Kant tried to make moral ethics scientific through universalisation. Just as the law of gravity is universal, Kant believed so should the ‘law’ of ethics. To Kant, doing the right moral action is a categorical imperative. Ethics should be without exceptions. For example, if it is morally wrong to lie, then everyone should never lie.
Which Aquinas believed reflects the Eternal Law. The Natural Law refers to the moral law of God which has been built into each human nature; however it can be seen by everyone as it does not depend on belief in God as long as you use you reason when faced with a situation then you have done the
The Christian understanding of this concept is based largely upon the work of Thomas Aquinas as he explained that faith and reason are closely related. Natural law appears to be the rational approach to morality as its basic principles such as: education of the young, protection of the innocent, to procreate, etc are a basic common feature of many societies in today’s era and many people will see it as us simply fulfilling our nature. This is a major strength to the idea of natural law as it is applicable to all. With it being the rational approach it is seen as the logical approach showing that a logical approach is one of an objective idea so therefore is eternal and unchanging. It allows the basic natural instincts of a
The Roman lawyer Cicero also utilised the concept of natural law. He reinforced Aristotle’s point on which natural law can be applied to all, “it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting… one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times”. There are a number of key principles associated with natural law. Aquinas summed up God’s overall purpose for human life as to live, reproduce, learn, have an ordered society and worship God. These are referred to as the primary precepts.
PART A) Outline the key features of Natural Moral Law Natural Moral Law is a deontological ethical theory derived from the Greek word ‘deon’ meaning duty and therefore is concerned with the intent of the action rather than its consequences, as teleological theories do. It is accessible to all through either ‘natural order or understanding and following Gods final purpose’, (cited by Mel Thompson) by which God is viewed as the supreme regulator. The theory was espoused by Aristotle, who maintained that humans were created with the ability to reason, hence follow an intended telos (purpose). A key feature is that it is concerned with absolute morality as the rules must be adhered to ‘just as a fire burns here and in Persia’ – Aristotle. The idea is a pre-Christian idea, put forward by Aristotle who believed that each action should be followed in its aim to reach eudemonia, being a key feature of the theory and a state of human flourishing.
Personality and moral self explain how and why human beings make free choices. The libertarianism theory has been explained by CA Campbell, who said that human beings see themselves as free agents and therefore accept moral responsibility for their actions. Humans must accept responsibility for these actions and face any consequences that may come their way. John Stuart Mill - an influencal figure in Liberatarianism – believe we are free and morally responsible for all our actions. Mill believed it was extremely important that an indivduals free will should not be crushed by society.
There is no reason that exceeds the weight of the society’s obligation to obey the law. Therefore, we all have a moral obligation to abide by set laws. If the society allows the moral duty to follow legal rules to be overridden by other factors, there would be increased cases of disregard of the general law. Each and every law established by a given society has a valid justification. As a result, every law has a moral basis upon which people should reflect on.
Perhaps more so than Emotivists, Prescriptivists see ethical language as fairly meaningful. They believe that the terms used are able to create absolute rules that everyone ought to follow. It would seem that ethical language is seen by many as very meaningful, although for varying reasons. However agent centred theories such as Virtue Ethics would argue that our main focus of morality should be on becoming as virtuous as possible, rather than deciding what is meant by ethical language. Therefore it would seem that perhaps morality should be more focussed on individuals’ actions rather then defining what is meant by ‘good’ and
In order to evaluate the claim that the possession of knowledge carries ethical responsibility, it is important to understand ethics and knowledge in the general sense To put it simply, ethics is moral philosophy, or rationalization of conduct as either right or wrong. Normative ethics is the study of determining a moral course of action. The two most prominent ethical guidelines are Kantianism and Utilitarianism. Immanuel Kant suggested that ethics revolve around duty, rather than emotions. All actions are related to an underlying principle.
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.