Natural Law Ethics & The Double E ect

The Natural Law ethical system holds that there is a universal set of rights and
wrongs that is like many religious beliefs, but without reference to a speci c
supernatural gure.

⁃ presupposes that what is good is what is natural, and what is natural is

what is good.
⁃ Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human
beings possess intrinsic values that govern their reasoning and
behavior. Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong are
inherent in people and are not created by society or court judges.

Morality is a part of the natural order of the universe.

⁃ Further, this morality is the same across cultures and times.

Good - Natural law theory de nes good as that which is natural. Identifying what
is consistent and congruent with the natural inclinations of humankind.

Natural law has been employed to restrict the rights and liberties of groups of
people.

Honesty and fair dealings are always prioritized over other values.

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Thomas Aquinas thought morality was important for everyone, and that being
a good person was a vital part of God’s plan for each of us.

How could people follow God’s moral rules - also known as the divine
commands - if they didn’t even know about the guy who made the
commandment’s?

The things that we’re designed to seek are known as the basic goods, and there
are 7 of them. This can be derived from the natural law.

1. Life - self-preservation - the drive to sustain life.

2. Reproduction - to make more life - God instilled us with a sex drive, and
made the process feel good, to make sure that we do it.

3. Educate one’s o spring - School, lessons, academics.

4. Seek God
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 5. Live in society - We are basically pack animals. We have the desire for
love and acceptance, and our susceptibility to peer pressure, and all
evidence of this.
6. Avoid O ense - we feel shame and guilt when we do things that cause our
group to turn against us.

7. Shun Ignorance - Knowledge promotes survival, and ignorance can mean

starving to death or ending up as someone else’s dinner.

Jean-Paul Sartre said that “we’re all born with a god-shaped hole inside of us”.

Instincts and reason come together to point us to the natural law.

For each negative law, or prohibition, there’s usually a corresponding positive

one - a positive injunction

If God created us to seek the good, and if we’re built with the ability to
recognize and seek it, then why do people violate the natural law all the time?
The answer is ignorance and emotion.

Natural law tells us that morality is grounded in God, that he created the moral
order.

It also gives us reason to be moral - following the natural law makes our lives
work better.

David Hume - is-ought problem

Immanuel Kant - devised a better way.

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2 Principles that assist us in discovering the Goodness or Badness of

human actions

1. The Principle of Double E ect

⁃ assists us in determining whether or not one’s actions is morally justi able

This involves 5 criteria

a. There is no easy alternative!

⁃ in a true dilemma

b. We must choose the good.

c. We must not choose evil!

⁃ no risk of evil

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d. The good chosen cannot result from evil tolerated

⁃ we cannot choose evil and result in a good.

e. Proportionality