Natural Ethics

Greek
The Greeks -- Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
emphasized the distinction between "nature"
(physis, φúσις) and "law," "custom," or
"convention" (nomos, νóμος). What the law
commanded varied from place to place, but what
was "by nature" should be the same everywhere.
Aristotle (BC 384—322) is considered by many to
be the father of “natural law.” In Rhetoric, he
argues that aside from “particular” laws that each
people has set up for itself, there is a “common
law” or “higher law” that is according to nature
(Rhetoric 1373b2–8).
Stoics
The Stoics -- The development of natural law
theory continued in the Hellenistic school of
philosophy, particularly with the Stoics. The Stoics
pointed to the existence of a rational and
purposeful order to the universe. The means by
which a rational being lived in accordance with this
cosmic order was considered natural law.
Christians
The Christians -- Augustine (AD 354—430)
equates natural law with man's Pre-Fall state.
Therefore, life according to nature is no longer
possible and mankind must instead seek salvation
through the divine law and Christ’s grace. Natural
law is what is contained in the law and the Gospel.
By it, each person is commanded to do to others
what he wants done to himself and is prohibited
from inflicting on others what he does not want
done to himself.
 Two types of Natural Law
• Natural Law as a Theory of Morality
• Natural Law as a Theory of Law
 Natural Law as a Theory of
Morality
The first is a theory of morality that is
roughly characterized by the following
theses. First, moral propositions are the
bearers of objective truth-value; that is,
moral propositions can be objectively true or
false. Second, standards of morality are in
some sense derived from, or entailed by, the
nature of the world and the nature of human
beings.
Natural Law as a Theory of Law
According to natural law theory of law, there
is no clean division between the concepts of
law and morality. Though there are different
versions of natural law theory, all subscribe
to the thesis that there are at least some
laws that depend for their “authority” not on
some pre-existing human convention, but on
the logical relationship in which they stand to
moral standards.
PROBLEMS FOR NATURAL
LAW THEORY
1. God designed the world with built in
values and purposes. The first of these
premises claims that in God’s design of the
world right and good are consistent, and that
wrong and bad are inconsistent. In this
theory morals are set code that are built into
life by God.
2. Moral natural laws both describe the way
things are, and prescribe the way things
should be. The right thing to do is seen as
natural or normal, while doing the wrong
thing is unnatural. Since there is a certain
code built into the world it’s more obvious
what is right or wrong.
 3. Laws of reason and rationality. This
theory gets rid of Plato’s dilemma of
irrationality, and it takes away the problem of
having morals separate from God. For those
who are looking to prove that God controls
morals, Natural Law Theory is the best way
to approach it because it has very few flaws
or dilemmas.
 Aquinas’s Analysis of Law.
Aquinas takes the notion of law to be central
to all normative practices – not just legal
practices – including morality; and he gives
a general analysis of the concept as it
figures in all forms of law (again, including
the natural law). The theory can be
summarized in the following analysis:
A rule R is a law if and only if:
R is a directive of reason;
R is aimed at the common good;
R is promulgated;
R requires or prohibits certain actions;
R is backed by coercive power; and
R is intended to be obeyed.
 Types of Law.
On Aquinas’s view, there are four types of
law:
• eternal;
• divine;
• Natural; and
• human.
The set of timeless truths that govern the
movement and behavior of all things in the
universe, including non-human things.
That portion of the eternal law that applies to
the behavior of human beings.
 Human law.
Law that “purports” to have a human source.
 Divine law.
The law that pertains to “our last end” –
which refers to our ultimate fate after divine
judgment.