Natural Law Theory - Essay Plans Flashcards
(5 cards)
Natural law theory is a helpful guide to moral decision-making [Plan]
Main 1: Aquinas - Natural Law is universal due to its roots in reason and telos.
Objection 1: Mackie - Cross-cultural moral relativism.
Reply 1: Moral Objectivists - we disagree on non-moral facts, not the moral.
Main 2: The doctrine of double effect takes into consideration difficult situations effectively.
Objection 2: The doctrine of double effect leads to a slippery slope.
Reply 2: This is only true if natural law is not followed correctly - which is an unfair assumption to make.
Moral decisions can be made on the basis of our telos [Plan]
Main 1: Aquinas - Natural Law is universal due to its roots in reason and telos.
Objection 1: Mackie - Cross-cultural moral relativism.
Reply 1: Moral Objectivists - we disagree on non-moral facts, not the moral.
Main 2: Aquinas - Telos is a good base for ethics since it is empirical - as demonstrated by Aquinas’ 5th way.
Objection 2: Dawkins - Telos is unscientific.
Reply 2: Phillipa Foot - We constantly observe telos, as demonstrated with the example of an oak tree.
Humans have a natural inclination towards the good [Plan]
Main 1: Aquinas - Natural Law is universal due to its roots in reason and telos.
Objection 1: Dawkins - Telos is unscientific
Reply: Phillipa Foot - We constantly observe telos, as demonstrated with the example of an oak tree.
Main 2: Everyone has a good conscience to access God’s law, as demonstrated by the example of a boy falling down a well (borrowed from Mencius).
Objection 2: Mackie - Cross-cultural moral relativism.
Reply 2: Moral Objectivists - we disagree on non-moral facts, not the moral.
The primary precepts are the most important aspect of natural law theory [Plan]
Main 1: Everyone has a good conscience to access God’s law, as demonstrated by the example of a boy falling down a well (borrowed from Mencius) - this good conscience is what allows us to intuitively know the primary precepts.
Objection 2: Mackie - Cross-cultural moral relativism.
Reply 2: Moral Objectivists - we disagree on non-moral facts, not the moral.
Main 2: The 5 primary precepts are practical.
Objection 2: The secondary precepts are arguably more imporant since they are what we follow i.e ‘Do not murder!’
Reply 2: Without the primary precepts to serve as a basis for the secondary precepts they would be pointless - hence it is absurd to suggest they are more important.
Criticially assess the doctrine of double effect [Plan]
Main 1: The doctrine of double effect takes into consideration difficult situations effectively, for example the organ donor problem
Objection 1: The doctrine of double effect leads to a slippery slope.
Reply 1: This is only true if natural law is not followed correctly - which is an unfair assumption to make.
Main 2: The doctrine of double effect is intuitive; it makes sense for there to be a way to deal with contradictory precepts.
Objection 2: There shouldn’t need to be a work-around for contradictions in a good ethical theory, therefore the doctrine of double effect is only apologistic and a good ethical doctrine.
Reply 2: That doesn’t stop these situations from happening anyways - a way to deal with them is necessitated by their existence, not the other way around.
