Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Natural Moral Law
- Aristotle
- Distinctive nature of
human beings is an
ability to rationalise
- Thus human nature can
reach their end purpose
through reason
- Aquinas
- God created the
world ex nihilo
Anmerkungen:
- Inherent design can be
led to through human
reason
- Essentialist Foundation
- Essence of humanity is prior to
existence, within the Divine Mind
- Imago dei (ideal plan for
humanity) was in God's mind
prior to creation
- Thus Natural Law is
objective,
foundational and
God-Given
- Exterior acts are good for perception.
Interior acts are instrinsicly good in intent
- Efficient causes bring about
Good. Final cause is the
final purpose
Anmerkungen:
- Final cause of sex is children
Efficient causes is sexual attraction and intercourse
- Primary Precepts
- Worship of God
- Ordered Society
- Reproduction
- Learning
- Defect the innocent
- Homosexuality,
masturbation,
contraceptives go
against our Natural
Primary Precepts
and thus are
Secondary Precepts
- Sin is falling short of
God's plan, through
misuse of free will
- Natural Cardinal Virtues
- Prudence
- Caution
- Temperance -
measured lifestyle
- Fortitude -
Strength of
character
- Justice
- The revealed virtues
through Biblical texts
and religious
experience
- Cicero
- "True law is right reason in
Agreement with Nature"
- CRITICISMS
- Casuistic Problems as NML rules out
homosexuality which does not lead to
procreation, but rules out adultery which can
lead to procreation
- Homosexuality is in accordance with
nature - over 500 species of animal
engage in homosexual behaviour
- Peter Vardy
- What is the purpose of a
mouth? For eating or kissing
or both?
- The need to make
assumptions is
implicit in Aquinas'
entire approach
- Rests on assumptions
- There is a purpose
Anmerkungen:
- People believe in purposelessness - Nihilism
- God exists
Anmerkungen:
- There is
uniform human
reason
Anmerkungen:
- People's disagreements on the existence of God is proof that human reasoning is not uniform
- Human beings do not have
a uniform nature and moral
law may vary over time
- Kai Neilson
- From the perspective of
science, there is no essential
human nature
- Anthropologists observe
Eskimo killings of family
members least likely to
survive
- Kevin Kelly
- Christian ethicist
- Christian ethics is
focused on good acts
and the dignity of a
human person
- Morality should be based off
human as 'author and director or
actions' rather than the concept
that acts have values in
themselves
- James Rachels
- NML is based off a
certain world view. The
world of Darwin, Newton
and Galileo has no room
for 'truths' about right or
wrong