The Natural Moral Law

 Back then, “school” had no structure. It’s called agore (marketplace)

 Aristotle was the mentor of Alexander the Great

 Thomas Aquinas (C. 1225-1274)

o He came from a Noble Italian family. His family wanted him to be a
Franciscan (Friar Mason) but he preferred the Dominicans because “reasons
move us, not love”
o Mentored by Abertus Magnus in University of Paris.
o Aquinas doesn’t want to be referred to as just a theologian, but a philosopher a
well.
 His critique is not based on feelings, but on reason.
 “If we have free will, how do we reach for God?”
o Praised Aristotle, the philosopher, who didn’t believe in God
o Not an original thinker, but a great synthesizer: Made a synthesis of
Aristotelian Philosophy and Christian Theology

Summa Contra Gentiles

 Where do humans fall in the whole scheme of the universe?

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 We are only one level below the angels

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What is this

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1. God, owing to his perfection, bestows being on all that exists. He is the first of beings
and the most perfect of all.

o.
2. Everything that is produced through the will of an agent is directed to an end by that
agent.
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3. God is perfect in being and causing, so he is perfect in ruling
o St. Anselm of Canterbury (ontological argument) – the first argument that
there is a God. Aquinas is referring to the same idea, but better
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o St. Thomas has two concepts of actions:

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 Acts of man – acts that emanate from the human being, not with will.
v i y re

Such as breathing, yawning, sneezing

 Human acts – acts willed by man. Things acted on by the will make
them objects of ethics.
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 Every agent acts for an end.

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 Every agent acts either by nature or by intelligence.

o Nature – Plants move in accordance to a particular law of nature
o Intelligence – Some things in nature move in its own accord
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 That which tends definitely must be befitting to that agent: that which is befitting to a
thing is good for it.  You seek for something good for you.
Th

 Every agent acts for an end under the aspect of good.

 Good is the subject of every appetite. Appetite is divided into three.
1. Natural Appetite is the pull of nature. e.g. plants have to grow
2. Sensitive Appetite is the pull of feelings toward you.
e.g. you’re being drawn by the food/bed, when you are drawn by your senses.
3. Intellectual Appetite is the way by which we discern what is good, and we are
drawn towards it.
 All things are directed to the Supreme good.
 Man’s supreme good must consist in obtaining something better than man, not subject
to change, lost unwillingly, and may not be obtained by evil men.
o Wealth, power, body, senses are not the goals of man

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 Summa Theologiae
 Man’s supreme good is God: Only God will satisfy man’s ultimate happiness.
 Every action moves towards God. God is the object of our desires.
 We can only approximate God, we can only go towards the direction of God.
Participation in God can be of 2 kinds
1. Laws
 Aquinas says there’s a need for law (external attributor) because even if agents are
rational, they don’t do what’s reasonable.
 A Law is nothing else but a dictate of practical reason emanating from the ruler who
governs a perfect community. (Q91-A1) Law of any kind is goal-oriented.
 Q91: Of the Various Kinds of Law
o Eternal Law (law governing the universe) is not subject to time but is also not
conceivable by man.
o Divine Law (law from scriptures) is the codification of the Eternal Law, but
subject to a lot of doubts.
o Natural Law is the way by which we bridge the unknown with the known so that
we can apprehend what we can’t apprehend. Natural Law is the participation of
the Eternal Law in the rational creature.
 We are capable of knowing what is right and wrong by what we see and

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what we feel in the world.
 Q91-A2 Only rational creatures are subject to Divine Providence in the

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most excellent way, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act
and end.

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 The Precepts of the Natural Law
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 First precept of the law is “good is to be done and pursued, and evil
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is to be avoided”, or “do good and avoid evil”
 Secondary precepts
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1. Inclination to good which he has in common with other

substances (Survival/Self-Preservation)
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2. Inclination to things that pertain to him more specially

v i y re

(Education/rearing of offspring/parents/lover, etc.)

3. Inclination to good according to the nature of his reason (Truth
about God, live in society, knowledge, and sociability)
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2. Virtues
 Virtuous acts may be of two kinds: under the aspect of virtue (natural law), or as
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considered in their proper species (can be seen in itself)

 Since the rational soul is the proper form of man, there is in every man a natural
inclination to act according to reason: and this is to act according to virtue.
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o NML: Being virtuous means following your intellectual appetite.

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 In the end, natural law for Aquinas is a dynamic mediating factor, which helps maintain a
harmonious relationship between the divine and the human law.

 Human law is both something ordained to an end; and is a rule or measure that is ruled or
measured by a higher measure. This higher measure is the Divine law and the natural law
on the other.

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