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Natural Law - Coggle Diagram
Natural Law
primary precepts
Preservation of human life
Reproduction
Ordered society
Worship God
Learn / educate
secondary precepts
allows people to practically apply the primary precepts
an example of this would be do not murder
this follows the preservation of life
element of being more subjective and autonomous
Aquinas believes that these are an inclination that humans do
different types of law
eternal law
only god understands
divine
law that is revealed i.e. the bible
natural
find in nature
human
created by humans for humans
Aristotle
telos
everyone has a purpose
once someone has achieved their telos they achieve eudaemonia
eudaimonia is human flourishing
reason is used to establish whether an actions is ethical or not
created the natural law theory
Aquinas
telos is to create a perfect union with God
can only be achieved in the after life
expanded on Aristotles theory
pros and cons
strengths
same universal moral standard
allows us to use reason to follow the secondary precepts
easy to understand
makes it easy to apply
some of the primary precepts are logical
i.e. preservation of life
backed up by biblical teachings
weaknesses
relativist theory
cultural
quite general - not very adaptable
can remove free will - removes autonomy
aquinas view on telos cannot be met in this lifetime
too optimistic
removes cultural relativism
work out what is good you have to use reason
'reason excellently'
'do good and avoid evil'
syndersis rule
Aquinas believes that this is innate in everyone
real good
follows primary precepts
apparent good
reasoning incorrectly
deontological
based on the duty and intent of an action