1. Natural Law Thomas Aquinas

2. Aquinas Accepts that the ultimate purpose of God is to be united with God This can only be attained through the grace of God He also agrees with Aristotle that our natural goal is to live well and be happy But even the greatest happiness in this life is imperfect and perfect happiness is only possible in the next God gave us the desire to be happy on earth and philosophical ethics can help achieve this goal –Theological ethics would never contradict philosophical ethics He calls this Natural Law

3. The Concept of Law 5 types of Law –Eternal, natural, human, divine, ”law of sin” Law is a dictate that comes from practical reason Law comes from a ruler Law should be motivated by the common good of the community Eternal law includes all the inclinations that are part of the natures of all creatures (gravity) Natural Law

4. Rational creature participate in natural law We can decide whether to follow a certain inclination at a certain time and how we should follow it –We decide whether we will eat now Natural law then is active participation of in the eternal law by rational creatures But what are these inclinations?

5. The Precepts of Natural Law