The divine commands vary in religions but in the end, they all have in common that moral obligations depend on God. Natural law is sometimes described as being deontological because it leads to a set of rules that people have a duty to follow. It is an absolute theory of ethics and was developed by Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas says that the natural laws are universal and unchangeable and should be
Aquinas’s theory of natural law stemmed from his interest in Aristotl’es writings, aquinas used the ideas of aristotle and stoics to develop his ideas of natural law. He believed human beings had an essential rational nature given by God which enables us to flourish and live. Even without knowledge of God, reason can help us to discover the laws that lead us to flourish. He believed that these laws were unchangable and should be used to judge the laws of particular societies. For aquinas, we were all made in the “image of god” and therefore the supreme good must be the development of this image.
How can situation ethics be regarded as a useful ethical theory? Situational ethics are a Christian theory, the fundamental principal is that love overrides all other moral rules. Love in this sense is the Christian view of love, not selfish, individual love, but the wider concept of 'agape' unconditional love for all. IF all ethics can be overridden by Love, then, there are no rules, there can be no rules. Everything can be overridden by Love/Agape, it can be used as an excuse to justify any action.
Then, how can we determine what is okay from that which is not according to our human nature? The nature of human beings is a very complex definition. What human nature may mean to me may not fit with one’s ethical reasoning of what human nature means to another. In this regard, however, human nature to me is anything in which the person freely chooses to do, think, and act on. However, going back to human nature and ethics, we need to clearly define that although human nature differs among different cultures and societies, human nature must not be raped of its value for choosing good, and behaving on what brings the best solution for one’s problems in life.
i) Analyse the key features of Natural Moral Law [18] The basis of Natural Moral Law is rooted ion Ancient Greece and the thinking of the stoics. Further developed by Aquinas in the 13tgh century, he fused Aristotle’s original thinking and his faith in Catholicism which resulted in the recognisable form we are familiar with today. We generally consider Aquinas to be the main exponent of Natural Law. The theory is deontological and is therefore concerned with the action itself as opposed to the consequences that may be caused. Furthermore, Natural Moral Law is absolute in its nature because it allows no exceptions to its rules and can be applied universally.
Counselors advocate change at all levels to improve the quality of life for individuals or groups, while eliminating obstacles that make it difficult to receive proper services. Christian counselors promote the same quality as secular counselors but incorporate the messages of Jesus Christ. Three specific areas competence, conflict of Interest and termination are valuable in the counseling profession. Understanding these areas in the code of ethics of counseling is an important responsibility in order to be a professional and suitable counselor. Can Your Code of Ethics Be Wrong?
4. The Question of Morality - This question asks, “What is right/wrong?” We base the answer on the commandments God gave. (Mark 12:30-31) God has established the laws of the land that we ought to follow to be in the favor of God and so that we can live in an upright manner and show others how to live through our actions (Romans 13:1-7.) 5. Question of Destiny - This asks the question, “What happens when we die?
Explain the theory of duty in Kantian Ethics (25 marks) Kantian ethics is an absolutist theory as Kant claimed what is morally ‘good’ is constant and unchanging. Because of this, it can be a universal concept applied in different societies and cultures with the idea that an action should only be performed for duty’s sake. His approach was deontological because the idea of right or wrong was based on the action rather than the consequence, he believed that this was the only rational basis for morality and could be proven objectively, independent from emotion and opinion. As humans we have the innate ability to reason, something which we gained prior to any sensory experience in this world. This is an idea which is absolute and according to Kant, the way we decide the morality of an action.
DOUBLE EFFECT, PRINCIPLE OF The Principle of Double Effect is a rule of conduct frequently used in moral theology to determine when a person may lawfully perform an action from which two effects will follow, one bad and the other good. Conditions. Theologians commonly teach that four conditions must be verified in order that a person may legitimately perform such an act. (1) The act itself must be morally good or at least indifferent. (2) The agent may not positively will the bad effect but may merely permit it.
The Euthyphro dilemma poses criticisms to which I will clarify from a gods command perspective that acts are only good because a perfect and all-knowing god commands it. Also the criticism that the consequences for moral acts can motivate people to fulfil self-interests taking away the focus that gods commands are upholding the moralities definition of good, regardless of self-interests. The Divine Command Theory (DCT) inserts the premise that moral actions are moral through god’s command and because they are commanded by god it is objectively moral regardless of our own interpretations of morality. The interpretations of morality is commonly defined as what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ or ‘what a person ought to do’ and it is easy to see that to achieve good or bad or comply with actions that a person ought to do, a god of any sort would make no difference to how an individual’s actions will arrive to this moral definition (Ethics, Massey University, 2013). However, DCT defines morality and a god’s command is needed when distinguishing the value of the moral actions because the value of good can be taken in any form and not all uses of the term ‘good’ would lead to a moral action.