natural law

what were Aristotle's views on telos?

- the universe and everything in it has a telos
- this comes from his theory of the four causes (telos = final)
- this includes physical things, humans and even actions.

what was Aristotle's views on Eudaimonia?

- happiness in the sense of fulfilment and human flourishing, not pleasure.
- requires a full human life where we not only experience pleasure but also participate in society and develop academically as philosophers.
- that is how we achieve ur telos

what did the stoics believe about natural law?

- viewed the world as an ordered place arranged by nature or by the gods in the best way possible.
- believed that we had a divine spark within us that enabled us to reason and understand the universe.
- path to human happiness and leading a good life was to accept the natural order of things and live according to nature's rules.
- favoured rational over emotional

what are Aquinas’ views on telos?

* **Telos** - the idea that humans have a purpose or end. (A)
* **Reason** - the world is ordered and rational, we have the capacity given by God and we understand. (S)
* **Nature** - we have a human nature and it is important to do what is ‘natural’, i.e. what fits with our nature. (S)

what are the four tiers of law?

* Eternal Law
* Divine Law
* Natural Law
* Human Law

what is eternal law?

- law as known in the mind of God
- his knowledge of what's right and wrong
- moral truths that we are unable to fathom
- god has given us the ability to reason so we may be able imperfectly to work out some application to human life

what is divine law?

- law revealed by god through the commands and teachings through revelation, eg scripture
- unusual that aquinas references this as he believes that law is rational rather than revealed
- believes laws revealed by God are reasonable, we can work them out

what is natural law?

- moral thinking that we are all able to do whether or not we have had the divine revelation of scripture
- all humans have the capacity to consider and work out the moral rules necessary for achieving our purpose
- involves rational reflection on our human nature and considering how we might 'do good and avoid evil'

what is human law?

- the customs and practices of a society
- devised by governments and societies
- should be based on reasoning from natural law
- Aquinas argues that laws are only just if they are based on natural or divine law
- to break a human law that was not based on divine or natural law would be illegal but not immoral

what is the main moral precept?

* synderesis rule - ‘do good and avoid evil’.
* all moral rules are taken from this
* when we reflect on our telos and understand the synderesis rule, five primary precepts emerge:

what are Aquinas' primary precepts?

* **Preservation of Life** - Aquinas argues that we are to preserve life. It is evident that life is important, both our own and that of others. It is natural and reasonable for us for a person to be concerned with ‘Preserving its own being and … preserving human life’.
* **To Reproduce** - it is also rational to ensure that life continues and this is the main purpose of sexual intercourse.
* **To Educate the Young** - humans are intellectual creatures and it is natural for us to learn.
* To live in an **ordered society** - we are social beings and it is good to live in an ordered society where it is possible to fulfil our purpose.
* **To Worship God** - to recognise God as the source of life and to live in a way that pleases him.phiph

what are Aquinas' secondary precepts?

- not specific, general statements about what is good for humans
- based on primary precepts eg. preserve life = do not kill
- catholic interpreters fixed secondary precepts eg. reproduce - rejection of contraception
- Aquinas never goes this far

what is the doctrine of double effect?

* an action that is wrong is always wrong. But an action that is positive or neutral but has an evil consequence is sometimes permissible.


1. **The nature-of-the-act condition.**
The action must be either morally good or indifferent. Lying or intentionally killing an innocent person is never permissible.
2. **The means–end condition.**
The bad effect must not be the means by which one achieves the good effect.
3. **The right-intention condition.**
The intention must be the achieving of only the good effect, with the bad effect being only an unintended side effect. If the bad effect is a means of obtaining the good effect, then the act is immoral. The bad effect may be foreseen but must not be intended.
4. **The proportionality condition.**
The good effect must be at least equivalent in importance to the bad effect

how do you apply natural law to euthanasia?

- a doctor attempts to treat a terminally ill patient by giving a dose of pain killer with the intention of relieving pain.
- ultimately, it was the cause of death, it was unintended though foreseen
- intention is good, even if consequence not
- according to natural law, that is ok and not euthanasia
- due to the doctrine of double effect

what are the strengths of natural law?

- absolute, deontological laws, offers clarity and firm moral principles
- primary precepts are mostly agreed upon as desirable goods in human life, things that most humans pursue
- not as rigid and absolutist and rigid as first appear, secondary precepts allow for reason in context in society
- values life and values rights, does not hold humans as a means to an end, holds hat life is intrinsically valuable

what are the weaknesses of natural law?

- natural law may be wrong to assume that there is a universal telos as everybody has different values and priorities, these sometimes go against the primary precepts eg. atheism
- commits a naturalistic fallacy, guilty of observing what commonly happens in nature and then arguing that this is what must happen, eg. observing human teeth (made for meat) and saying its morally wrong to eat veg
- existentialists such as Sartre argue that there is no purpose to human life, unlike objects with have a maker who plans their purpose before they are made.
- overly legalistic, loses the respect for humanity
- outdated, eg. homophobic views
- fletcher argued too legalistic