Natural Moral Law
- Created by: Tori
- Created on: 22-05-20 17:23
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- Natural Moral Law
- Basics
- Deontologial
- Focuses on the ethicacy of actions, no matter the consequence.
- Absolute
- Applies to all people, all the time.
- Guiding principle:
- 'pursue good and avoid evil'
- Done so humans can achieve their end telos (goal)
- Humans end telos = union with God.
- Done so humans can achieve their end telos (goal)
- 'pursue good and avoid evil'
- Deontologial
- Primary Precepts
- Designed to help humans reach their telos
- Meant to bring human flourishing.
- Preserve life/ self-preservation
- Continuation of species
- Worship God
- Educate children
- Living in an ordered society
- Educate children
- Worship God
- Continuation of species
- Secondary Precepts
- Come from the Primary Precepts.
- Rules that decide how me should act in certain situations.
- Eg. Do not kill
- For the most part, they are exceptionless.
- Primary Precepts are absolute, but Secondary Precepts can vary depending on particular situations.
- Eg. it may not be right to pay back a debt if it injures another individual.
- Primary Precepts are absolute, but Secondary Precepts can vary depending on particular situations.
- Designed to help humans reach their telos
- Structure of Law
- 1 - Eternal Law
- 2 - Divine Law
- 3 - Natural Law
- 4 - Human Law
- Everyday laws that govern our lives.
- Humans natural sense of what is right and wrong.
- What directs our conscience.
- 4 - Human Law
- God's laws revealed through the Bible.
- 3 - Natural Law
- The mind of God that humans can't comprehend.
- Contains the laws that govern creation.
- Humans can only get glipses of this through Divine Law.
- Contains the laws that govern creation.
- 2 - Divine Law
- 1 - Eternal Law
- Avoiding making mistakes
- Real/ Apparent goods
- Aquinas argued that humans would never purposefully seek out evil.
- Thus, evil acts that people do must just be due to misguided reason.
- Real Goods
- The correct use of reason to actually do good.
- Apparent Goods
- Misguided reason that leads to what seems good, but is actually evil.
- Eg. cheating on a partner because it 'feels' like the right thing to do.
- Seeking happiness in the wrong places/very short term fulfilment.
- Misguided reason that leads to what seems good, but is actually evil.
- Real Goods
- Thus, evil acts that people do must just be due to misguided reason.
- Aquinas argued that humans would never purposefully seek out evil.
- Interior/ Exterior acts
- Interior Act
- Done for non-selfish reaons/ because you know it is right.
- Exterior Acts
- A good thing done by a person, but because they want to look good.
- Eg. impress someone by donating to charity.
- A good thing done by a person, but because they want to look good.
- Interior Act
- Virtues our decisions should be aided by:
- Temperance
- Prudence
- Justice
- Fortitude
- Faith
- Hope
- Love
- Hope
- Faith
- Fortitude
- Justice
- Prudence
- Temperance
- Real/ Apparent goods
- Doctrine of Double Effect
- Help us avoid making mistakes in difficult moral situations.
- There are 4 conditions that have to be satisfied before an act is morally permissible:
- 1) The act must be morally good or neutral.
- 2) The bad effect must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved.
- 3) The intention must only be for the good thing.
- 4) The good effect must be at least qquivalent in importance to the bad effect.
- Bad effect cannot outweight any good caused.
- Cannot set out for a bad outcome.
- 4) The good effect must be at least qquivalent in importance to the bad effect.
- A bad outcome can't be how a good effect happens.
- 3) The intention must only be for the good thing.
- Cannot do a bad act for a good outcome.
- 2) The bad effect must not be the means by which the good effect is achieved.
- 1) The act must be morally good or neutral.
- Criticisms of Double Effect
- Consequentialists would argue that it doesn't matter what your intentions are.
- A good act is one that has a good consequence, no matter the intention.
- Some times seems counter-intuitive.
- Eg. Aquinas says it's wrong to lie to save someone from danger, but that goes against the intuition of people.
- Suicide is forbidden in NML as it goes against preservation of lfie/self.
- Thus, a soldier throwing themseleves on a grenade to save the lives of others wouldn't be allowed.
- Disallowed as by intending to die the soldier is doing a bad act.
- Doesn't make much sense as not doing so would cause the death of more people, breaking the preservation of life.
- Thus, some argue that the intrinsic morality of an act wouldn't matter if the conseuence is good.
- Doesn't make much sense as not doing so would cause the death of more people, breaking the preservation of life.
- Disallowed as by intending to die the soldier is doing a bad act.
- Thus, a soldier throwing themseleves on a grenade to save the lives of others wouldn't be allowed.
- Consequentialists would argue that it doesn't matter what your intentions are.
- Proportionalism
- Modern theology that is rooted in the work of Aquinas.
- States that where there is proportional reason, it would be right to ignore a rule in such a situation.
- Acts become morally good or bad only where the agent:
- 1) Compares the value and disvalue of an act.
- 2) The intenion of the individual.
- Criticism
- Some say this becomes consequentialsim (calculation of good and evil), thus loosing the true message of NML.
- Modern theology that is rooted in the work of Aquinas.
- Basics
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