Natural Law

What is Natural Law?

Natural Law is based on Aristotelian theology in which all in driven towards its end goal which is good. Aquinas believed humans have a God-given ability to reason which is found in intuitively knowing the Primary Precepts and applying them.

Doesn’t have to be religious, although CC interpret to be deontological & absolute, Aquina’s provides some flexibility

Four tiers of law

• Eternal - Law known as mind of God, his knowledge for right / wrong. God’s blueprint for morality. Human’s don’t have access to this knowledge

• Divine - God’s special revelation of his law, disclosed through the Bible, 10 commandments & Jesus’ sermon on Mount. HOW we discover it.

• Natural - God’s law revealed via right of reason in accordance of nature. Reflecting on what it means to ‘do good and avoid evil’

• Human - Systems of laws built by human societies. Rules & regulations for everyday life, designed by government.

Hierarchal, each dependent on the one above

5 Primary Precepts

• Preservation of life

• Ordered society

• Worship God

• Educate young

• Reproduce

P O W E R: These are all universal

Synderesis Principle

• ‘Do good and avoid evil’

• Aquinas believed all humans are by nature, disposed to do good, we never deliberatley pursue evil. Evil only happens due to real and apparent goods.

• Pursuing good is achieved through following 5 Primary Precepts, leads to eudiamonia in Heaven!

• ‘Casuistry’ = the technique used to work out telos of an action to see if it is ethically good

Real goods vs Apparent goods

• Real goods: Those that lead to fulfilling our God-given purpose and achieving eudimonia. We know them by using ‘right reason in accordance with nature’

• Apparent goods: Humans are flawed and fall short of God’s intentions. Enjoyable doesn’t always lead to eudimonia, it leads to sin. E.g. a child wanting wanting sweets over fruit, they are ignorant to what is really good.

The Secondary Precepts

• Specific rules and laws built into nature

• Derived from Primary Precepts

• Vary between cultures and allow personal interpretations

• Illustrate the practical application of the Primary Precepts

• Use God given ability to reason and work out e.g. Reproduce: homosexuality is wrong as it cannot lead to reproduction

What does Aquinas mean by Telos?

• Something is good if it achieves its telos for which it was created

• Human telos is to become God-like perfection, done by using reason our ‘gift from God’ (ratio)

Does telos exist?

• Francis Bacon argued the idea of telos was unscientific

• Dawkins argues using the ‘The burden of proof’, ‘what is the colour of jealousy?’, just because we can ask why the universe and us exist, doesn’t mean there is a purpose for it

• However, Polkinghorne argues science tells us what, not why, if purpose existed, science wouldn’t be able to discover it.

Doctrine of double effect

• Relevant in a situation where a single action has two effects. Makes distinction of intention & foresight.

• The effect you intended is what matters.

• RCC: Opposed to Euthanasia, if giving morphine kills patient, this is NOT euthanasia as it is an unavoidable possibility. This is not a loophole as God sees everything therefore you can’t lie.

• Always wrong to do bad intentionally however, can be right to do a good thing even if you know it may have a wrong consequences.

Is the Doctrine of double effect Biblical?

• It helps follow unspecific Biblical rules, Natural Law in our nature is flexible due to general precepts. Double effect gives clarity between moral intentions and moral law.

• However, God’s commandments are presented as absolute, not dependent on intention.

Is Natural Law outdated?

Secularists argue divine law = primitive, e.g. it was once useful to only allow sex post marriage as single Mother’s suffered economically. The socio-economic circumstances have changed. It was also useful to have many children due to high infant mortality rate.

Is Natural Law outdated?

(defense)

Conservative Catholics often argue it is NOT outdated as society would have less eudimonia without it. Secular Western Culture is in retrogade due to abandoning the Primary Precepts. We are no longer united by devoting our lives to a greater being. Less marriages are successful, mental illness is increasing.

Strengths

• Open to anyone who can reason

• Focus on search for happiness & fulfilment

• Aquinas unites faith and reason

• PP provides an absolute framework, common and universal rules

• Based on something more concrete than opinions

• Timeless, PP can apply to people throughout time

Weaknesses

• Arguably playing God via keeping people alive via ‘Perserve life’

• General rules

• If nature can change and the PP don’t, how does this work?