Natural Law

Natural Law

1. Aquinas

   • Primary Precepts
     • Preserve life
       • Suicide illegal
     • Ordered soceity
       • Stealing illegal
     • Worship God
       • Chapel compulsory
       • Important - otherwise would become very similar to an Aristotelian epistemology
     • Education
       • Mandatory to certain age
     • Reproduce
       • No contraception
     • Covers basis of soceity
   • Secondary precepts
     • Commands that are derived from the primary precepts and make these clearer
     • They are not absolute
     • Aquinas emphasises the need for 'perception' to judge if the precept applies
     • More specific
   • 'Natural law is the sharing in the eternal law by intelligent creatures...'
   • Accepts Aristotle's fundamental idea that there is a 'telos' behind all things
     • Intrinsic purpose to human life
       • Discoverable by reason
   • 'No evil can be desirable, either by natural appetite or by concious will. It is sought indirectly, namely because it is the consequence of some good'.
   • Doctrine of Double Effect
     • Always wrong to do something bad even if it leads to good consequences
     • Sometimes acceptable to do something good even if it has bad side-effect
       • Bad consequences must be foreseen but unintended
         • There cannot be another way of achieving the initial good
           • Bad consequences cannot outweigh initial good

2. Aristotle

   • 4 Causes
     • The Material cause
       • Substance its made from
     • The Formal cause
       • Structure of it, the blueprint, the design
     • The Efficient cause
       • The maker, what brings it to existence
     • The Final cause
       • The ultimate purpose of it
   • Purpose
     • Everything has a distinct purpose 'telos'.
       • Supreme good is found when something excels at fulfilling its purpose 'telos'.
         • Aristotle argues for humans the supreme good is EUDAIMONIA = happiness or flourishing
       • E.g. For a knife to be sharp and cut well
       • Function of man
         • To use reason in relation to virtues
           • Supreme good achieved

3. Peter Singer

   • 'The semi-official philosoohy of the Roman Catholic Church to this day...'

4. Advantages of Natural law

   • Affirms what most people accept - some actions are natural to human beings. It's common sense
     • Pragmatic
   • It gives a universal guide for judging right and wrong. Enshrined in key modern documents - UN declaration of Human rights.
     • Very useful
   • It's rational... deduced through reason
   • Denies cultural and ethical relativism
     • Making it universal, and gives the world a standard to obey.
   • Some flexibility
     • Through secondary precepts

5. Disadvantages

   • Assumes that human nature and reasoning are identical. They're not. Different countries and cultures think in different ways.
   • Aquinas' view of human nature
     • 'God given' design
     • Too optimistic
       • Do some people want to see the world burn? Not following apparent goods.
   • Cultural relativism
     • Ethics could be result of you upbringing if you reject an intrinsic human nature
   • Revelation
     • Karl Barth - thinks Aquinas relies too much on reason.
       • Says - too sinful to understand God, he must reveal himself to us.
         • Therfore, flawed argument as we cannot know God through reason
   • Underlying assumptions
     • Presupposes a belief in God
   • Randomness of world depicted by modern soceity challenges notion of people moving towards a particular goal
   • Hume's 'Is-Ought' distinction
     • Just because we have this human nature it should not goven how we are
     • Cannot go from description to value judgement