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Natural Law summary for A-Level Ethics
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Soul, Mind and Body summary notes for AS/A2 Philosophy and Ethics
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Natural LawDeontological Ethics focused on the intrinsic rightness and wrongness of actions
Telos The end, or purpose of something
Natural Law Deontological theory based on behaviour that accords with given
laws or moral rules, that are independent of human society
Synderesis To follow good and avoid evil
Primary Precepts Most important rules of life: to protect life, reproduce, live in a
community, to teach the young, and believe in God
Practical Reason The tool which makes moral decisions
Eudaimonia Living well, the ultimate end in which all other actions should lead
towards
The Four Tiers of Eternal law is the reason of God, known only by humans through
Law revelations and natural law, which is known by reason. Human law
is based on these sources.
The Key Precept Reason guides us to do good and avoid evil, all other precepts flow
from this reason. (synderesis)
Secondary Secondary precepts are rules which follow primary precepts. For
Precepts example, a primary precept is to protect life so a secondary one
would be to give medicine to the sick.
Real and Apparent We do bad things, in the belief that they are good. For example, we
Goods may want a new car, so we steal it, but we were fooled by the
pleasure of gaining a new car.
The Doctrine of One action can have two consequences where one may uphold a
Double Effect precept and the other may not. As long as you have the right
intentions, it is okay. For instance, self-defence is okay as long as
you have the intention to preserve life rather than to kill someone.
Thomas Aquinas thought that wrong and right were fixed things. They do not change
according to a situation or what their consequences may be.
What is Natural Law?
At the core of Natural Law is the belief that God has ordered the universe in a certain way.
The world works in an orderly and purposeful fashion and this structure and order is not
accidental; it is deliberate. To keep to the Natural Law is morally good, similarly, to go
against that law is morally bad.
Thomas Aquinas worked in the thirteenth century and his main body of work was Summa
Theologica. He believed that there is a human nature which we should live in accordance of.
Using reason, we naturally know what is right and wrong. His thoughts have influenced the
teachings of the Catholic Church. Aristotle was the first philosopher to really write about
living life using reason and what comes naturally.
Biblical support for Natural Law relies on the writings of St Paul. His letter to the Romans in
generally regarded as his most important work. The letter concentrates on the nature of
God’s law, and how human beings are to be saved from sin. In Romans 2 St Paul explains
why both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) are under this law. He argues that Jews are under
the law of the Torah which includes the Ten Commandments.
Among these commandments are: “you shall not murder”, “you shall not commit adultery”,
and “you shall not steal”. Jews follow this because it is part of Gods law. However, Gentiles
do not kill or steal yet they do not know the Ten Commandments. They are ignorant of the
Torah, yet they keep the commands.
, God’s law being written into nature is a by-product of Creation. Paul finds it impossible to
separate morality from the material creation of the universe.
The Telos/ Ultimate End
Achieving an ultimate end brings ultimate happiness and satisfaction, a thing that is not
found in this world; we should pursue this ultimate end. For example, love between couples
will always be tainted with sadness when one of them dies. However, if we act towards an
ultimate end for doubtful reasons then we may make a mistake. Motives matter.
Aristotle explains that humans tend to act towards something, this usually being happiness/
eudaimonia – this is not necessarily pleasure, but becoming your best self (for Aquinas,
eudaimonia was achieving heaven). For Aristotle, something is good if it fulfilled its end.
Aristotle also believed in a prime mover which was responsible for setting the universe
towards it’s telos – Aquinas developed the prime mover into God.
Aquinas considered that by using our reason to reflect on our human nature, we could
discover our specific end, telos, or purpose, and having discovered this, we could then work
out how to achieve it.
For Aquinas, properly moral acts were those which were taken freely. All acts are towards an
end, in which we will finally be satisfied. We act towards ends all of the time, but according to
Aquinas, we are only fully satisfied once we achieve the ultimate end.
He concluded that we cannot find this ultimate end in this world, but it can be found through
God; which only rational creatures can perceive. God is the very essence of goodness, so
Aquinas therefore argues that divine guidance is needed, not only to help guide our actions,
but our motivations too. The good exterior act may be tainted by a bad interior act, but we
must not do bad for good reasons.
Criticism: Even before the rise of Protestantism there were writers who attacked
Aquinas’ view that obedience to law is rewarded by eternal life. In the 14th century the
English philosopher, William of Ockham attacked Aquinas’ teaching. He argued that
faith matters more than human reason. He argued against Aquinas, stating that if a
person obeys God’s law then God must reward him with eternal life. This means that
human beings would have some control over God. For example, if you live a good life
and you give to charity you expect heaven at the end of it. However, God cannot be
controlled by humans.
Has the whole universe been designed with a telos?
Natural law seems impossible to make sense of if we remove God, and natural law also
states that everything has been designed by God ultimately has a telos, so without God, the
universe does not have a telos.
Some do not see the universe as something that has an intention or design behind it. There
are those who believe in the account of science that has no place for a creator God. There
are also those who see in the world, randomness, chaos, and change. Perhaps nature is
much less ordered and more random than we think. Natural law seems impossible if there is
no creator God or no order to things.
As society has come to progress, we now understand gender as something that is not only
biological, but psychological too, and down to society’s norms. The idea that we have fixed
sexual orientations around polarities (male and female) are increasingly challenged by
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