The laws and precepts found in Natural law

Who came up with the idea of natural law?

The concept of natural law has roots in ancient philosophy, but it was notably developed by thinkers like Aristotle and later refined by medieval scholars such as Aquinas.

What are the four tiers of his laws?

• eternal law

• divine law

• natural law

• human law

What is the divine law?

God’s revelation in the Bible

What is the human law?

the laws we make which Aquinas argued should be based on natural and divine law

What is natural law?

the moral law within the human nature

what is the eternal law?

od’s plan, built into the nature of everything which exists, according to his omnibenevolent nature.

What did Aquinas claim?

we could discover God’s morality within our nature through synderesis; the power God gave human reason to know the primary precepts

What is the synderesis rule?

to do good and avoid evil

Where did Aquinas lay out his ideas?

Summa Theologica

What is natural law based on?

Aristotelian teleology, the idea that everything has a nature which directs it towards its end goal. Aquinas Christianised this concept

Like Aristotle, what did Aquinas believe?

eudaimonia can be achieved at the societal as well as the individual level. God has designed the telos of human beings so that a harmony of their individual interests can be achieved if they follow the natural law.

Through synderesis, what can we learn?

Further to this, through synderesis we learn the primary precepts: worship God, live in an orderly society, reproduce, educate, protect and preserve human life and defend the innocent.

What is synderesis?

Synderesis is the habit or ability of reason to discover foundational ‘first principles’ of God’s natural moral law.

What are these primary precepts?

These primary precepts are the articulation of the orientations in our nature toward the good; the natural inclinations of our God-designed human nature, put into the form of ethical principles by human reason.

Simply having reason allows us to what?

Simply having reason allows a being to intuitively know these precepts. We are all born with the ability to know them.

What is conscienta?

the ability of reason to apply he primary precepts to situations or types of actions. The judgement we then acquire is a secondary precept. E.g euthanasia: the primary precepts don’t say anything about euthanasia exactly, but we can use our reason to apply the primary precepts to euthanasia, and realise that it goes against the primary precept of protecting and preserving human life.

What are interior and exterior acts?

A physical action itself is an exterior act because it occurs outside of our mind. Our intention; what we deliberately choose to do, is the interior act because it occurs inside our mind.

What is an example of interior and exterior acts?

he act of giving money to charity is an example of a good exterior act, but is only morally good when combined with the right kind of intention, which would be an interior act. If the intention was only to be thought of as a good person, which is not the right kind of intention, then the action is not truly morally good.

What is the double effect?

A single action can have two effects, one in accordance with the primary precepts and one in violation of them. Aquinas claims that such actions can be justified the good effect is intended while the bad effect is “beside the intention”

How did Aquinas illustrate this?

Aquinas illustrated this with killing in self-defence. There are two effects; the saving of a life and the killing of a life. Killing someone, which clearly violates the primary precept of preserving human life, can be justified so long as it is an effect which is a secondary effect beside the intention of an action whose other effect was intended and was in accordance with the primary precepts

There are four generally accepted conditions in modern Catholicism for an action to be justified by the double effect, which are two?

The nature of the act condition and The means-end condition

What is the means-end condition?

he bad effect and the good effect must both be brought about immediately – at the same time. Otherwise, the person would be using a bad effect as a means to bring about a good effect – which is not permissible

Unlike Aristotle, what did Aquinas believe, according to his Beatific Vision?

Aquinas argued that this end is to be united with the Christian God and called this the Beatific Vision

Why is Aquinas’ version of Natural Law seen as moral absolutism?

because the emphasis has often been upon the Primary Precepts and their corresponding moral obligations. Thus, it is often seen as deontological because moral behaviour is seen as being determined by these fundamental principles that are not based on consequences

What is the application of Primary precepts and the formation of secondary precepts called? Secondary and Primary precepts are what?

The application of Primary Precepts and development of secondary precepts for moral situations is known as ‘casuistry’. Secondary precepts are not exceptionless norms; Primary Precepts are always exceptionless.

What is the problem regarding eternal law?

Due to human imperfection and the imperfection of the Fallen natural order we can never know this fully

When is the Beatific vision possible?

fully possible in the afterlife

Who was Aquinas?

Dominican friar and priest, as well as philosopher and theologian in the Western tradition