4. St. Thomas Aquinas, a medieval Roman Catholic scholar,
reconciled the political philosophy of Aristotle with
Christian faith. In doing so, he contended that a just ruler
or government must work for the "common good" of all.
Aquinas came to think that one should believe only what is
self-evident (e.g., human beings use reason) or can be
deduced from self-evident propositions (e.g., human
reason can discover truth).
5. The context of Aquina’s Ethics
In the pursuit of happiness, we direct our actions toward specific ends.
We might explore how our emotions “the passions” are involved in this process, and therefore
require a proper order if they are to properly contribute to good life.
We might explore how our actions are related to certain dispositions (often referred to as “habits”
in a dynamic way since our actions both arise from our habits and at the same time reinforce
them.
Christian life therefore, is about developing the capacities given to us by God into a disposition of
virtue inclined toward the good.
Our conscience directs our actions and moral thinking.
6. ARISTOTELLIAN BEING AND BECOMING
Aristotle proposes 4 concepts/causes which provide a way of understanding any particular being
1. material- 2. formal-3. efficient- 4. final
We recognize that any being we can see around is corporeal, possessed of a certain materiality or
physical stuff or “material cause”- a being is individuated- this material takes a particular shape-
“shape”- makes a being a particular kind called its form. “it has formal cause.” There is something
which brings about the presence of another being (efficient cause), Since a being has an apparent
end or goal- we can speak of (final cause)
All these give a way to understand any being
Knowledge is the object of our inquiry
7. What is natural law?
Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy
that says that human beings possess intrinsic
values that govern our reasoning and behavior.
Natural law maintains that these rules of right
and wrong are inherent in people and are not
created by society or court judges.
8. What is natural law?
Aquinas wrote most extensively about natural
law. He stated, "the light of reason is placed by
nature [and thus by God] in every man to guide
him in his acts." Therefore, human beings, alone
among God’s creatures, use reason to lead their
lives. This is natural law.
9. What are the basic principles of natural law
theory?
(1) the natural law is given by God;
(2) it is naturally authoritative over all human
beings; and
(3) it is naturally knowable by all human beings.
10. What are the 4 natural laws according to
Aquinas?
Aquinas recognizes four main kinds of law:
the eternal, the natural, the human, and the
divine. The last three all depend on the first,
but in different ways. Were we to arrange
them in a hierarchy, eternal would be at the
top, then natural, then human.
11. What are the 4 natural laws according to
Aquinas?
Eternal law was God’s perfect plan, not fully
knowable to humans. It determined the way
things such as animals and planets behaved
and how people should behave.
12. What are the 4 natural laws according to
Aquinas?
Divine law, primarily from the Bible, guided
individuals beyond the world to "eternal
happiness" in what St. Augustine had called
the "City of God.".
13. What are the 4 natural laws according to
Aquinas?
While natural law applied to all humans and was
unchanging, human law could vary with time, place,
and circumstance. Aquinas defined this last type of law
as "an ordinance of reason for the common good"
made and enforced by a ruler or government. He
warned, however, that people were not bound to obey
laws made by humans that conflicted with natural law.
14. Law in General
Aquinas describes law as "a certain rule and measure of acts whereby
man is induced to act or is restrained from acting." (q90, a1) Because the
rule and measure of human actions is reason, law has an essential
relation to reason; in the first place to divine reason; in the second place
to human reason, when it acts correctly, i.e., in accordance with the
purpose or final cause implanted in it by God.
Law is directed by its nature to the good, and especially to the universal
or common good. (q90, a3) It is addressed not primarily to private
persons but to the whole people meeting in common or to persons who
have charge of the community as a whole.
15. Promulgation--i.e., the application of the law to those to
whom it is applied and the communication of this law to
them--is essential to the nature of the law. The natural law is
is promulgated by God: "God has instilled it into human
minds so as to be known by them naturally." Divine and
human laws can be promulgated by word of mouth or, even
better, by writing.
16. Kinds of Law
Laws are also important, says Thomas, for other reasons noted by Aristotle.
(1) It is easier to find a few wise persons who can make good laws than to find many who, in the
absence of laws, can judge correctly in each instance.
(2) Lawmakers can deliberate at length before making laws while many particular cases must be
judged quickly, when they arise.
(3) Lawmakers judge in the abstract and are less likely to be swayed by emotions evoked by
concrete circumstances or by the kinds of things that tend to corruption. There is less danger of
perversion of law, which is formulated in general, than there would be perversion of judgment in
particular cases where no law exists to guide judgmen
17. Kinds of Law
Law is directed to the common good, and human law is no
exception. The promotion of virtue is necessary for the common
good, and human laws are instruments in the promotion of virtue.
Aristotle already pointed out that most people are kept from
crime by fear of the law. Thomas accepts this judgment,
suggesting (r. Ad 1, p. 57) that by coercion even men who are evilly
disposed may be led in the direction of virtue.
18. Aquinas further developed the meaning of "just war" that had been
discussed by the Roman statesman Cicero and by St. Augustine. For a war to
be just, there must be these three conditions:
1. A declaration by the ruler to defend the "common good" against enemies.
2. A "just cause" for an attack on an enemy "because they deserve it on
account of some fault" such as avenging wrongs they have committed.
3. A "rightful intention" to advance good or avoid evil such as punishing evil-
doers and not simply grabbing land or goods.
These conditions for a "just war" later influenced the development of
international laws of war.
