Chapter II

The Natural Law:

St. Thomas Aquinas
Presented by:
Octaviano, Alden
Rallos, Kurthny
Romero, Rosedale
Villanueva, Michael
INTRODUCTION
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)
- He is an Italian Catholic priest who belongs to the
religious Order of Preaches or Dominicans.
- Aquinas refers to a place.
- Aquino which is belonged originally to the Kingdom
of Naples.
-At the age of 14, he enrolled at the University of
Naples.
- At the age of 19, he decided to join the Order of
Preachers.
- 1256 Thomas became the master of Theology.
- He died on March 7, 1274, leaving him behind
notable works like, Summa Contra Gentiles, Summa
Theologiae, and De Veritate.
-The Catholic church honor him as a title of Doctor.
Etsi Deus non deratur
- He views God as the author (source) and goal (end).
- Human gifted with the ability to “to know the highest good” that
engages him/her freedom in “choosing to act on the good she/he
ought to do.”
- the Divine Will, man task is to act in such way that his/her
participation in the full unfolding of nature directs to its fulfillment.
- This law is impinges on the very freedom of the human being who
can know his/her options and voluntarily will to take action. (Divine
Will)
- Etsi Deus non deratur means “even if there is no God.”
CONSCIENCE AND NATURAL LAW

-“It is the proper functioning of reason in moving the human person to

an end goal that is fitting of his/her dignity.”

― There are different kinds of conscience that may lead us to

wrongdoing:

• CALLOUS – too careless and impulsive

• PERPLEXED – needs guidance in sorting out one’s confusion.
• SCRUPULOUS – too careful on deciding due to not trusting one’s
self to do good.
• IGNORANT/UNINFORMED – lacks education
THREE CONTEMPORARY QUESTION
― Who am I? Thomistic Natural Law interrogates the identify of the human
person.
-The task of knowing the self is the point of departure for the task of building up
the identity of the human person.

― Who do I want to be? The human person’s self acknowledge is dynamic, that
is, it is always open to the direction set by what one wants to make of
himself/herself.
-The human reason is so gifted that it is able to discern through options and daily
realities.

― How do I get there? Also utilizes the sound judgement of human reason and
evaluates the best route to get to the goal decided upon.
- The human person does not only access reason to assess his/her personal
identity and goal; he/she is also gifted with the will to command the self to go
through steps and, hence, be able to do the transition from knowledge to a fully
determined self.
THE RELATIONAL AND PERFECTION OF LOVE
IN AQUINAS

- Although we have suspended God-talk to

make the case that natural law is relevant
even though human person without faith, the
discussion of Thomistic ethics is incomplete if
it does not end with the love that directed
toward God.
CONCLUSION

St. Thomas Aquinas is an Italian Catholic priest who

belongs to the Order of Preaches. Aquinas belong to the
Kingdom of Naples. According to him, human has the
ability to know the highest good. We human, has a
freedom to know what is right and what is not right. We
need to follow the commandments of God in order to
fulfil our objectives in this world. Even though, we do not
have faith in God or we do not have God, we still have
the ability to do good and avoid evil.