Natural Law 1

 Natural law is a system in which
actions are seen as morally and

ethically correct if t accords with
the end purpose of human nature
and human goals. Follows the
fundamental maxim, ‘do good and
avoid evil’.
 Natural law is a system in which

actions are seen as morally and
ethically correct if t accords with
the end purpose of human
nature and human goals. Follows
the fundamental maxim, ‘do
good and avoid evil’.
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 Begins his natural law theory by
differentiating human acts from acts of
man.
Expressed proceeds from the will
Is an action that does not proceeds from the will. 5
• The intention inherent in the
action that one is actually
performing, the moral object
specifies the human act and is the
purpose that the act accomplishes as
a means to the ultimate goal of life.
Although the moral object or finis operis

is the fundamental element of the morality
of the human act, that is also the
circumstance.
CIRCUMSTANCE- Is the part of the human act

that must be considered in order to evaluate the
total moral act. Can be considered in various
moral questions, thus, be might ask, ‘who’,
‘when’, ‘how much’ or ‘in what manner’.
INTENTION/MOTIVE
 Is a means towards
attainment of true
happiness both of a agent
and the common good.
SURGERY
 Aquinas designed a method known as

‘Principle of Double-Effect’. This
principle is used in order to judge
the moral acceptability of the
human act that has two effects, one
is good and other is evil.
Traditional Moral theology,
presents four conditions for
the double effect principle to
be applied:
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1. The action is good in

itself or at least in
different
2. The good effect
must come first
before the evil
effect or a least
simultaneously.
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3. The good
effect must be
intended
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4. There must be
a proportionately
grave reason for
the evil effect to
happen
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There have been various thinkers
and system of thought immerging
throughout history that could be
said to present a natural law.
Among them, the one will be
focusing on is the medieval thinker
Thomas Aquinas. It has to be
recognized, however, that this
natural law theory is part of a
larger project, which is Aquina’s
vision of the Christian faith. Before
ADD A FOOTER we turn to the natural theory. 13
We might explore how our actions are related to certain
dispositions in a dynamic way since our actions both arise
from our habits and at the same time reinforce a good
disposition and a bad disposition. the Christian life,
therefore, is about developing the capacities given us by
God into a disposition of virtue inclined toward the good.
Aquinas also puts forward that there is within us a
conscience that directs our moral thinking. So, we are
called to heed the voice of conscience and enjoined the
develop and maintain a life of virtue.
However, these both require content, so we need

something more. Being told that the one should heed
one’s conscience or that one should try to be virtuous,
does very little to guide people as to what specifically
should be done in a given situation. Thus, there is a need
for clearer basis of ethics, a ground that will more
concretely direct our sense of what is right and wrong. For
Aquinas this would be the natural law.
The idea of a transcendent good prior to all being
resurfaces in Aquinas in the form o the good and
loving God, who is Himself the fullness of being
SYNTHESIS good and of goodness; as Aquinas puts it, God is
that which essentially is and is essentially good.” So,
we recognized that all beings are only possible as
participating in the first being, which is God himself.
God’s act, like an emanation of light, is the creation
of beings.
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However, while beings are good because
they are created by God, the goodness
possessed by being remains imperfect. “For
Aquinas, only God in the fullness of his
being and goodness is perfect; all other
beings are participating in this goodness,
and are good to that extent, but are
imperfect since they are limited in their
participation.
“But, once again, God did not create us to simply

be imperfect and to stay that way as He leaves
us alone. Instead, God, in his infinite wisdom,
direct how we are to arrive at our perfection. The
toward their proper end; this end, which is for
them to reach their highest good, is to return to
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the divine goodness itself.
THE ESSENCE AND
VARIETIES OF LAW
As a rational beings, we have free will. Through our
capacity for reason, we are able to judge between
possibilities and to choose to direct our actions in a
way or the other. Out actions are directed toward
attaining ends or goods that we desire.
In thinking about what is good for us, it is also quite

possible that we end up thinking exclusively of our own
good. Aquinas reminds us that this will not do; we cannot
simply act in pursuit of our own ends or good without any
regard for other people’s ends or good. We are not isolated
beings, but beings belong to a community. Since we belong
to community, we have to consider what is good for the
community as well as our own good. This can be called the
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common good.
We have noted earlier how God, by
his wisdom, is the Creator of all
beings. By saying this, we do not only
recognize God as the source of these
beings, but also acknowledge the
way they have been created and the
way they could return it Him, which Eternal law refers to what God
is the work of His divine reason itself. wills for creation. All things
partake in eternal law, all
Aquinas writes: “He governs all beings are already created by
the acts and movements that God in a certain way intended
are to be found in each single to return to Him.
creature, so the type of Divine
Wisdom, as moving all things to
their due end, bears the
character of law.”
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Which is to say that they do not think of the law or
chose to obey it, but are simply, through
instinctual following of their nature, complying
with the law that God has for them.
Human being’s participation is different. The

human being, as rational, participates more fully
and perfectly in the law given the capacity for
reason. The unique imprint upon us, upon our
human nature by God, is the capacity to think
about what is good and what is evil, and to choose
and direct ourselves appropriately.
Refers to all instances wherein
human beings construct and
enforce laws in there
communities. Given the larger
picture of Aquinas’s view, one
would have basis for assessing
the validity or invalidity of a
human law: whether or not it
conforms to the natural law.
IN COMMON IN
OTHER BEINGS
We have consider how we, human beings, are both unique and at the same
time participating in the community of the rest of creation. Our presence in
the rest of creation does not only mean that we interact with creatures that
are not human, but that there is also in our nature something that shares in
the nature of other beings.
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IN COMMON WITH
OTHER ANIMALS
Aquinas then goes on to say that there is our human nature, common with other
animals, a desire that has to do with sexual intercourse and the care of one’s
offspring. As the matter of fact, animals periodically engage in sexual intercourse at a
specific time of “heat”, and this could result an offspring. In human too, that natural
inclination to engage in the sexual act and to reproduce exists.
After the first two inclinations, Aquinas
presents a third reason which states that we
have an inclination to good according to the
nature or our reason. With this, we have an
natural inclination to know the truth about
God and to live in society. It is interest that
this is followed by matters of both an
epistemic and a social concern.
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 Natural law is a system in which

actions are seen as morally and

 Natural law is a system in which

Although the moral object or finis operis

CIRCUMSTANCE- Is the part of the human act

 Aquinas designed a method known as

1. The action is good in

However, these both require content, so we need

“But, once again, God did not create us to simply

In thinking about what is good for us, it is also quite

Human being’s participation is different. The

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