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Natural Law - Coggle Diagram
Natural Law
assessing natural law
- the focus on law and working out rules which are at the heart of this system is overly legalistic - it means that in some circumstances humanity and respect for people are lost
- natural law may be seen to be a little outdated - society has moved on and more legalistic interpretations particularly around homosexuality and contraception both of which prevent reproduction seem out of stem with the modern world
- aquinas' view of real and apparent goods could be seen as a little naive - some humans knowingly commit evil actions and suggesting they are merely pursuing apparent goods is mistaken - immoral actions suggests that not all humans have an inclination towards the good
- natural law claims to have the best of both worlds in that is offers clear and fixed principles as seen in the primary precepts yet also promises that there is flexibility in how these principles might be applied to different circumstances when secondary precepts are formed
- BUT it is not clear that both these things can be the case - certainly there is a tension between the idea that natural law is 'universal in its precepts' and 'application of the natural law varies greatly'
- the idea of the double effect seems to allow the flexibilitu by allowing bth good and bad effects provided the good one is intended
- BUT there is a difficulty in judging the intention of a person - it may appear that someone was acting in self defence and that their attackers death was an accident but only they will ever know
- one attraction to natural law is its reliance on reasoning - it treats humans as mature people who are able to be rational and reflect on moral problems
- BUT this can be challenged - some thinkers have worried that relying on reason means that the role of scripture is reduced - a further challenge to the role of reason comes from the teaching of augustine that humans are fallen and incapable of reasoning clearly
- although natural law is a religious ethical theory it is argued by Grotius that belief in natural law does not require belief in god - the laws themselves are obvious to reason and can be worked out without god
- BUT it is difficult to accept this for aquinas' version where one of the precepts is to worship god and there is a reliance on divine law - even Grotius accepts that the answer to why we should follow the law relates back to god
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John Finnis
Finnis believes that things such as life knowledge play work friendship practical reasonableness and spirituality/religion are 'basic forms of human flourishing'
if we assume that these are goods to be pursued then these aims especially the use of practical reason enable us to suggest certain requirements that humans need
these include the pursuit of basic goods for all, a sense of planning or purpose to life, the idea of a common good for community, and acting according to conscience
it is from these requirements that moral principles can be drawn such as obeying the law or not torturing others - this allows for a more modern version of natural law that is more flexible than some catholic interpreters of aquinas
precepts
primary precepts
preservation of life
- aquinas argues that we are to preserve life
- it is evident that life is important both our own and that of others
reproduction
- it is also rational to ensure that life continues and this is the mean purpose of intercourse
education of the youth
- humans are intellectual creatures and it is natural for us to learn
ordered society
- we are social beings and it is good to live in an ordered society where it is possible to fulfil our purpose
worship god
- to recognise god as the source of life and to live in a way that pleases him
aquinas believed that when we reflect on our telos and understanding the synderesis rule there are five primary precepts or rules that emerge:
secondary precepts
secondary precepts are more specific rules that can be deduced from primary precepts - e.g. preserving life means we can deduce killing is wrong
whereas the primary precepts are fixed there is some flexibility in the secondary precepts as these are based on how the primary precepts apply in specific circumstances
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