Basic Ethical Theory Revision

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AQUINAS' NATURAL LAW

St. Thomas Aquinas used Aristotle's principle of there being a universal nature by which everybody should behave and make moral judgements to devise his ethical theory of Natural Law. Aquinas' book Summa Theologica attempts to explain Natural Law by showing its reflections:

Eternal Law: God made and controlled the universe. God is the only being who knows the full extents of these principles.

Divine Law: The Bible. This reflection can only be seen and understood by those who believe in God, and only if and when God choose to reveal it.

Natural Law: The moral law which God has built into human nature. It does not require belief in God, nor does it require God to reveal it. We must use reason to explore our own Human Nature.

Aquinas believed that God had installed a universal way to behave in all humans, and therefore this behaviour was innate in all humans. By using our reason, Humans can discover the basis of this nature in the form of precepts (or laws). The outstanding precept for Aquinas was that Humans should act in such a way as to achieve good and avoid evil.

Aquinas also speaks about apparent and real goods. An apparent good is something that appears good, but is rendered wrong by a bad intention. For example, giving money to charity with the intention of receiving a knighthood is an apparent good. A real good is a good that fits into the human ideal.

Furthermore, there are interior and exterior acts. An interior act is the intention of somebody who is about to partake in an exterior act - the act itself.

Aquinas spoke of Primary and Secondary precepts. The primary precepts of Natural Law are always true, and apply to everybody without exception. They are a reflection of God's eternal law, and are as follows:

The Preservation of Life

Reproduction

The Nurture and Education of the Young

Living Peacefully in Society

To Worship God

The secondary precepts are dependent on us to reason and find what is correct to do, dependent on the situation. The secondary precepts are not listed like the primary precepts. The secondary precepts are reasoned with after linking to the primary precepts. For example, the primary precept of reproduction would link with the secondary precept of do not use contraception, as that is upholding the primary precept.

MAIN POINTS TO REMEMBER

Deontological

Absolutist

Primary and Secondary Precepts

Interior and Exterior Acts

Major Criticism of Natural Law

The theory of Double Effect is Natural Law's biggest criticism. Double Effect is the state in which an act can be defined as both good and bad. For example, abortion is not obeying the primary precept of reproduction (bad), but could be saving a mothers life and is therefore obeying the primary precept of the preservation of the species.

The doctrine of Double Effect was devised in response to this criticism. It says that it is always wrong to do a bad act intentionally, even if there are good consequences, however it is sometimes all right to do a good act with the knowledge that it will lead to bad consequences.

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KANTIAN ETHICS

The basics of Kantian ethics is as follows; we should do the right thing simply because it is right, and not because it fulfils our desires or is based on our feelings. The theory is deontological as it focuses on duty rather than the consequences.

What to talk about?

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Synthetic/a posteriori statements. A synthetic statement is a statement that may be true, depending on the experience one has. For example, "people from America are rude" - this may be true from MY experience but not from somebody elses.

Analytic/a priori statements. An analytic statement is one that is true by definition and cannot be argued or altered due to experience; for example "all bachelors are men".

Synthetic a priori statements. These are statements which are made definitively true by experience.

Kants work: The Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals