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Natural Moral Law

A Lesson In Life... Presented


By Giovanni, Slovakia & Prantor
What Issues Deal With
Natural Moral Law ? -Trunk
• Is there a universal moral code within all people?

• What makes a thing wrong, the act itself or the


consequence?

• Are humans good or bad beings?


• Will Humans never give you up, or
let you down?

• Do humans have a common purpose, and if yes,


what is it?
In A Nutshell, What Is Natural
Moral Law ?
• Natural Moral Law is essentially, an innate,
unchangeable set of rules that govern the world
and sees the human condition as part of one
natural order.

• This law is universal and applies to all humans.

• It is known as a law of right reason and is in


complete agreement with nature.

• It is an absolutist law, and states that we act


virtuously because it is intrinsic that we do so.
Despite the fact there were other Philosophers that had
something so say about Natural Moral Law, we are (for now)
going to focus on good old St. Thomas Aquinas and his funky
fresh ideas !

'Glee is SO
overrated.'
-St. Thomas
Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas' Theory Of
Natural Law
St. Thomas Aquinas (commonly known as T-Aqua) was
infamous for his party-it-up lifestyle and his distasteful
infatuation with rap music. However, he also came up with his
very own version of the Theory of Natural Law:

• He described this natural law as a moral code, that is


existing within the purpose of nature, created by God.
• It is supposed to direct humans to act in a way such that it
leads us to what God would want us to do.

OJ
Simpson
Tommy's Precepts
(Rules)
Tom-Tom had some distinct precepts (rules) that humans
should abide by in order to live good, honest lives. There were
primary precepts and secondary precepts; primary being the
ones of utmost importance.

• Primary (Generally Follows 'do good and avoid evil':


Self-preserve oneself and those innocents around you,
Reproduce to continue species (Sex), Educate Children,
Live in Society, Worship God.
• Secondary Precepts (Deduced from Primary
Precepts): Do not murder, do not abort unborn, defend the
defenceless, do not commit suicide.
That's how the cookie crumbles...
As we can see in the previous slide, acts that
are in accordance with human purpose
are GOOD, those that aren't, are BAD !

• The secondary precepts are simply rules


about acts we shouldn't partake in, as these
rules uphold the primary precept. The
secondary precepts are deduced from the
primary ones.
• Example: reproduction is a primary precept.
Acts like masturbation would then be wrong
as they are futile; they don't lead to new life
and thus do not glorify God.
Robert Downey Jr.
• If this were true, God's worst enemy would
be the teenage boy.
Reason & Human Purpose. (Pritt-Stick)

T-Aqua believed that a moral life is a life lived according to reason,


and an immoral life is one lived at odds with reason. Reason being
divine reason - doing what God wants. Thus, Aquinas posited that,
essentially, humans should do good and avoid evil.

• This divine reason determines that the ultimate purpose for


humans is to follow God's teachings. We should avoid being
tempted by non-natural, non-rational desires.
• 'Natural law is the same for all men... there is a single standard of
truth and right for everyone... which is known by everyone.'
• Thomas Aquinas was a big fan of the Friends TV show, and was
most fond of the character Chandler Bing, played by Matthew
Perry, for his dry, sarcastic sense of humour. Could this be any
more incongruous?
Goods And Bads
Tommy believed that human nature was essentially
good, as natural law is within everyone. He stated
that humans were always seeking good and never intentionally
sought evil.
• He said we only committed 'evil' acts, as they were the
consequence of some good.
• Human acts that do not result in good are then aimed at
'apparent' goods; goods that are superficial and result in
detrimental consequences e.g. rape. Human acts that result
in good are known as 'real' goods; goods that are
intrinsically virtuous e.g. helping out in a charity.
• We must correctly distinguish the difference between these
'real' and 'apparent' goods through our reason that God has
empowered us with.
Exterior & Interior Axe
For Aqui, both the act and intention are important.
• To act good for a wrong reason is to perform a
good exterior act but a bad interior act.
• Example: if Harry prevented Voldemort from
killing Ron, only to impress Hermione, this
would be wrong. He should protect Ron out of
charity and hospitality.
• Also, good intentions don't always lead to good
acts.
• Example: If Harry kicks Neville's eyeball to
make Hermione laugh when she is sick, this is
still wrong.
• T-Aqua argued that acts are intrinsically good
or bad, and are therefore in accordance or
discordance with the idea of how God wants us
to behave.
Evaluating This Wacky, Ditzy
Natural Moral Law ! ! !
We will now evaluate Aquinas' Natural
Moral Law, to see whether it is a feasible
ethical theory, that we can pragmatically
use in today's moral dilemma's.
Strengths ! ! !
• Natural Moral Law allows people to
establish 'ground-rules' to be able to
structure communities and societies.

• Different cultures and religions can


appreciate its rules and ideas due to the
fact that the 'do good and avoid evil'
concept is one that is sought by almost all
societies and religions.

• Natural Moral law gives us concrete


guidelines and advice on how we should
live our lives and how we should make our
decisions.
Weaknesses ! ! !
• It can never be known for certain whether humans have ONE
infallible nature; whether there is a general rule applicable to
everything.

• Humans have volatile, changeable natures, such as sexual


orientation. Homosexuals are still able to live fulfilling,
meaningful lives, and are accepted in society, thus, are they
really living a life against God ?

• Aquiney's definition of human purpose may be wrong, even if


we did have a purpose, why would it necessarily be to please
God?

• The secondary precepts may change in particular


circumstances. Thus, if it is changeable, natural moral law
becomes subjective and somewhat ambiguous, as it does
not provide concrete answers on every issue.
Some Quick Aristotelian Ethics !
• Aristotle, that old goon ! He was famed for owning the largest
collection of 'Pink-Floyd' albums, and also for holding the world
record for: best guy. But he too had a say on this natural law.
• He argued that everything had a purpose or goal to which one
should aim to fulfill. Once one knows what something's aim is,
one should know how it should behave to reach that final 'good'.
Example: Super Mario knew he needed to save the princess,
therefore he did everything in his power to save her.
• He stated that this good for humans was eudaimonia, often
translated as 'happiness'. But not happiness in itself, but the idea
of living well and doing well. Thus, as humans, we must strive to
live well and do well, to thus reach happiness as we allow others
to do so too, as we are nothing more than a 'thinking animal.'
WHAT WE THINK ! ! !
• We all believe that the Natural Moral Law theory is pretty
good, but we would make some alterations to enhance it.
• Aquinas' facts are pretty straightforward, and we definitely
agree with the whole idea of 'do good and avoid evil',
although not his justification as to why.
• We would want to classify our version of this law as
the Humanistic Moral Law, as we think any ethical situation
should be resolved as doing what the best outcome for
humanity would be. We think of ourselves (like Aristotle) as
simply animals that are able to think profoundly, so
essentially we are naturally and evolutionarily obliged to act
to ensure our survival and the survival of those around us.
• Also, it is essential that we input MORE COWBELL into
every single act of our lives.
THANX - WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED !

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