Chapter 3

NATURAL LAW ETHICS

Part 3
 Introduction: Divine Command Theory
Q: Why should we not steal or commit adultery?
A: “Because God forbids us”;
Q: Why should we love our neighbor or give money to
charity?
A: “Because God commands it”.
Drawing this link between what is right and wrong and
what God commands and forbids is what is called
the Divine Command Theory (DCT).
Challenge: The Euthyphro Dilemma
Either God commands something is right because it
is, or it is right because God commands it. If God
commands something because it is right, then God’s
commands do not make it right, His commands only
tell us what is right. This means God simply drops out
of the picture in terms of explaining why something is
right.
Challenge: The Euthyphro Dilemma
If on the other hand something is
right because God commands it
then anything at all could be right; killing
children or setting fire to churches could
be morally acceptable. But if a moral
theory says this then that looks as if the
theory is wrong. (Morality becomes
arbitrary)
Position of St. Thomas Aquinas
God’s commands are there to help us to come to see
what, as a matter of fact, is right and wrong rather than
determine what is right and wrong.
That is, Aquinas opts for the first option in the Euthyphro
dilemma as stated above. But then this raises the obvious
question: if it is not God’s commands that make
something right and wrong, then what does? Does not
God just fall out of the picture? This is where his Natural
Law Theory comes in.
What is Natural Law?
Aquinas thinks that everything has a purpose and
follows a plan. He, like Aristotle, is a teleologist
(the Greek term “telos” refers to what we might
call a purpose, goal, end/or the true final
function of an object) and believes
that every object has a telos; the acorn has
the telos of growing into an oak; the eye
a telos of seeing; a rat of eating and reproducing
etc. If something fulfills its purpose/plan then it
is following the Eternal Law.
But what about humans? Just as a good eye is to
see, and a good acorn is to grow then a good
human is to…? Is to what? How are we going to
finish this sentence? What do you think?

Aquinas thinks that the answer is reason and

that it is this that makes us distinct from rats
and rocks. What is right for me and you as
humans is to act according to reason. If we act
according to reason then we are partaking in
the Natural Law.
General content of the Natural Law
Other creatures like plants and animals are powerless
enough to refuse the direction of their nature. Mango
trees cannot refuse to bear mango fruits and choose
to bear santol fruits. Animals are governed by their
instincts and powerless to refuse their call. When
threatened and in a beast mode, dogs cannot tell
itself, “I’m sick and tired of barking and biting, I want
to meow and scratch my aggressor.” But human
beings are governed by or participates in the natural
law not by compulsion but by free choice.”
Basic INCLINATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS:

1. To seek the good, including his highest good,

which is eternal happiness with God.
2. To preserve himself in existence.
3. To preserve the species-that is, to unite
sexually.
4. To live in community with other men.
5. To use his intellect and will-that is, to know
the truth and to make his own decisions.
Happiness – Natural Inclination to seek
happiness
Self-preservation - Natural inclination to live
Procreation - Natural inclination to reproduce
Knowledge - Natural inclination to learn
Sociability - Natural inclination to love and
seek affection
What examples could you give that goes
against the natural inclinations of man?
Inclination to preserve life - Vices, extreme and
dangerous sports, unhealthy food, …
Procreation – masturbation, “sex for sale”, abortion,
sex change, genital mutilation, BDSM….
Sociability – slavery, “pambubugaw”, all kinds of
abuse (physical, psychological, economic etc.)….
Inclination to know - perjury, lying ….
The roles of Human Law and Divine Law

To regulate our actions since most of

the time our reason does not govern
our human actions.
They serve as outside regulator for our
decision making process