OCR exam board powerpoint. Main points of Nat law.

1. NATURAL LAW
ST.ThomasAquinas.

2. The purpose of human beings:
For Aquinas, human being have an essential rational nature which is God
given in order to flourish and even without knowledge of God we can
discover these laws, these natural laws are universal and unchangeable.
However, this view differs from that of Aristotle.
Aristotle believes that our telos (purpose) is to flourish in society which
then helps us to reach God.

3. The synderesis rule:
“Do good and avoid evil”
According to Aquinas, one’s purpose is to fulfil the synderesis rule.
Aquinas’ Primary Precepts.
These precepts apply to everybody without exception as they are a direct
reflection of God’s eternal law:
1. Preservation of life, protection of the innocent.
2. Reproduction.
3. Nurture and educate the young.
4. Living harmoniously in society.
5. Worship God.
These precepts follow each other in a sequence.

4. Aquinas’ Secondary Precepts.
The secondary precepts put forward by Aquinas are dependent on one’s own
judgements of what to do in any given situation. Which suggests that our
judgements are open to faulty reasoning and may lead to completely wrong
choices.
However, one may refer to the secondary precepts as follows:
1. “Do not murder”, be healthy.
2. “Go forth and multiply”, do not use contraception.
3. “Honor your mother and father”, compulsory schooling.
4. “Do not covet”, consider the whole community, do not steal.
5. “Worship God”, go to church.
In order to find these precepts, it requires phronesis and reason in order for one
to flourish as people and in turn leads to perfection.

5. Interior and Exterior Acts:
It has been argued that the interior act is just as important as the exterior act.
Interior: Intention.
Exterior:The act itself.
An example:
If I give to charity in order to impress somebody, this makes my exterior act
good as I have given help however my interior act is bad as my intention was to
impress somebody.
The doctrine of double effect:
This is explained by doing an something which does not have the intention of
consequences it brings about.
For example:
A women may take the pill in order to control her menstrual cycle but it
unintentionally prevents her from getting pregnant which goes against the
primary precepts.