Summary NATURAL MORAL LAW NOTES AND EXEMPLAR PARAGRAPH STRUCTURES

Natural Moral Law
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (13th Century Dominican Friar)

 -Summa Theologica still influences Catholic thinking and Universal Human Rights
 "whatever man desires, he desires it under the aspect of good."
 Adapted Aristotle’s ideas
 Everything has a purpose, and fulfilling our purpose is the only ‘good’ for humans.
 Believes in a life after death
 Opposed to Absolute authority of the Church

WHAT IS NATURAL LAW?

 Innate human sense of what is right and wrong
 External to human decisions/systems
 Everyone possesses it, regardless of religion.
 Universal and absolute
 God-given

CAUSISTRY Applying rules to moral problems, to deduce the Telos

DIVINE COMMAND THEORY?

 -What God commands and forbids
 -Absolutist

EUTHYPRO DILEMMA?

 -Introduced by Plato in his work Euthyphro.
 -Objection to Divine command theory
 -Questions: “God commands it because it is good/right, or that it is good/right
because God commands them”
 -Aquinas’ view: Morality is external to God, he is NOT omnipotent
 -God’s will is arbitrary, he makes up morals as he goes.
 -God is a Concept, Good is a Property and God’s will is a Property

WHAT IS DEONTOLOGICAL THEORY?

 A theory concerned with ACTS, and their intention. Deon meaning “duty”. Often
carried out due to RULES.
 Teleology is concerned with good and bad, deontology with right and wrong.

ARISTOTLE & TELOS?

a. Humans have an essence that precedes them
b. We use reason to seek out our telos
c. Human beings act to achieve eudaimonia
d. Supreme Good= substance meets its purpose
e. Eudaimonia reached through Reason
f. Prime Mover sets this chain of acts in motion

AQUINAS & TELOS?

a. Everything has a telos, even humans.
b. Humans possess reason and intellect, a higher faculty
c. We need direction, and that is through reason.
d. Our telos is union with God and that is PERFECTION
e. Prime Mover that gives us this initiative is GOD

, f. We are following our natural laws/primary precepts by participating with God’s
plan for us

ULTIMATE END/PURPOSE?
 Brings ultimate happiness and satisfaction not found in the human world
 Live a moral life through REASONING actively moral acts

PRIMARY PRECEPTS? -Come from Key Precept -Humans are MADE to follow the
precepts

 To worship God
 To live in an ordered society
 To reproduce
 To learn and teach the young
 To preserve life

APPARENT vs. REAL GOODS?

 Apparent good: Appears moral, but does not fit human ideal. A mistake in
judgement
 Real Good: Reason used correctly.

INTERIOR vs. EXTERIOR ACTS?

 Interior: Our intention for an act
 Exterior: What is performed
 For TRUE GOOD both have to be GOOD
 An exterior act can compromise a good interior act: Giving money to homeless
but livestreaming it on YouTube so I look like a good person.

SECONDARY PRECEPT?

 Derived from Primary precepts
 Can vary from place to place; human imposed

FOUR TIERS OF LAW?

ETERNAL LAW: How God controls the Universe; known only to God, UNCHANGING

DIVINE LAW: God commanded law; Ten Commandments

NATURAL LAW: Given by God inside us; accessible through Reason

HUMAN LAW: Human-made laws; laws of nations and governments

 They need to be in ACCORDANCE with the previous tier

DOCTRINE OF DOUBLE EFFECT?

 An action can have two effects, with only one intended
 The motive should be focused on the good effect
 The bad effect should be balanced by the good motive and effect
 BAD ONLY AS AN UNINTENDED SIDE EFFECT

If Doctrine of Double Effect is met, you are not morally liable

SYNDERESIS RULE?

 Key precept
 Do good and avoid evil
 For common good