1. Ethics—The Basics by John Mizzoni
CHAPTER THREE:
NATURAL LAW ETHICS

2. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
The decision NOT to have a therapeutic abortion, and NOT to have a life-saving hysterectomy that might endanger the unborn child: Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

3. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
According to Natural Law Ethics (NLE), it is wrong to have an abortion.
According to NLE, based on the “Principle of Double Effect”, it is acceptable to have a different life-saving procedure, even if an unborn child might die as an unintended consequence.
WHAT IS NATURAL LAW ETHICS?

4. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
According to “The Principle of Double Effect”, in situations where an unintended evil effect occurs in the course of a good action, it is morally permissible to perform the action if four conditions are met.
WHAT ARE THE FOUR CONDITIONS?

5. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
These four conditions must be met in applying the Principle of Double Effect:
If the good effect rather than the evil effect is intended
If the evil effect is outweighed by the resultant good effect
If the nature of the act itself is not evil, and
If due diligence is taken to minimize the evil effect
SO, WHAT IS NATURAL LAW ETHICS?

6. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Natural Law Ethics is a tradition
Developed in the Middle Ages
Derived from Aristotle’s ethics
NLE associates what is “good” with what is “natural”, or from nature
WHO DEVELOPED NATURAL LAW ETHICS?

7. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Natural Law Ethics is associated with
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas was a Dominican friar
and scholar, who saw
connections between Aristotle’s
ideas, the beliefs of the Catholic CE
Church, and life in this world .
WHAT IS THE “NATURAL” LAW?

8. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
According to Aquinas, there are four kinds of law:
Eternal Law
Natural (Moral) Law
Divine (Biblical) Law
Human (Civil) Law

9. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Eternal Law is the law through which God governs the universe
It lies beyond time and space
It includes
All physical laws
All moral laws (Natural Law)
All revealed religious laws (Divine Law)

10. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Human Law, or Civil Law, includes all the laws that are designed, proposed, passed, and enacted by humans
It includes, for example
All international laws
All federal and state laws
All local laws (e.g., municipal and township laws)

11. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Divine Law, or Biblical Law, is more specific guidance revealed by God to complement what we know from natural law which is informed by our reason and reflection. The Ten Commandments, sometimes called the Decalogue, is an example of Divine Law.

12. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Aristotle did not believe in God, but he believed that everything in nature has a purpose.
The world, therefore, is an orderly rational system, with each thing having its own proper place and serving its own special purpose.

13. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Aristotle believed that nature has made all things specifically for the sake of man.
Early Christian theologians, such as Augustine, followed the ethics of Divine Command Theory and may have been influenced by Plato’s thought. They ignored Aristotle.

14. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Muslim, Jewish, and Christian theologians rediscovered and reformed Aristotle: The world is created according to a divine plan.
Affirms the supreme value of human life
Explains why humans can use the rest of nature
The divine plan is a rational plan.

15. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
For these Muslim, Jewish, and Christian theologians, including Aquinas, God is the Designer and Planner and Lawgiver.
The Logos, “The Word” in John’s Gospel, is pure Reason.

16. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Natural law (moral law) is derived from the natural order of things:
Things are as they ought to be when they are serving their natural purposes
When they do not or cannot serve those purposes, things have gone wrong
Natural Law Ethics (NLE) is a form of universalist ethics.

17. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Aquinas and NLE address the problem of relativism:
If everyone has the same natural law written on their hearts, why do we see diverse ethics?
Everyone has the same moral law available to them, but things get complicated in daily life, and our judgment can become clouded, especially by bad habits or misguided passions.

18. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
For Aquinas, there are universal moral standards, and we come to know these universal standards, not through human law, not through human feelings/emotions, not through our society’s customs, but through human reason.

19. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
For Aquinas, although we come to know these standards through reason, their ultimate source is of divine origin.
Aquinas, like Aristotle, holds that ethics is rooted in human nature, and that human nature is universal.

20. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Both Aquinas and Aristotle hold that when we observe human nature and human natural inclinations, we see that humans are naturally directed to basic and fundamental values and goods. These goods are naturally apprehended by human reason, and opposites, or evils, are to be avoided.

21. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
We need only to look at natural human inclinations—human nature—to understand what the natural law is and what it requires us to do.
WHAT ARE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN GOODS?

22. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Aquinas’ Four Categories of Goods:
Life
Procreation
Sociability
Knowledge
AREN’T THESE “NATURAL” INCLINATIONS?

23. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Life: Everyone seeks to preserve life
Instinct to protect ourselves
Instinct to “make a living”
Sexual activity and Reproduction: Everyone seeks to preserve the species
Sexuality naturally leads to reproduction

24. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Sociability: Everyone seeks to get along with others in social networks
Parents and children
Siblings
Neighbors
Peers/friends
Communities

25. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Knowledge: Everyone seeks to gain knowledge of information
“All men, by their nature, desire to know” (Aristotle, Metaphysics)
We are naturally curious
We have a natural inclination to knowledge and the truth

26. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
First Principles of Natural Law
(Self-evident Truths):
Principle of Identity
“Each being is what it is.”
Principle of Non-contradiction
“Nothing can be true and false at the same time and in the same respect.”
Principle of the Excluded Middle
“A thing either is, or it is not; there is no in between.”

27. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Four Natural Law Ethical Principles:
The Golden Rule
The Principle of Natural Law
The Pauline Principle
The Principle of Double Effect

28. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
The Golden Rule
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matt 7:12; Cf. Luke 6:31)
The Principle of Natural Law
“We ought to perform those actions that promote the values specified by the natural [rational ] inclinations of human beings.”

29. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
The Pauline Principle
“It is not morally permissible to do evil so that good may follow.” (Cf. Rom 3:8)
(“The end does not justify the means.”)
The Principle of Double Effect
“It is morally permissible to perform an action that has two effects, one good and the other bad, if certain conditions are met.”

30. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Advantages of Natural Law Ethics
Offers answers to the metaphysical and epistemological objections to moral philosophy
What are the facts that make moral claims true?
How can we know which moral claims are true?

31. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Advantages of Natural Law Ethics
2. Makes moral claims objective
3. Offers a clear motivation to be moral
4. Resolves many moral conflicts
5. Unifies reason (the known) with faith (the unknown)

32. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Disadvantages of Natural Law Ethics 1. NLE does not appeal to atheists and evolutionists, since it presumes a divine Designer of the natural world 2. NLE is theocentric and/or anthropocentric; science supports neither of these views 3. NLE offers no proof for the rationality of the world; perhaps the mind “imposes” it

33. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
Disadvantages of Natural Law Ethics 4. If the world is rational and orderly, NLE offers no evidence that it will continue to be rational and orderly 5. NLE is absolutist, maintaining that some actions are always wrong; this forbids any exceptions in moral conflicts, such as saving a mother’s life by causing an abortion

34. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and the Origins of Ethics
Ethical standards have their ultimate origin in God’s plan for the world:
Ethical standards originate in human nature
God is responsible for human nature being what it is
Ethical standards do not originate in society

35. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and the Problem of Relativism
Although Aquinas accepts the fact that there is cultural diversity and disagreement in ethics, this is not proof that no ethical universals exist
Ethics are grounded in the universal features of human beings
The standards exist as surely as God exists
Ethical standards do not originate in society

36. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and the Problem of Human Nature
Human beings are rational and social beings that are naturally striving toward basic goods

37. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and the Problem of Right + Wrong
NLE uses a Natural Law framework to answer questions about:
How to determine the right thing to do (an action is right when it is consistent with the Natural Law)
How one should live a life
What principles can be used to make moral determinations

38. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and Virtue Ethics
NLE incorporates Virtue Ethics
Character is developed by following the Natural Law
The acquisition of virtues is the normal result of following the Natural Law
Aquinas accepts all the virtues of Aristotle, BUT seems to re-prioritize them, and add to them

39. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and Virtue Ethics (continued)
However, NLE goes beyond Virtue Ethics:
It emphasizes the analysis of moral actions
It emphasizes the application of moral principles
It focuses analysis on intentions (Are we intending to follow Natural Law?)
It adds the 3 theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity
It places ethics and virtues in a religious framework (When we develop virtues, we ultimately follow God’s will)

40. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and History
CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES FROM HISTORY IN WHICH NATURAL LAW ETHICS WAS APPLIED?

41. Ethics—The Basics NATURAL LAW ETHICS
NLE and Popular Culture
CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES FROM POPULAR CULTURE IN WHICH NATURAL LAW ETHICS IS MENTIONED?