NATURAL

LAW
Natural Law Moral Theory
The moral standards that govern
human behavior are, in some sense,
objectively derived from the nature
of human beings and the nature of
the world.
Natural Law Legal Theory
The authority of legal
standards necessarily derives, at
least in part, from considerations
having to do with the moral
merit of those standards.
THOMAS AQUINAS
 The Context of a Christian
Story
•God – Recognition that humans are
created by God.
•Human (dynamic of human life) -
Characterized by human’s pursuit of
happiness.
•Jesus as Savior - He is the presence of God’s
Grace
 Thomas Aquinas’s Ethics of
Natural Law
• Aquinas thought that morality is important to everyone,
and that being a good person is a vital part of God’s
plans for all of us.
• He theorized that God made humans pre- loaded with
the tools they need to know what is good.
• Aquinas argued that God created world according to
Natural Law – predictable, goal- driven systems whereby
life is sustained and everything functions smoothly.
• He instilled all of his creatures with an intuitive
desires for the things that he designed to be the
best for them.
• Aquinas puts forward there is a conscience
within a human which directs their moral
thinking.
• There is a sense of right or wrong in humans
that they are obliged to obey.
NEOPLATONIC GOOD
•God did not just create but shaped
everything.
•It is the central belief of the Christian faith
which is defined in the work of Plato.
•Plato was credited for giving the
subsequent history of philosophy in one of
its compelling ideas: the notion and
absolutely transcendent good.
THE REPUBLIC
• It is a Socratic dialogue, written by Plato concerning justice,
the order and character of the just- city state and the just
man.
• They also discuss the theory of forms, the immorality of the
soul and the role of the philosopher and of poetry in society.
• Plato was trying to answer the following questions:
• Why should I bother trying to be good?
• Why cannot good be just whatever I say it is?
• It was then answered by Socrates that good is real and not
something that one can pretend to make up or ignore.
THE IDEA OF THE GOOD
(Excerpt from The Republic)
• The Good and the One (Excerpt from Enneads
(Plotinus))
• Plotinus- Considered as the first main proponent of
Neo-Platonism.
• Enneads- Collection of writings of Plotinus, edited
and compiled by student Porphyry
• Look for the Good through any of these other things.
If you do, you will see not itself but its trace.
• Some Neo-Platonist believed human perfection
and happiness were attainable in this world,
without awaiting an afterlife, while other, like
Bonaventura, held the concept that perfect
unity with the “One” was a promise to be
fulfilled in afterlife.
• They did not believe in an independent
existence of evil.
Who is Aristotle?
Aristotle’s Four Causes:
• A. Material Cause is a description of the material out of which
something is composed.
• B. Formal Cause informs me what an object is, that any thing is
determined by the archetype, definition, essence, pattern, or
synthesis. In other words, it is the determining cause that found initial
expression in the mind of the creator, inventor, or manufacturer.
• C. The Efficient Cause is that which sets the object in motion.
• D. The Final Cause is the end, purpose, or telos.
ESSENCE
• The properties or attributes by means of which something
can be placed in its proper class or identified as being what
it is.
• It is the state of ‘I am’.
• Free will- It is our freedom of choice where we are able to
judge between possibilities and to choose to direct our
actions in one way or another.
• Common Good- It refers to what is beneficial to the
community.
 Human beings are social in nature.
• LAW- The system of rules that a particular country or
community recognizes as regulating the actions of its
members.
Making may belong to whole people or public person.
• PROMULGATION- It is the way of communicating
laws to people.
Aquinas: “Law is an ordinance of reason promoting
common good by those who care for the community.”
 VARIETIES
• Eternal Law - Aquinas: ““Eternal law is nothing else than
the type of Divine Wisdom, as directing all actions and
movements.”
• Natural Law- Aquinas: “the rational creature’s
participation in the eternal law.”
• Human Law- Aquinas: “the more particular
determinations of certain matters devised by human
reason.”
• Divine Law- Special Revelation -- the will of God as
revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
• This law was necessary for four reasons:
• (1) Humans need explicit divine guidance on how to
perform proper acts;
• (2) Uncertainty of human judgment needs a check;
• (3) Humans need divine insight on issues on which
they are not competent to judge; and
• (4) It proves that God will punish some deeds that
even go beyond the ability of human law to punish.
 UNIQUELY HUMAN
Reason is the defining part of human
nature.
Primary Precepts
• Following on from the Synderesis Rule, Natural Law is based
on five primary precepts.
• These primary precepts are fundamental principles revealed
to us by God.
They are:
1. Self-preservation/preservation of the innocent
2. Continuation of the species through reproduction
3. Education of children
4. To live in society
5. To worship God
• Reason is used in order to establish how we should
live our lives. We use our reason to fulfil the
requirements of the primary precepts and therefore
to achieve our aim of doing good and avoiding evil.
• At times humans use their reason incorrectly because
they are following apparent goods rather than real
goods.
Classification of Desires
• Real Goods - things that are good for you whether you like it or
not. In short, these are the needs.
• Apparent Goods - things that may appear good because you
want.
An example of an apparent good is taking drugs - it seems like
we are doing a good thing but in reality we are not!
Aquinas also noted that God knows the secrets of our hearts
and so our actions must be interior rather than exterior - the
motive behind an action counts.
Classification of Actions
• Interior Actions - intentions.
• Exterior Actions - the acts for admiration.