Natural law origins
- Created by: Beththerese
- Created on: 17-11-15 19:53
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- Natural Law
- It consists of moral absolutes-(rules that cannot be broken under any circumstance
- Natural law is a religious theory, It can also be described as a deontological theory
- Natural law is an ethical theory which considers something to be moral if it fulfills Gods plan for creation
- Traced back to the time of greek philosopher Aristotle, In nichomean ethics he claimed everything had a purpose.
- He claimed if things achieved their purpose they were good and if they didnt they were bad
- 'A good knife is one that cuts well thats what its deisgned to do' -Aristotle
- He claimed the natural way for humans to behave in order to fulfil their purpose was a universal standard of behaviour
- 'that which is natural is unchangeable and has the same power everywhere'
- He claimed if things achieved their purpose they were good and if they didnt they were bad
- The stoics further developed the concept of natural law they believed 'there was a fundamental design and purpose to the universe and that ones morality ought to be based on aligning oneself with it'
- The roman lawyer cicero also developed the concept of natural law and stated 'true law is right in agreement with nature,it is of universal application'
- The individual however who fully developed the concept of natural law was Thomas Aquinas
- He made an attempt to apply the ideas of aristotle and cicero to human behaviour
- He claimed that because every human is created by God, then our purpose is o live life according to gods plan for us
- 'Law is nothing else than an ordination of reason for the common good'
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