Aquinas and

The Natural
Law
Aquinas conceives of
creatures, according to types,
as governed by final causes or
ends which they naturally
seek. These ends are
implanted in them by the
Creator.
 Question
 What is the END (intention/purpose) of your Course?
 Why do you want to become a
Teacher/Accountant/Psychologist?
 What he means by “end”?
 Aquinas states, in the case of things which obviously
act for an end, we call that toward which the
inclination of the agent tends the end.
 Ultimate End
 The ULTIMATE END is defined as the last and final
goal of man. If for Plato, the goal of man is the
right cultivation of the human soul.

 Every human action must have an end- self-sufficient

end.
 Ultimate End
 there is an ultimate end of human existence and
that it consists of conscious union with God.
 The END term does not confine the human realm.
He referred it to the entire organic and inorganic
orders. Everything in the universe has at least one
end.
 Ends can be characterized as possible objectives of
HUMAN ACTIONS.
 End + Action
 Human agents choose actions inorder to actualize
possible states of the world.
 EX. The physician chooses to act as a physician
inorder to actualize the possibility of human health.
 The runner chooses to run in order to actualize the
possibility of winning a race.
 For Aquinas, there is a metaphysically necessary
correlation between ends and actions.
 ENDS as intentions
 intended by human agents in their choices of
actions.
 Actions have intentional structures.
 Aquinas' Natural Law
(LEX NATURALIS)
 It is IMPERATIVE to do good and avoid evil.
 NATURAL LAW is comprised of those precepts of the
eternal law that govern the behavior of beings
possessing reason and free will.
 The MORAL Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas involves a
merger of at least two apparently disparate
traditions: Aristotelian eudaimonism and Christian
Theology.
 Original Sin- sin was inherited from our first parents.
 Natural Law
 NATURAL LAW: HUMAN ADHERENCE TO ETERNAL
LAW, DISCOVERED BY REASON
 ETERNAL LAW-GOD'S DECREES, DIRECT WORD OF
GOD, GOVERNS ALL CREATION
 DIVINE LAW: OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, THE LAW
AS DEFINED IN THE SCRIPTURES
 HUMAN LAW: LAW OF NATIONS/CIVIL LAW, POSITIVE
LAW.
 Two Strains of Interpretation of Natural
Law
 Order of Nature
-Source of Moral norms - “Written” in nature
-The emphasis is to “conform to what is given in nature” because the
world is inter-connected. Don’t fool with Mother Nature!
 Order of Reason
-Source - the human experience is taken in all its
complexity/relationships
-Knowledge - Reason – whatever would promote the well-being of
humans.
-Morally good actions are those rationally directed toward the full
actualization of human potential.
 God
 as the cause of everything. Good actions
done by men is an inspiration of God's
intervention in us.
 Aquinas' Ethical Theory
involves both principles:

1. rules about how to act

2. virtues-personality traits which are taken to be

good or moral to have.
 Moral Theory
 Ethical Philo. is about deciding the best way to live
one's life.
 People need to identify meaningful goals before they
can act. So, Moral theory is a way to facilitate
action, rather than to limit it.
 the body is not the prison of the soul but a means for
its expression.
 Imago Dei
 Humans realize the 'image and likeness of God' when
they fulfill this essence by living a life according to
God's plan which may be understood by:
-reason reflecting on nature, and
-being guided by the Bible (revealed word of God).
 Sin
 Sin is understood as a 'falling short' of this idea, or
essence, through the misuse of free will.
 SIN- DEPRIVATION OF DOING GOOD.

 The Human person either develops:

1. Good Habit (Virtue) disposes the body into
wellness- thus, good.
2. Bad Habit (Vice)-Smoking disposes the body into
illness- thus, bad.
 Essence is prior to Existence
 Thomas Aquinas is obviously coming from an
essentialist foundation, that is, the essence is prior to
existence. The human person, as an image of God
(imago dei), exists within the divine mind even before
creation.
 Thus, natural law is objective, foundational, and
absolute. It is good when it fulfills one's essence. It
becomes evil with the privation of goodness.
 GOAL of Human fulfilment
 Living a worthwhile life.
 Without the principle, moral values will not have
force.
 7 Basic Goods
For Aquinas, these are the things that we’re designed to seek namely:
self-preservation
to reproduce
to educate those kids we just made
to live in a community with others
not to alienate our pack-mates
To feel shame and guilt when we do things that cause our group to turn
against us
to shun ignorance.
 Self-preservation
 Aquinas said, this is the first thing that all living things
just naturally want - the drive to sustain life.

 Aquinas thought God built all creatures with a survival

instinct.
 Aquinas thought
God built all
creatures with a
survival instinct.
 For our safety
 When we find ourselves in danger, we don’t have to
stop and ponder the options before getting ourselves
to safety.
 we naturally avoid dangerous situations like walking
in dark streets or swimming with hungry sharks
 Reproduction
 After preserving our own lives, our next most pressing
basic good is to make more life – in other words, to
reproduce.
SEX has a Divine implication.
It is an expression of LOVE.
Peaceful Family
Education
 Being with Others
 Man is a social animal (Aristotle)
No to Alienation
Shame and Guilt
Shun Ignorance
Most creatures actively
seek their proper ends out
of instinct. Although
human beings too have
proper ends, we do not
always act as we should.
Our actions are often
determined counter to
nature and natural law by
our appetites. When
reason rules in the human
soul, we choose what
accords with nature.
Reason in human beings is
capable of apprehending certain
general principles implanted in
human nature. The first
principle of the natural law is
"good is to be done and
pursued, and evil avoided". All
other precepts of natural law
rest upon this.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL LAW
a. Natural law is an eternal moral law
revealed to all people through
human nature.
b. Natural law influences (but cannot
save) even fallen and sinful
humanity.
c. Natural law is the proper basis of
political authority.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL LAW
d. Natural law authorizes society to
establish a government.
e. Governments are themselves
subject to the natural law.
f. Each society’s laws should apply
the natural law to that society’s
particular circumstances.
 Natural Law vs. Moral issues
Same sex marriage
Euthanasia / mercy killing
Death Penalty
In-vitro fertilization
Sex change – transplant
Human cyborg / sex dolls
Use of contraceptives