Aquinas considered that by using our reason to reflect on our human nature we could discover our specific end purpose. Aquinas used the ideas of Aristotle and the Stoics as an underpinning for Natural Law saying- human beings have an essential rational nature given by God in order for us to live and flourish. Aristotle said even without knowledge of god, reason can discover the laws that lead to human flourishing. The Stoics said Natural Laws are universal and unchangeable and should be used to judge of particular societies. We use this is help us choose the right moral action is situations.
(a) Describe the origins and features of the natural law theory Natural law is a deontological ethical theory which considers something to be moral if it fulfils God’s plan for creation. Thomas Aquinas discussed, that because every human is created by God, then our purpose is to live life according to God’s plan for us. Natural law was fully developed by Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century, although Vardy and Grosch comment, “the natural law approach to morality has a long history” as the concept originated long before the time of Aquinas. The concept of natural law can be traced back to the time of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He explained that everything has a purpose – “a good knife is one that cuts well, that is what it is designed to do”.
The eternal law infers Gods rationing of the universe whilst the divine law is based on Biblical and Church teachings. Central to the theory is natural law, a source of fulfilment on earth and the ‘heart of all gentiles’ (St Paul). From this, human law was devised, which governs daily behaviour and acts as an extension of natural law to be exercised by the state. The four cardinal virtues are a further key feature and
Similarly, William Paley, strongly believed that the observation of the intricate complexity of the universe concludes that there must be a creator. Paley believed that this creator was God. In ‘Natural Theology’, he used the analogy of the watch to his ideas. He explained that if you came across an intricately designed watch, you could conclude that watch was not made by chance and was designed with purpose and placed there. For Paley, the different parts of watch work perfectly together to fulfil a purpose.
The theory of natural law is an absolutist theory, unlike others it is not rooted in duty or external law; it is within our human nature and our search for fulfilment and happiness. This is the same in all cultures and religions and it does not change to include circumstances or take into account relative situations. This idea of a natural law was first developed by the stoics and Aristotle. The stoics believed that, in every human being there is a divine spark which guides and helps us to live in the way god wants, they also say that we have a choice of whether to obey the laws which govern the universe, however we have to use our reason to understand whether we should obey the laws. The stoics also said that we should try to fit into the overall plan of the universe by finding our place or duty among society.
Scripture is the grid through which believers view existence, truth, sin, salvation, ethics, and evil. This biblical worldview is based on God’s truth and the humanity and the purpose of God in our lives. The Natural World We see the natural world as being created by God and through his words. God has always shown who he was through the creation of himself and mankind. God was one that spoke into existence on everything he foreseen present or future.
I do not completely agree with this because for God to have control of what ever mind perceives, he would have to be the creator of these minds. But we as rationale beings can decide when to create a new mind. “With regard to all other finite created spirits, it necessarily follows, that there is an omnipresent eternal mind, which knows and comprehends all things, and exhibits them to our view in such a manner, and according to such rules as he himself has ordained, and are by us termed the laws of nature.” (p. 64) Here Berkeley says that
Since the world is supposed to be like God, it should be good and perfect. Consequently, God turned disorder into order and gave the world a soul with reason and put this soul into a body because he saw that this was ultimately better. 2. What existed before the universe was formed—what materials did Plato’s Demiurge have to work with? “So god, when he began to put together the body of the universe, made it of fire and earth… So god placed water and air between fire and earth… The construction of the world used up the whole of each of these four elements.” Chaos existed before the world was formed and the Demiurge imposed order on it.
Straying from the contemporary theological views of creation, pre-Socratic philosophers provided their followers with more material and logical truths about being and non-being, life and death, and the multiplicity and unity of all things in existence according to our human perception. The fundamental elements of earth, air, fire, and water became the basis of defining anything, be it living or non-living. While this elemental understanding of nature varied among the pre-Socratics, the pursuit of comprehending being and non-being was the underlying foundation of each thinker’s philosophy. Following a commonly upheld chronology of the pre-Socratics it can be clearly observed how ideologies ? relating to creation, nature and the cosmos progressed and fed off of each other in an ongoing attempt to provide a more rational understanding of being.
Later philosophers such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, built on the work of the ancient philosophers in natural law theory treatises of their own. They all suggested that natural laws are built into the fabric of the universe and therefore guide human reason, they are universal and therefore should apply everywhere. Natural law as a framework for criticizing and reforming positive laws, arguing that positive laws which are unjust under the principles of natural law are legally insufficient. In this report I will evaluate how natural law theory adapt under the works of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas with reference also to the work of the previous philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Cicero. St. Augustine’s City of God The original sin plays a significant role in St. Augustine’s views on the natural law theory.