Natural Moral Law

Overview

Recall questions on absolutism and legalism, the classical and biblical roots, Aquinas's types of law and the synderesis rule, the primary and secondary precepts, double effect, Hoose's proportionalism, and the case for and against the theory.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does it mean to call an ethic absolutist and legalistic?

   Model answer

   Absolutist means certain acts are right or wrong in themselves, everywhere and always, regardless of consequences or culture. Legalistic means moral life is understood through law: there are binding rules, they can be stated, and moral reasoning consists in applying them. Natural moral law is both, which is exactly what utilitarians and situationists reject.

2. 2

   What are the classical roots of the theory?

   Model answer

   Aristotle supplied the idea that everything has a characteristic end or telos and is good when it fulfils it. The Stoics added that the universe is ordered by a rational principle and that living well means living in accordance with that rational nature. Cicero transmitted the notion of one unchanging law valid for all nations, binding whether or not any state enacts it.

3. 3

   What are the biblical roots of natural moral law?

   Model answer

   Paul's argument in Romans that gentiles without the revealed law nevertheless show its requirements written on their hearts, which supplies the crucial claim that moral knowledge is available to reason as well as revelation. The Decalogue and the wisdom literature supply content, and the creation accounts supply the idea of a purposeful order.

4. 4

   How does Aquinas organise law?

   Model answer

   Eternal law is God's own wisdom ordering all things, known fully only to God. Divine law is the part revealed in scripture. Natural law is the rational creature's participation in eternal law, worked out by reason. Human law is the positive law of states, which is only genuinely law when it derives from natural law.

5. 5

   What is the synderesis rule?

   Model answer

   Aquinas' foundational principle that good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided. It is not itself a rule of conduct but the starting point from which the precepts are derived, and Aquinas held that everyone naturally knows it.

6. 6

   Name the primary precepts and explain what secondary precepts are.

   Model answer

   The primary precepts are the preservation of life, reproduction, the education of the young, living in an ordered society and the worship of God. Secondary precepts are the concrete rules reason works out from these, such as prohibitions on murder, theft or contraception. Primary precepts do not change; secondary ones can be mistaken, since human reasoning about application is fallible.

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