Objectives:

1. Recognize how Thomas Aquinas made use of ancient

Greek concepts to provide rational grounding to an
ethical theory based on the Christian Faith;
2. Identify the natural law in distinction from, but also
in relation to, the other types of law mentioned by
Aquinas: Eternal law, Human law, and Divine law;
And;
3. Apply the precepts of the natural law to
contemporary moral concerns.
 “NATURAL” and
“UNNATURAL”
• Refer to some kind of intuition that a person
has, one which is so apparently true to him that
it is unquestioned.
Ex:
• It is “unnatural” to eat any kind of insect, and
what this means is that she personally finds
herself averse to the idea of doing so.
 “NATURAL” and
“UNNATURAL”
• The word is used to try to justify a certain way of
behaving by seeing its likeness somewhere in the
natural world.
EX:
• A man might claim that it is okay for him to have
more than one sexual partner, since, in a pride of
lions, the alpha male gets to mate with all the she-
lions.
 “NATURAL” and
“UNNATURAL”
• The word “NATURAL” is used as an appeal to
something instinctual without it being directed
by reason.
EX:
• A man may deem it all right if he were to
urinate just anywhere because after all he sees
it as “Natural” function of humans.
 “NATURAL” and
“UNNATURAL”
• We also find people using the word “natural” to
refer to what seems common to them given
their particular environment.
EX:
• A Filipina may suppose that eating full meals of
rice and ulam every day is what is “natural”
because everyone she knows behaves in that
way.
THOMAS AQUINAS and THE
CONTEXT OF THE CHRISTIAN
STORY
 SUMMA
I.
THEOLOGIAE
GOD, and although we acknowledge that our limited
human intellect cannot fully grasp Him, we
nevertheless are able to say something concerning
His goodness, His might, and His creative power.
II. MAN / DYNAMIC of HUMAN LIFE. This is
characterized by our pursuit of happiness, which
we should realize rests ultimately not on any
particular good thing that is created by God, but in
the highest good which is God Himself
 SUMMA
THEOLOGIAE
III. Our striving for this ultimate happiness, while
important, will not in itself bring us to this
blessed state. In other words, salvation is only
possible through the presence of God’s grace
and that grace has become perfectly
incarnate in the person of JESUS.