Christian Ethics

Christian Ethics

1. Natural Law

   • Precepts
     • Primary
       • -preservation of life
         • -education of the young
           • -reproduction
             • -worship God
               • -live peacefully in society
       • The Doctrine of Double Effect
         • This says that if doing something morally good has a morally bad side-effect it's ethically okay to do it if the bad side-effect wasn't intended.
     • Secondary
       • What you can apply to the primary precepts.
   • Liberal
     • The Bible is for guidelines, stories written to inform us about God.
   • Conservative
     • Conservatives believe some of the Bible is truth, and some myth. We must interpret it.
   • Literal
     • Taking the Bible as a factual truth.
   • St Thomas Aquinas - (1225-1274)
     • Aquinas looks at what is 'good' for humans, saying that humans share part of their nature with all natural things, part with animals, and part of our human nature is particular to us.
     • The first precept of natural law is “good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.”
     • Aquinas believed we followed apparent good instead of real good.
       • Apparent good: something that seems to be good or the right thing to do but does not fit the perfect human ideal.
       • Real good: the right thing to do - it fits the human ideal.
     • Eternal Law
       • Divine Law
         • Natural Law
           • The theory that an eternal, absolute moral law can be discovered by reason.
         • The Bible - this reflects Eternal Law.
       • The principles by which God made and controls the universe which are only fully known by God.
   • Natural law is common to all the nations. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, e.g.
   • Aristotle - (384–322BC)
     • Aristotle considered that not only does everything have a purpose, but that it's supreme good is found when it fulfils that purpose.
       • The supreme good for humans is eudaimonia.
         • This is usually translated into happiness but includes the idea of living well, thriving with others in society.
   • Strengths of Natural Law
     • It allows for a clear-cut approach to morality.
       • The basic principles are common in all cultures, so Natural Law is reasonable.
         • It does not simply dictate what must be done.
     • Weaknesses of Natural Law
       • It's difficult to relate complex decisions to basic principles in practice.
         • Natural Law relies too much on reason, as human nature is too corrupt to be trusted.
           • Karl Barth
           • Some catholic scholars have tried to supplement church teachings, leading to some rigid interpretations of Natural Law.

2. Situation Ethics

   • 6 Fundamental Principles
     • Agapé is the only absolute.
       • This love is self-giving love.
         • Justice will follow from love.
           • Love has no favourites.
             • Love must be the final end, not a means to an end.
               • The loving thing to do will depend on the situation.
   • Agapé
     • The most loving thing to do.
   • Joseph Fletcher - (1905-1991)
     • 4 Working Principles
       • Pragmatism: What you propose must work in practice.
         • Relativism: Words like 'always' and 'never' cannot be used.
           • Positivism: Looking at the good outcomes.
             • Personalism: Putting people first..
   • Strengths of Situation Ethics
     • Situation Ethics is easy to understand and can be constantly updated for new issues. e.g. genetic engineering.
       • It is flexible and can take different situations into account.
         • It focuses of humans and concern for others.
           • Situation ethics allows people to take responsibility for their own decisions.
     • Weaknesses of Situation Ethics
       • It has been condemned in 1952 by Pope Pius XII, who said it was wrong to make decisions based on personal circumstances if this went against the Bible.
         • It's impossible to determine the consequences of actions. How do we know if the result will be the most loving thing?

3. Conscience

   • God
     • Christians believe that your conscience is God communicating with you, giving you the basic understanding of morals.
       • "If you have Faith in the Father as did Jesus, don't let the problem that sin seems to haunt some people get to you. Do the best you can and leave the rest to the Spirit of Life. You're free of the law, save conscience. Let conscience be your guide. It is your friend, not enemy."
   • Psychology
     • Understanding conscience can help us more fully understand morality, and no account of morality would be complete without explaining conscience; it's just not an ideal starting point to analyse from.
       • This is because moral conscience does not, in and of itself, explain our moral intuitions well.
     • Freud
       • Freud saw the conscience as part of the unconscious mind, and believed that it arose as a result of bad experiences early in life, as well as disapproval from parents and society.
         • This negative aspect of the human psyche is not usually in control of our actions, or not in those with healthy minds.
           • To be ruled by your superego would make you overly judgmental, inflexible and irrational. Freud would argue against allowing the conscience to have control over our decisions about how to act.
             • Superego: the part of a person's mind that acts as a self-critical conscience, reflecting social standards learned from parents and teachers.
   • The Bible
     • In the Holy Scripture conscience is also called "heart".
       • In the Sermon on the mount the Lord Jesus Christ compared conscience to the "eyes" by which a person can evaluate his moral condition. (Matt, 6:22)
         • Jesus also compared conscience to a "rival" with whom a person must come to terms before he presents himself at God's Judgement. (Matt, 5:25)
           • The word "rival" stresses the main attribute of conscience: to oppose our evil desires and intentions.
       • "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." - Matthew 5:8

4. Divine Command Theory

   • An action or a person is right/wrong/good/bad if and only if God said so.
     • The Euthyphro Dilemma
       • "Is it good because God commands it to be good, or does God say it is because it is good?"
         • God is not the greatest, as he must call upon a standard of good greater than himself.
           • God cannot change what is right and wrong. Killing and stealing are inherently bad, so God, being inherently good, cannot command them.
             • Yet if right and wrong are inherent to the action, regardless of God's decree, then God has nothing to do with the process.
               • God doesn't set moral standards; he follows them, and is therefore only indirectly related to moral commands.
                 • God says it is good because it is good.
         • God's commands are arbitrary, grounded on his whims, and thus could be commands that we ourselves find morally offensive.
           • God is free to decide what is good, and it is good by virtue of his decree.
             • If this is the case, then God has no higher standard to answer to, and therefore his will may be seen as genuinely arbitrary.
               • Although God once decreed that murder and theft are morally wrong, he might have declared the opposite just as easily, so then murder and theft would be right.
                 • It is good because God commands it to be good.