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Ethics: Natural Law - Coggle Diagram
Ethics: Natural Law
Aquinas' precepts:
The overriding principle of Aquinas' natural law is "do good and avoid evil." This is the synderesis rule
- Aquinas believed that humans naturally want to do good and, through their ability to reason, can work out the correct course of action.
The 5 precepts:
- Aquinas proposed five primary precepts. These are the five fundamental rules that guide human behaviour.
- Our actions must uphold these precepts at all times. If they do, our action is right. If they do not, the action is wrong.
- Remember the acronym POWER.
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Secondary precepts:
- When humans are faced with a moral choice, they must use reasoning to work out whether or not their action will uphold the primary precept.
- In doing this, they create a secondary precept. This is an application of the Natural Law to a specific situation.
- The secondary precepts vary depending on the situation. But they will always uphold the primary precepts.
Absolute wrongs in catholicism:
- 'killing' of any kind (murder, euthanasia, abortion) is always wrong because it breaks the primary precept of preservation of life.
- This continues to influence the Catholic Church today, which teaches that homosexual activity is a sin because it cannot lead to reproduction.
- The same reasoning applies to the use of artificial contraception.
Real and apparent goods:
- An apparent good is when someone makes a wrong decision because they fail to apply reason correctly.
- They are not intentionally pursuing the wrong action. They have just made a mistake about what they think is the right thing to do.
Dangers of apparent goods:
- An apparent good can be very tempting. So humans must recognise an apparent good from a real good.
- E.g. you may want to sit and watch Netflix all day before an exam, but this is an apparent good. The real good would be to study and prepare for the exam thoroughly as it shapes your future.
- For Aquinas, sin exists because humans give in to temptation and pursue apparent goods instead of real goods.
Doctrine of double effect:
- Aquinas' doctrine of double effect accepts that one action may have more than one effect and that sometimes, the effect may be bad.
- E.g. a pregnant woman who has a high risk of death during pregnancy undergoes a procedure to get rid of the baby.
- The primary aim of the procedure is to save the life of the mother; a secondary effect is that the pregnancy is terminated.
- Aquinas would accept that a bad effect has come out of good action, but that this is unintentional.
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