An example of an absolute moral value that people have is ‘do not murder’. The person who thought of Natural Law Theory was St. Thomas Aquinas, and he had written about this in his book ‘Summa Theologiae’. It was inspired by St. Paul, Aristotle, and the Stoics. St. Paul had influenced Aquinas through his belief in God and Christianity, as well as the Decalogue (Ten Commandments). Aristotle had influenced Aquinas through his beliefs in purpose, reason, and human fulfilment, which was what he referred to as eudaimonia.
Freedom of the spirit from matter is up to the efforts of the person. The three ethical pillars of the Jainism religion, Ahimsa (non-violence), Aparigraha (non-attachment), and Anekantwad (non-absolutism) are paramount in the goal of Jains followers to free their souls from samsara. Anekantwad is the belief that all truth is relative to those who experience it. These three ethical pillars are central to the Jainism religion. Anekantwad, Non-absolutism in life Anekantwad is the third principal pillar in the Jainism religion.
He said morality was innate; a part of us (a priori), and it was our moral duty to carry it out for good, which must lead to God. Accordingly Kant says good actions should be universalisable and free, so basically when making our ethical decisions we should ask ourselves a simple question "What if everybody did that?" if the answer is no, then the categorical imperative tells us that the action is wrong. So if I cheated on my AS-level exam to pass and be successful in the future, this would be my maxim, however I would not want others to do the same and therefore this action would be wrong according to Kant’s Categorical Imperative. My cheating pre-supposes that most people do not cheat even though they have the same reasons to cheat as I have.
It is a nature that is in all human beings. Natural law is therefore about acting in such ways that we consistently move towards this purpose. A Greek philosopher called Aristotle thought that this end/purpose would result in fulfillment and what he called “eudaimonia.” However a philosopher who furthered Aristotle’s idea of natural law, Aquinas said that natural law was located in the activity of human reasoning. He thought that by applying reason to moral problems, we should find that we act consistently with the natural law. Such acts are deemed good acts, since they are in line with are true human nature and purpose.
Natural Moral Law is a theory that is explained by Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle. It states that there is a natural order to our world that should be followed. It was originated in the philosophy of Aristotle and then developed by Aquinas. Natural Law is an absolute theory of ethics but it is not rooted in duty but in our human nature and our search for genuine happiness and fulfilment. Aquinas considered that by using our reason to reflect on our human nature we could discover our specific end purpose.
a) Analyse the important features of Deontology or Natural Moral Law. b) To what extent is the selected theory persuasive? a) Natural Moral Law is an absolutist, deontological and objective ethical theory which states that every living thing has a God given purpose which must be fulfilled in order to reach God in heaven. It was originally proposed by Saint Thomas Aquinas but has since been associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Aquinas’ Natural Moral Law was developed from the ancient ideas of Aristotle and other stoic philosophers like Cicero, who all claimed that humans have an inherent and rational sense of right and wrong.
Describe the four major aspects of sacred reality The four aspects of sacred reality are stated as: Sacred is beyond what a human being can violate this means human cannot control sacred-sacred is independent and human actions cannot affect it whatsoever. The prominence of sacred over the human welfare this means that the human welfare is greatly determined by the sacred. The belief in God and the judgment of God has a real effect on the human welfare. Sacred determines a good number of human existence, aspects .The guide that the sacred offers to human enhances their existence. It is so because it helps human position their life with what is sacred.
He said, in Summa Theologica, "Whatever man desires, he desires it under the aspect of good." Fulfilling our purpose is the only ‘good’ for humans. Natural law also implies precepts which should be followed but can also be expanded upon with secondary precepts, the primary being preserving life, having a well ordered society, producing offspring and learning about God, now these primary precepts may be expanded upon as long as they are not disobeyed. Aquinas argued that the self should be maintained. As a result, Natural Law supports certain virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) that allow the self to fulfil its purpose.
The ethical issues that are at the discretion of the statistician can thus be addressed from a Christian worldview. For instance, one of the ethical issues is the ownership of data and the disclosure of private information regarding the client and the data collected. This ethical issue can be approached using the golden rule of “do unto others as you would have done to you” or loving ones neighbor as yourself (Moreland and Craig, 2003). Another ethical issue that arises with the practice of statistics is the concept of chance and probability. This can be addressed with the Christian worldview that scientific truth is not something that is predetermined and instead adapts itself to interpretation and human requirements (Geertsema,
He was influenced by Aristotle’s view that humans, like all objects in this realm, have a specific purpose. He argued supreme good is experienced when we fulfil our purpose. It was argued that our supreme good is ‘eudaimonia’ or ‘wellbeing’. So, if we have in mind living such a lifestyle, influenced by reason when making moral decisions then are we not more likely to make the right moral decisions? The second is the Divine law which is important to this issue as it reflects the eternal law as it appears to us through revelation.