Lower forms of life serve as a means to the ends of higher forms (food chain).
Less perfect creatures exist for the sake of more perfect life forms.
The rain serves plants by providing nourishment, plants serve animals as food, and animals serve humans as food, labor, or subjects for study.
Natural hierarchy has implications for what constitutes natural justice and supporting human flourishing.
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Italian Dominican friar, priest, and doctor of the church.
Influential in Western philosophy and theology.
Contribution: scholasticism, an intellectual movement of the high Middle Ages.
Comprehensive synthesis of Christian doctrine.
Born as an aristocrat in Rocasses, Italy.
Joined the Dominican order, dedicated to preaching and scholarship.
Studied under Albertus Magnus.
Summa Theologica
A monumental work systematically addressing theological and philosophical questions.
Organized in a question-and-answer format, presenting arguments, objections, and replies.
Four Laws of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Eternal Law
Natural Law
Human Law
Divine Law
Eternal Law
Foundational to Aquinas' legal and moral framework.
Divine reason and wisdom of God governing the entire universe.
God's perfect plan for the order and purpose of all creation.
Not a set of specific rules but the ultimate blueprint for existence.
Resides eternally in the mind of God.
The uncreated, unchangeable, and universal law directs all things toward their proper ends.
Analogy: Architect's complete design for a building before construction.
Dictates the nature of all beings, from inanimate objects to rational creatures.
Only aspects can be grasped through reason and divine revelation.
Every true law (natural, divine, or human) must reflect and align with eternal divine order.
If a law contradicts the eternal law, it is fundamentally flawed.
Example: Law of gravity.
Objects consistently fall downward towards the earth's center.
Inherent property of the physical universe.
Regular and uniform operation of natural law is a manifestation of God's eternal law.
Natural Law
Cornerstone of ethical and legal philosophy introduced by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Bridge between God's eternal government and human moral reasoning.
Participation in the eternal law through the use of reason.
Not divinely revealed commandments.
Inherent moral principles discovered through self-reflection and observation.
All things in creation have an inherent purpose ordained by eternal law.
Humans are unique due to their rational capacity and process free will.
Rational understanding of moral precepts leads to eudaimonia or human flourishing.
Self-evident truth: good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.
Human Inclination
Primary precepts correspond to basic human inclinations or goods.
In common with all beings.
The most fundamental inclination is to preserve one's own being.
Humans inherently drive to maintain existence and resist destruction.
Translate into moral precepts like the duty to protect one's life and avoid self-harm.
Suicide is considered a violation of natural law.
In common with other animals.
Inclination towards sexual reproduction and rearing offspring.
Provides a natural law basis for marriage and family.
Uniquely human inclination (do good).
Humans are rational beings.
Rational and social nature.
Innate desire for knowledge of ultimate realities.
Manifestation is intellectual curiosity.
People in churches what they do is that partake in God's eternal law.
Continuously develop one's self. For example, to seek knowledge and wisdom.
Rational vs. Irrational Creatures
Church people partake in God's eternal law in distinct ways.
Irrational creatures (animals, plants, inanimate objects participate through instinct and natural tendencies).
Example: A stone falls downward due to gravity; a plant grows towards the light; a bird builds a nest and cares for its young.
Rational creatures (human beings) participate through reason and free will.
Unique capacity for reason means humans share in God's providence not just by being governed but by governing themselves and others through rational principles or natural law.
Acts of Man vs. Human Acts
Distinction determines moral responsibility and understanding how natural law applies to human behavior.
Acts of Man (actus hominis):
Actions performed without conscious deliberation, free will, or sufficient knowledge.
Involuntary, instinctive, or performed without knowledge.
Considered morally neutral because they lack moral conduct or critical judgment.
Human Acts (actus humanus):
Actions proceeding from the deliberation and will of a person.
Involve supporting knowledge and freedom.
Agent understands the moral nature of the act and its potential consequences.
Agent is able to choose (or not choose) to perform the act.
Example: Choosing to help a friend, studying.
Natural Law and Human Law
Human law seeks to pursue beneficial and perfective things that are conducive to well-being.
Divine Law
Represents the final, practical tier in comprehensive hierarchy.
Builds upon eternal law, divine law, and natural law.
Necessity of human law:
Natural law provides universal, self-evident principles but is too general to address specific complexities.
Moral Object, Circumstances, and Double Effect Principle
Moral Object
The specific kind of action being performed.
What of the action.
The Inherent ethical character of an action depends on whether it aligns with or violates the basic goods of human nature, understood by the natural law.
Every human act has an inherent moral quality, determined by whether the act is rationally ordered towards humanity's proper ends and natural inclination.
Actions ordered toward human good (preserving life, seeking truth, rendering justice).
Inherently destructive of human basic good (murder, lying, stealing) are intrinsically evil.
The moral object of stealing is the taking of other's property against their reasonable will.
Violation of justice and the right to property, which are goods identified by the natural law.
Circumstances
Accidental qualities surrounding a human act.
Add specific details that can increase or diminish the moral goodness to badness.
The 5 Ws - who, what, where, when, and how.
Quality of the person performing the act or affected by it--stealing from the rich vs poor.
The quantity or quality of the object involved in the act: Stealing a larger sum of money vs small amount.
Where the place where an act occurs: Stealing from a church is sacrilegious.
When the time the act occurs: Stealing during a natural disaster.
Manner in which the act is performed: Stealing by force vs stealth.
Double Effect Principle (PDE)
Ethical guidelines from the natural law tradition associated with Thomas Aquinas.
Addresses situations where an action has both good and bad effects.
Distinguishes between intending a bad effect and the effect itself.
Conditions of Double Effect
The action itself must be good or at least indifferent.
The action being performed must be not intrinsically evil.
Direct murder is always evil regardless of any good that might come from it.
The good effect must come first before the evil effect.
The intention must be focused solely on achieving the good effects.
The agent must genuinely desire a good outcome and simple permit the bad outcome as an unavoidable side effect.
A proportionate reason for the evil effect to happen.