepts and the secondary precepts?

because the key precept is not enough information on its own and we can’t determine which actions are ‘good’ and which ones are ‘evil’ with just the key precept

why did aquinas reason out that humanity must also have a set of god given purposes?

because humanity was created, by god, into a purposeful universe

how did aquinas reason out humanities god given purposes?

by considering humanities natural inclinations e.g. to have sex, to what to learn ect

why do moral agents have the ability to fulfil their purposes?

because humanity was created by god, thus god also must have designed moral agents with the ability to fulfil their purposes

what do humanities natural inclinations must reflect?

our god given purposes

how many human purposes did aquinas generalise based on humanities natural inclinations and what did he call them?

5 human purposes, aquinas called them the primary precepts

what did aquinas argue these 5 primary precepts were?

permanent and unchanging

why did aquinas argue that the 5 primary precepts were permanent and unchanging?

because they were set by god from the beginning of time, thus they were the same for every human (universal)

aquinas’ quote on the 5 primary precepts being the same for every human (universal):

‘there is a single standard of truth and right for everyone’

what are the 5 primary precepts?

1. preservation of life

2. orderly living in society

3. worship god

4. education

5. reproduction

preservation of life

humans should preserve their own life and those of the innocent (those weaker than yourself)

orderly living in society

humanity should live together in harmony

worship god

all of humanity have a duty to worship their creator (god)

education

everyone should seek to be educated and thus understand the nature of gods earth

reproduction of the human species

humanity should procreate

what did aquinas reason you can create from the primary precepts?

specific deontological ethical rules

aquinas reasoned from the primary precepts that you can create specific deontological ethical rules, what are these rules known as?

the secondary precepts

what do the secondary precepts work on?

the reasoned idea that any action that breaks a primary precept is wrong (evil)

what does performing an action that breaks a primary precept do?

takes a moral agents away from their telos of ‘becoming more like god’

is an action that supports/upholds a primary precept good or bad?

good as it helps a moral agents achieve their telos of ‘becoming more like god’

right/good action

acts that uphold/furthers primary precept

wrong/evil action

acts that break/go against the primary precepts

why do secondary precepts rules apply in every situation, to everybody?

because they’re deontological

aquinas’ quote on the secondary precepts being universal

‘it is of universal application. unchanging and everlasting’

what is one of the occasional exceptions to the secondary precepts rules?

when a ‘double effect’ occurs

what do the secondary precepts create?

a set of deontological rules that guide a moral agents on what actions are ‘good’ or ‘evil’