Natural Law - Thomism

 Key Figure:  Thomas Aquinas    Key Terms:  Thomism; reason; purpose; deontological; prescriptive

St Thomas Aquinas a Christian philosopher of the 13th Century argued that natural law was reflected in nature in a moral way, insofar as it fulfilled the purpose for which it was created by God.

Key Propositions:

• Humans have an essential rational nature established by God, who designed humans for a purpose - to live and flourish in prescribed ways which are discoverable by the use of reason.
• These ways of living apply to and are discoverable by all humans, regardless of whether they believe in God or not, by use of their reason.
• These ways of living are called Natural Laws.  They are universal and unchangeable.  Societies and their laws can be judged by their conformity to Natural Laws.  Any laws not in line with natural law are not true laws, but counterrfeit.

Key Precepts of Natural Law

• Good should be promoted and carried out
• Evil must be identified and avoided.

Key Purposes of Human Existence

• Preservation of life
• Ordering society for the benefit of its members
• Worshipping the Creator
• Education
• Reproduction of the species

We must bear in mind that what made Aquinas' outlook different from the Greek philosophers by which he was influenced in his thinking, is that he believed in a personal, creator God, and believed that the human soul survived death.  Therefore, for Aquinas, the final purpose of human life has an eternal, and not merely a temporal dimension.  God Himself is the final purpose of humans.

Aquinas argued that because humans are created by God, they basically want 'good' things.  Paul may have been expressing something like this in Romans Chapter 7 when he said that he wanted to do the right thing, but found himself doing the wrong thing instead.  In Chapter 1 and 2 he expresses even more clearly what Aquinas meant when he insists that the knowledge of what God is, and what God requires is known to all people.  Paul however, appears to recognise that humans can consciously wish to reject the ways in which God wishes them to live.  Aquinas appears to reject this.  Hitler and Stalin, he may argue, did not SEEK to do evil, but they were mistaken in what they termed as 'good' - they were pursuing what Aquinas terms 'apparent good'.

Aquinas is prepared to concede that some humans desire what he terms 'apparent good' - that is, something which will gratify an immediate desire, but will ultimately lead humans away from  the ultimate purpose of existence - a relationship with God.  Examples of apparent good could include getting drunk, taking addictive drugs, overeating, taking revenge on someone who has hurt you, etc.  The pursuit of 'apparent good' is sin.

So is pursuing any activity in such a way that it impedes any of the five keys purposes of human existence.  Aquinas calls these purposes the primary precepts.  Acts which uphold and further these precepts are deemed good.  Acts which do not are called bad.  Secondary precepts are RULES which direct people TOWARDS actions which uphold primary precepts and AWAY from actions which undermine primary precepts.  For instance, sexual intercourse which is intended by the couple to be fruitful, is a good act, for it is aimed at reproduction of the species.  Aquinas would wish, of course to add that the couple should be married - marriage being one of the bedrock units for the raising of children within a well-ordered society.  However, sexual intercourse, or any other form of sexual activity which is designed solely for gratification without the possibility of procreation is bad.

Hence the way in which the Roman Catholic Church, influenced by Thomist Natural Moral Law, has understood the use of contraception.   The act of Sexual Intercourse (it is argued) is clearly designed by God for the purpose of creating new lie, ie, reproduction of the species.  From this 'primary precept', the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church (it's governing body) has deduced that any act of sexual intercourse using devices which are designed to thwart that natural purpose  (ie artificial contraception) is therefore intrinsically wrong because it deliberately prevents the creation of new life.  In the same way, masturbation and homosexual sex are intrinsically wrong because these sexual acts are, by their very nature, incapable of producing new life. 

 So we could sum up Aquinas' view of the moral life as 'that lived according to reason'.  But how can we know that we are using reason correctly?  After all, we have just seen that it is possible to use reason to pursue what appears to be good but is, in fact, evil.  One way we can check on our reason is, Aquinas suggests, by considering what he calls the interior act.  I think that we can identify interior acts with motives.  Aquinas recognises (with Jesus, Paul and others) that it is possible to perform a deed (an exterior act) with the wrong motives.  Jesus' example of the man who prays on the street corners to be admired for his piety, or who gives to the poor in a blaze of publicity so that everyone will admire his generosity, is excellent.

Aquinas insists that both the interior and exterior act are important.  The exterior act may be intrinsically good, but for humans, who are eternal creatures, the motive and end purpose of the act is just as important, because the ultimate end for humans is God and his glory.  Any action which upholds the Primary Precepts is good, because it furthers the end of humanity, which is to glorify God.

As to character, St Thomas belived that there were characteristics which humans should develop, because they would bring the believer closer to God.  There are seven of them and they are faith, hope, charity (agape, or christian love), fortitude, justice, temperance, prudence.

Strengths of Natural Law

• The certainty offered by application of Natural Law theory can give security to a society.
• Aquinas suggests that all of humanity shares a common purpose and origin, which overrides any other cultural or racial difference.  
• There are real reasons to live a moral life, lasting benefits to be enjoyed by fulfilling the purpose for which humans are upon the earth
• Natural Law is acomplete way of life, dealing with character, motive and action.  It gives a day-to-day and lifelong system for living a moral life.
• Natural Law theory has no problem in calling certain acts intrinsically wrong.  Such as torture, fraud, sexual exploitation etc.

Weaknesses of Natural Law

• The Natural Law theory rests on the assumption that humans everywhere share a moral sense of what is right and wrong.  Anthropological studies of different cultures challenge this assumption that there is not this moral concensus throughout the world, even on such apparently basic principles such as 'Murder is wrong'.
• Natural Law also suggests that humans share basically the same nature, and that any deviation from that nature is unnatural.  Um, try telling that to your gay friends .... or even your celibate friends...  
• Natural Law as it is applied by the Roman Catholic Church has been criticised for being rigid, inflexible and legalistic.  The use of the principle of Double Effect to determine whether a woman whose life is threatened by the continuance of a pregnancy may take action to save her life which will endanger or kill her unborn child is an example of what critics might be referring to here.  Follow the link to a site written by a Catholic priest to make up your own mind.  
• If the world as we know it was not created, but the result of a cosmic accident, then there is no design or purpose to human life and the concept of an 'inbuilt' nature placed there by a Creator to whom we are responsible is meaningless. 

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