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Natural Moral Law - Coggle Diagram
Natural Moral Law
Proportionalism - Hoose
proportionalism - asserts that one can determine the right course of action by weighing the good & the necessary evil caused by the action, you can break moral rules should they create less evil than following them
"it is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason which would justify it"
pre-moral & ontic evil
pre-moral evil = intrinsically/objectively evil acts that don't consider intention, situation or consequences
ontic evil = we don't live in a perfect world due to the Fall, sin permeates everything - the possible negative effects of human actions even those with good intentions
proportionalists object to concept of pre-moral evil (intrinsically bad acts) there will always be some exception e.g. surgeon has to harm (cut) to heal someone
good & right acts
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right act = not necessarily a good act but creates the lesser of 2 evils - may break deontological rule
proportionalists accept that good acts must be carried out with good intentions, & the ideal is to follow the deontological rule - but an act can still be morally right (if not good) if it proportionally create more good than evil
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application
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if moral agent is faced with situation of moral ambiguity they may consider breaking the moral rule if it will create the lesser of evils
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stregths
consequences do matter in morality, taking 'whole' situations into account makes sense & only deciding it from there
objective - do still calculate good on objective values; kindness, compassion, precepts
flexible, common sense not to emphasise deontology if worse effect. Christianity itself emphasises attitude not rules
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weaknesses
unreliable - you can never predict how actions will pan out in the future: impossible to make all-inclusive, reliable judgements. You actually can't tell if you action was good or bas until you see what happens... nonsense
morality has no objective basis - calculation of values is subjectively done, even if values themselves are objective. Relativistic. May allow unjust actions depending on how well calculation is made
allows unjust actions - denies intrinsic evil of some actions, torture, rape, slavery, theft 'may' be ok - affects goodness/moral character of person doing them
not NL - mistaken interpretation of Aquinas' DDE 'proportion' criteria. Allows bad intention. Sacrifices deontology of NL for consequentialism
condemned by church - goes against Fundamental precepts, denies intrinsic evils of some actions for sake of good, corrupts oral character
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Secondary Precepts
the PPs can be used to derive more specific rules that can be used on a case by case basis - casuistry
the SPs aren't absolute & universal like the PPs - they change over history, different cultures & specific situations
"The general principle of the Natural Law cannot be applied to all men in the same way on account of the great variety of human affairs, & hence arises the diversity of positive laws amongst various people"
they provide flexibility to NL as it allows you to go against the PPs so long as it maintains one or more of the other PPs therfore allowing you to interpret the PPs
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e.g. pp - preserve life --> SP - kill German soldier in WWII to protect freedom of conscious & future of living in ordered society
The cardinal virtues
the 4 principle moral virtues & all other virtues hinge upon them, 1st discussed by Plato in the Republic & they entered Christian teaching trough Aristotle.
unlike theological virtues (gifted through God's grace - faith, hope & charity) they 4 cardinal virtues can be practised by anyone - thus represent the foundation of natural morality
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3) Fortitude
courage - the ability to confront fear & uncertainty, whilst not seeking it out unnecessarily
4) Justice
the idea of rights, giving everyone their due, fairness & righteousness
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strengths of NL
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allows societies to be more harmonious & cohesive through helping individual humans achieve health, happiness, friendship etc
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Aquinas' 4 levels of law
thinks that NL should be seen more broadly in terms of how ultimately comes form God, but is also manifested by God in divine law & worked out as human laws in society. You need to grasp all 4 types of NL to know have to live well & find beatitudo
The eternal law
the mind of God as seen by himself - called law cause God is universe's ruler, God's reason are to himself unchanging & eternal -apply to all creatures in same way. More specific divine laws & the NL as well as his overall organisation of the universe including how we interpret it comes for God's eternal law
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The divine law
law received from God - often seen as religious commands such as Bible scripture, 10 commandments o parable of Jesus. Aquinas believes that through scripture God told us how he wat us to behave to please him & reach the afterlife - departs form his idea of NL as he didn't see it as God given law.
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The natural law
where God's reasoning meets human reasoning - we can use ours to understand how God intends nature to work * work out how he wants us to act. the NL is humans reflecting on nature using reason working out how to live. everyone can do this even if they don't have scripture so we call all act n a moral way. Similar to Aristotle & belief about reason is what separates us from animal & plants giving us some understanding of what our nature's telos is & how it should be used
God's min as found in human nature, that we can identify by reason & choose to follow
Human law
is Nl applied at level of society, for day to day life - Government laws - a way of making sure we follow NL. e.g. don't kill is a big thing is law. Aquinas believes whatever society were in we tend to make similar rules to govern it which pleases God.
our human recognition that living in society needs right judgement, order & rules for the good of all
Aristotle's theory of NL
stems form his theory of causation (how things become what they are) - he thought that you can't reason about how something should be unless you understand hat it is & how its made
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NL is based on the idea that everything has a purpose (telos) revealed by its design & fulfilment of its telos is the supreme good to be sought
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Exterior & Interior acts
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for an action to be good its intention as well as the act itself must also be good - it cannot be good if done for the wrong reasons
e.g. giving up a seat to the elderly to impress someone isn't a good act (interior bad, exterior good)
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efficient/final cause
there are things that motivate us to do things e.g. doctor working to get paid - efficient cause, shouldn't be the reason he goes to work - final cause = saving lives
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absolutist - advocates absolute moral laws with no exceptions cause they're God given & to allow for exceptions implies they're not perfect
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