Aquinas' Natural Law

St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274)

• Aquinas was a Christian philosopher and theologian who developed a fuller account of Natural Law in the 13th Century.
• His ethical theory is absolutist and deontological.
• In his work Summa Theologica, Aquinas described Natural Law as a moral code existing within the purpose of nature, created by God.
• It is;
• accessible through the natural order
• universal
• unchanging
• for all time
• relevant to all circumstances
• given by God
• perceived by all humans, although only believers in God acknowledge that it has implications for them beyond the grave
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• Caption: "This is the first precept of the law, that good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided. All other precepts of the natural law are based on this."

Aquinas' Natural Law

• This natural law exists to help humans to direct their actions in such a way that they may reach their eternal destiny with God.
• This divinely inspired law covers;
• the outward, external view of actions
• the internal motivation for doing them
• Thus, natural law evaluates both what we do, and why we do it.
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• Caption: "Law is nothing else than the ordination of reason for the common good put into effect by the person in charge of the community." - Aquinas

Four Types of Law

• Aquinas identified four kinds of law:
• Eternal law - God's will and wisdom, the rational order of the universe
• The eternal law is what God thinks, and as humans, we cannot know this entirely. Occassionally, we get glimpses of it, but this is open to interpretation.
• Divine law - given through Scripture and Church, this law guides humanity to righteousness
• Divine law is what is written in Scripture, so can be doubted, as people doubt the Bible (e.g. Jesus was a real man, but did He really get resurrected?)
• Natural law - source of fulfilling one's purpose on earth
• We all have a sense that we should do good and avoid evil.
• Human law - (also known as positive law) the laws we make and follow in human societies
• e.g) 'Don't touch - wet paint'

Reason and Human Purpose

• The eternal law of divine reason is perceived in two different ways;
• Through revelation, in the form of the Word of God (Bible) - In Romans 1:20, Paul claims that since natural moral law is so evident in the universe, sinful humans have no excuse for wrongdoing. In Matthew 19:8, Jesus says that the divorce law in the Torah is a concession to the sinful nature of humans and not what God intended in the order of creation. Hence, natural moral knowledge should make it clear that divorce is wrong.
• Through the use of human reason - A moral life is lived according to reason; an immoral life is lived at odds with reason. Reason determines that the ultimate purpose of the universe and destiny of human life is fellowship with God. People must avoid being enslaved by non-natural, non-rational desires.

The Primary Precepts

• Whilst the rest of natural law is classified as deontological, this part of Aquinas' theory is teleological, as it determines the morality of our actions from our telos or purpose.
• For Aquinas, humankind's first precept or rule is self-preservation. He established a series of primary precepts that are required to ensure this goal:
• Worship God
• Ordered society (e.g. serve the community, abide by its rules)
• Reproduce
• Learning (educate children)
• Defend life (self-preservation)
• Whether or not acts lead towards God depends on whether the action fits the purpose that humans were made for.
• Acts that help to fulfil these main purposes are good, and acts that are not in accordance with them are bad.
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Secondary Precepts

• Secondary precepts are rules about things that we should or shouldn't do because they uphold, or fail to uphold, the primary precepts.
• These principles are absolute and deontological.
• Natural law identifies two secondary principles under the primary precepts;
• Self-evident rules are needed to uphold the primary precepts (e.g. do not murder, respect your parents)
• Rules coming from a more complex process of reasoning.
• Example:
• Reproduction is a primary precept.
• The purpose of human genitals is reproduction.
• Therefore, masturbation and homosexuality are wrong because they don't lead to new life, or fulfil their purpose and glorify God.
• Having heterosexual intercourse with a partner is good because it involves using the genitals for their intended purpose, to pursue the primary precept of reproduction. Thus, it leads towards God as an end, and glorifies Him.
• All things must act in accordance with these principles, to which humans are naturally inclined.
• God gives humans the power of reason to accomplish these purposes, whether they believe in Him or not, and everything is created to a particular design and for a particular purpose; fulfilling that purpose is the 'good' towards which everyone aims.
• However, although the natural law, instituted by God, gives people the opportunity to work towards the good in all things, Paul recognised that this was not always possible, (Romans 3:23). Humans will fall short of God's best for them, because this is a fallen world and humans violated their perfect relationship with God and the natural order that was instituted at creation.

Real and Apparent Goods

• Aquinas believed that human nature was essentially good, as natural law is within everyone. Humans were orientated towards the achievement of perfection and they could never knowingly pursue evil.
• Human actions that are not in pursuit of perfection can be explained as the pursuit of the apparent good - something that doesn't fit the perfect human ideal.
• Sin consists of falling short of God's intention for humans. To choose an apparent good is an error, because it isn't really good for us.
• Examples:
• An adulterer commits adultery because they believe it is good. This is an error of reason, because adultery prevents a human from drawing close to what God intended.
• A parent advises a child to get as much education as possible, but the child wastes time watching TV. The child thinks that watching TV in large amounts is good, although in fact less time should be given to such things, and more to learning.
• To correctly distinguish between real and apparent goods is to use reason rightly and to choose the right thing to do. It isn't necessarily easy, as we're tempted by what we like doing, which may not be truly good for us.
• Because of the primary precept of self-preservation, Aquinas argued that following a 'real' good will result in the preservation or improvement of the self, getting nearer to the ideal 'human nature' that God has planned.
• 'Apparent' goods may be pleasurable (e.g. drugs) but ultimately, they lead us to fall short of our potential.
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• Caption: "A fornicator seeks a pleasure which involves him in moral guilt."

