Natural Moral Law
- Created by: Beth Millward
- Created on: 08-06-15 12:36
View mindmap
- Natural Moral Law
- basis
- there is an objectively ideal way to be human
- if we reach the ideal we will be completely happy and will achieve our maximum physical, mental and spiritual health
- applies to us both as individuals and as human communities
- if we reach the ideal we will be completely happy and will achieve our maximum physical, mental and spiritual health
- there is an objectively ideal way to be human
- Thomas Aquinas
- universe was created by God
- everything has a design and a purpose
- could be found in the natural world and a study of scriptures
- humanity was given reason and freedom to choose to follow the good, which is God's purpose for them
- this is Moral Natural Law
- humanity was given reason and freedom to choose to follow the good, which is God's purpose for them
- could be found in the natural world and a study of scriptures
- everything has a design and a purpose
- Summa Theologica
- natural moral law is
- universal, unchanging and for all time
- relevant to all circumstance
- given by God
- visible to all human beings
- inspired by the Bible
- natural moral law guides humanity in 5 ways
- live
- reproduce
- learn
- worship God
- ordered society
- natural moral law is
- secondary precepts
- guide people towards rightful actions and away from wrongful ones
- based on two principles
- dictates of reason should be self evident
- e.g. worship God / do not murder
- dictates must be observed by all humans under all circumstance if moral order is to be maintained
- e.g. worship God / do not murder
- more complex dictates which come from human reason aided by God's law
- reason alone cannot discover them from nature
- e.g. marital faithfulness
- reason alone cannot discover them from nature
- dictates of reason should be self evident
- based on two principles
- guide people towards rightful actions and away from wrongful ones
- claimed (in relation to purpose)
- God gave humanity reason to accomplish these purposes
- everything is created for a particular purpose
- fulfilment is the 'good' towards which everyone aims
- any action that takes a person closer to this goal is good
- any action that takes a person further away is wrong
- any action that takes a person closer to this goal is good
- reason should always be the guide in time of conflict
- natural moral law therefore depends upon reason as well as nature
- it is made known to humans by God's revelation which guides reason
- everyone has a purpose specific to them that can fulfil the skills and talents given to them by God
- 4 cardinal values (fundamental qualities of a good moral life)
- prudence
- justice
- fortitude
- temperance
- 7 vices (7 deadly sins which would lead people away from the natural moral law
- pride
- avarice
- lust
- envy
- gluttony
- anger
- sloth
- 4 kinds of law
- eternal
- God's will and wisdom and rational ordering of the universe
- divine
- given in scripture and guides humans to happiness
- natural
- source of fulfilment on earth
- human
- regulates human behaviour in society, and is exercised through the state
- eternal
- assumptions
- all people seek to worship God
- god created the universe and the moral law within it
- every individual has a particular purpose
- since moral laws come from God, all humans should obey it
- human nature has remained the same since creation
- weaknesses
- assumes everyone seeks to worship God
- assumes God created the universe and the moral law within it
- thinks of every person having a particular function to fulfil
- against modern view that a person may have a variety of functions
- commits naturalistic fallacy
- moral law comes from God (a matter of fact in his thinking) and therefore we ought to obey it (a value judgement)
- universe was created by God
- Bernard Hoose
- proportionalism
- not every moral value is absolute, it can be linked to circumstance
- supports compromise
- the best human beings can strive to achieve is a moral compromise, not moral perfection
- sense of proportion - to d the best we can but accept we will never truly be morally perfect
- the best human beings can strive to achieve is a moral compromise, not moral perfection
- more compassionate than a strict application
- allows individuals circumstance to be taken into account
- argue allows too much freedom to decide what is good and permits rejection of established moral codes
- proportionalism
- strengths
- simple, universal guide for judging moral value of human actions
- made accessible by human reason
- morality is more than a matter of preference and inclinations
- weaknesses
- depends on accepting the view that good is what is found in nature
- is everything in nature 'good'? what about disease?
- no room for
- situationism
- adapting ethical principles to the situation
- relativism
- right and wrong depends upon interpretated and social custom
- consequentialism
- determining right and wrong from consequence of actions
- individualism
- many different ideas of 'good' because there are so many different people
- situationism
- depends on accepting the view that good is what is found in nature
- basis
Comments
No comments have yet been made