Natural Law Notes

• Put forward by Thomas Aquinas
• Written in the Summa Theologica
• Draws from the Hedonist idea of seeking happiness with Aristotle's final purpose
• Idea is that people have to fulfil their purpose to achieve happiness/eudaimonia.

• Aquinas believed that Natural Law existed alongside other laws
• The highest is Eternal Law, this is the law set out by God, unknown to humans.
• The Divine Law follows, which is the instruction of the Bible/Holy Book. It bridges NL with EL
• Thirdly, there is Natural Law, an absolute moral code for which all humans follow from their God-given natural ability to reason.
• Finally there is Moral Law, these are laws that we as humans set out in society and have less of a significance, such as a business laws. 

• In order to make Natural Law clear, Aquinas developed the Precepts (rules).
• Fulfiling these precepts will enable a person to fulfil their final purpose and be happy.
• Precepts are based on: "good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided."

PREGS:

• Protect and Preserve human life (i.e doctors, babysitting)
• Reproduce and Educate your offspring (i.e parents, teachers)
• Know God and live in Society (i.e be religious and be a good citizen)

• The Secondary Precepts are extensions to the Primary Precepts
• Aquinas believed that we can used our reason to create these
• They tend to be focussed on preventing unnatural actions
• They are all deontological, concerned primarily with the action

For example:

• Preserving Human Life: Do not kill
• Reproduction of Life: Do not ********** (humans must procreate)
• Living in Society: Do not steal

• Aquinas used Aristotle's Causes in the development of Natural Law
• He specifically looked at the efficient cause and the final cause

Efficient & Final Cause

• The efficient cause is what makes a thing happen and how it came to be
• Aquinas presented them as appealing to humans to do their final purpose
• For example, sex is an efficient cause and leads to the final cause of having a baby. Humans enjoy it and this give them the reason to procreate in the first place 

• Aquinas said that there are two types of good available to humans

Apparent Good:

• An action that seems good and pleasureable to a person, but teleologically brings about evil or unhappiness.
• They drift a person away from achieving their final purpose
• For example, taking drugs seems enjoyable at first but it will complicate a person's health and lead to a person breaking the precepts (they would need treatment which could be more useful 'preserving life' elsewhere)

Real Good:

• A good action that will teleologically bring about happiness.
• It will further a person to their final purpose
• Examples include: volunteering (being a good citizen) or living healthily (preserving life)

• Aquinas did believe in the afterlife or heaven
• He said that human life's goal is to reach
• Interestingly, Aquinas believed that anybody could follow NL, including atheists.
• Fulfilment was possible for non-Christians, since they are trying to fulfil God's plan anyway.
• However, it did say it there was no good reason to reject God if someone wants to follow Natural Law, as it puts them at a disadvantage (i.e cannot follow 'know God' precept).

Today Natural Law does not have a large ethical following. However Catholic ethics are based on Aquinas' Natural Law and many conservative societies see NL as a correct moral way of living.