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Philosophy > Natural law > Flashcards

Natural law Flashcards

1
Q

quote for Aristotles telos

A

“‘Why is he walking about?’ we say ‘To be healthy’, and having said that, we think we have assigned the cause”

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2
Q

quote for Aquinas’ human law

A

“Man is bound to obey secular rulers to the extent that the order of justice requires”

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3
Q

Ciceros quote on natural law

A

“The law is right reason in agreement with nature”

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4
Q

Aquinas’ quote on the doctrine of double effect

A

“Nothing hinders one act from having 2 effects, only one of which is intended”

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5
Q

What is Natural law?

A

a deontological idea that there’s an order in the universe and things are better when they adhere to this order (Aquinas proposed the Christian theory of it)

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6
Q

Aristotles telos

A
  • where Aquinas developed many of his ideas
  • Aristotle believed that everything in the universe has a telos (purpose/aim)
  • telos is the final cause of Aristotles 4 causes
  • eudaimonia
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7
Q

What is Eudaimonia

A
  • happiness in the sense of flourishing
  • Aristotle sees it as the telos of humans
  • it requires a full human life of participating in society to develop as philosophers
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8
Q

What did Aquinas take from Aristotles telos?

A
  • telos (humans purpose)
  • reason (the world is ordered + rational)
  • nature (we have human nature + do what’s natural)
  • christian biblical ideas
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9
Q

What order is Aquinas’ 4 tiers of law?

A

Eternal Law -> Divine Law -> Natural Law -> Human Law

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10
Q

What is Eternal Law

A
  • the law from the mind of God
  • Gods knowledge of what’s right + wrong
  • moral truth that as humans we can’t fathom
  • God gave us the ability to reason so we can imperfectly work out how to apply Eternal Law
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11
Q

What is Divine Law

A
  • law revealed to us through the teachings in scripture/revelation (eg. 10 commandments & sermon on the mount)
  • Aquinas believes law to be rational instead of revealed but believes divine law is reasonable to work out
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12
Q

What is Natural Law

A
  • the moral thinking we are all capable of
  • all humans have the capacity to work out the moral rules needed to achieve our telos
  • considers how to ‘do good and avoid evil’
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13
Q

What is Human Law

A
  • the common practices of society that’s devised by governments and societies
  • based on Natural Law
  • Aquinas argues that laws are only just if they are based on Natural or Divine Law
  • breaking Human Law that isn’t based on Natural or Divine law is illegal but not immoral
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14
Q

What are examples to do with Aquinas’ 4 tiers of Law?

A
  • laws that were implemented against peaceful protesters in the civil rights movement in 1960’s America = MLK argued that they could be broken as they were unjust laws
  • nazi leaders on trial for war crimes argued that they were just following orders/obeying the law = this got rejected by judges as nature shows that these laws are morally wrong
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15
Q

What is Synderesis

A

the inner principle that directs a person towards good and away from evil

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16
Q

What are Aquinas’ 5 primary precepts?

A

1) preservation of life
2) to reproduce
3) to learn
4) to live in an ordered society
5) to worship God

  • by fulfilling these we are fulfilling our telos
17
Q

What is Aquinas’ secondary precepts?

A
  • more specific rules that are deduced from the primary precepts
  • eg. from ‘preservation of life’ we can deduce that killing is wrong
  • primary precepts are fixed but secondary precepts are flexible
  • eg. from ‘to reproduce’ catholic interpreters of Aquinas deduced that contraception is bad
18
Q

Applying Natural Law (sexual ethics + real and apparent goods)

A
  • sexual ethics = a man pursues an affair with his friends wife despite promises made to his own wife - he doesn’t seem to see this as wrong
  • Aquinas shows us real and apparent goods = when someone does something morally wrong because they’re pursuing an apparent good (their pleasure) instead of a real good
  • Aquinas suggested these moral mistakes are due to reasoning errors
19
Q

What is the doctrine of double effects?

A

When some actions produce many effects - good and/or bad

20
Q

Applying the doctrine of double effect (euthanasia)

A
  • euthanasia = a doctor attempts to treat a terminally i’ll patient by giving them painkillers with the intention of relieving pain - but ends up killing the patient
21
Q

Aquinas’ quote on the doctrine of double effect

A

“what matters is which effects are intended”

22
Q

What are the strengths of Natural Law?

A
  • it offers clarity + firm moral principles
  • the primary precepts are mostly agreed as desirable goods in human life
  • it’s not rigid + absolutist = the secondary precepts are intended to be used with context = flexibility
  • it values life + rights = it promotes the idea that life is intrinsically valuable regardless of it’d usefulness
23
Q

What are the problems with telos?

A
  • natural law may be wrong to assume that there’s a universal telos for all humans: i may wanna prioritise my career over reproduction, i may live a solitary life of meditation that in an ordered society i can’t do, i may not believe in God let alone worship Him
  • telos is natural = so if natural means in accordance with our human nature then a gay person can say that being homosexual (hence no reproduction) is natural and heterosexuality is unnatural
  • naturalist fallacy = observes what commonly happens in nature and then argues that this is what must happen = but it’s like observing human teeth and seeing that they’re designed for eating meat and then saying eating veggies is wrong
  • there may not even be a telos as all = unlike objects that have a maker who plans its purpose before making it - humans exist first and then we’re free to choose our purpose
  • the idea of telos is linked to the idea of God - if there’s no God - there can’t be telos
24
Q

What is the conclusion to natural law

A
  • the focus on law + working out rules is overly legalistic
  • may be seen as outdated = society has moved on and the laws surrounding homosexuality and contraception (which both prevent reproduction) seem out of place in the modern world
  • Aquinas’ view on real and apparent goods is naïve = some humans knowingly commit evil actions = so suggesting they’re merely in pursuit of apparent goods is mistaken

Philosophy (4 decks)

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