Virtues and Vices

• Reason identifies four 'natural' or 'cardinal' virtues which are the fundamental qualities of a good moral life;
• prudence (cautiousness)
• temperance (self-control)
• fortitude (courage during trials
• justice
• The Bible reveals three more theological virtues:
• faith
• hope
• charity
• To keep to the natural law, an individual should seek to develop the virtues and eliminate the vices - this requires practice. The virtues must become habitual.
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• Caption: Aquinas also identified seven vices (more commonly known as the seven deadly sins), which would lead people astray and away from the natural law they should know by reason. (Greed = avarice)

Exterior and Interior Acts

• For Aquinas, both the intention and the act are important.
• To act in a good way for the wrong reason is to perform a good exterior act but a bad interior act. e.g.) To help an old lady cross the road (good exterior act) to impress someone (bad interior act) is wrong. It should instead be done out of charity and not for the sake of admiration of others.
• However, good intentions do not always lead to good actions. e.g.) If I steal money (bad exterior act) to give to a needy friend (good interior act), the theft isn't made good by my good intention to help my friend.
• Aquinas believed that acts are intrinsically good or bad because when humans act in accordance with their ultimate purpose, God is glorified. The act of helping an old lady across the road is good in and of itself, because it accords with the destiny of how humans should be and that glorifies God.

God

• Aquinas believed in life after death, which lead to a different understanding of God's plan for humans.
• Natural law can be upheld by atheists, but there seems to be no good reason for keeping to natural law without a belief in God.
• Aquinas holds that the one goal of human life should be 'the vision of God which is promised in the next life.'
• This is why humans were made, and should be at the centre of natural law thinking.

Causistry and the Doctrine of the Double Effect

• Causistry is the name given to the process of apply natural law principles to specific situations.
• This is done in a logical way, as some principles have logical consequences.
• Example:
• If in principle it is wrong to kill innocent human beings, it follows that bombing civilian targets (e.g. the Blitz) is wrong.
• However, if it is accepted that killing in self-defence is okay, we could justify an air attack on Afghanistan on these grounds. Innocent people may die, but that is not the aim of the action, so the doctrine of the double effect comes into play.
• The Doctrine of the Double Effect
• The double effect refers to situations where there is an intended outcome and another significant, but unintentional outcome.
• According to natural law, it is our intentions that are important, not the consequences of our actions.
• The doctrine of the double effect would not allow you to perform an action where an unintended outcome has devastating effects, as the unintended outcome has to be proportionate.

Evidence/Support for Natural Law

• Romans 2:14-15 - Even though Jewish laws weren't given to the Gentiles, as Moses only led the Israelites, they still followed the 10 Commandments and basic Jewish law. This is proof that we are all connected to God spiritually, and that God gives us our conscience.
• Humane Vitae IV, 11: "God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws. The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life."
• Protects absolute nature of human rights.
• Use of reason and instinct in combination.
• Gives purpose to the world.
• Can be seen as a logical framework even without a faith in God.
• Gives us rules to follow.
• Reduces problems caused by relativism.
• Grotius removed natural law from the jurisdiction of moral theologians and made it the business of lawyers and philosophers, by asserting that by their very nature, natural laws were authoritative in themselves, with or without faith in God. He held that the moral ethics of natural law applied to all social and rational beings, Christian and non-Christian alike. Read more

Criticism of Natural Law

• Working out whether the intended outcome and the unintended outcome (in the doctrine of double effect) is proportionate or not makes natural law similar to Utilitarianism.
• How do you know if reason is correct? People can use reason to justify unjust actions.
• The Doctrine of the Double Effect proves that the natural moral law is not always right for everyone in all situations.
• Difficult to establish a single 'human nature'.
• Doesn't fit well without a faith in God.
• Can lead to bad outcomes, due to its deontological nature, as it ignores the consequences of actions.
• Rigid, meant to fit all cultures at all times.
• Secondary precepts can be made in error.
• As supporters of the theory of evolution, both Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins criticise the theory of natural law by arguing that humans are simply more evolved animals, possessing no unique qualities such as reason or potential to have a spiritual connection to God through our conscience.
• Furthermore, the process of natural selection is random and this suggests that nature has no purpose. Read more
• Morality has also evolved, as a means of survival. Read more
• Hobbes' view of nature:
• Human beings are physical objects, according to Thomas Hobbes, sophisticated machines all of whose functions and activities can be described and explained in purely mechanistic terms. Even thought itself, therefore, must be understood as an instance of the physical operation of the human body.
• Human action is similarly to be explained on Hobbes's view. Specific desires and appetites arise in the human body and are experienced as discomforts or pains which must be overcome. Thus, each of us is motivated to act in such ways as we believe likely to relieve our discomfort, to preserve and promote our own well-being.
• Hobbes nevertheless supposed that human agents are free in the sense that their activities are not under constraint from anyone else.
• The only escape from a "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" life is by entering into contracts with each other—mutually beneficial agreements to surrender our individual interests in order to achieve the advantages of security that only a social existence can provide. Read more