Natural Law by Thomas Aquinas: An Examination: (Essay.
Natural Law splits into Primary and Secondary precepts according to Aquinas. The Primary precepts are: Preservation of Life, Reproduction, Nurture and Education of the Young, Living peacefully in society and Worshipping God, Aquinas says that these precepts are a direct reflection of God's Eternal Law.
On this issue, Natural Law theorists disagree about whether masturbation is unnatural, and therefore disagree about the secondary precept 'Do not masturbate'. Aquinas gives examples (in Summa Theologica) as illustrations of those actions that are wrong in and of themselves because they contradict the primary precepts of natural law: theft; lying.
For Aquinas, the extent to which these virtues are followed by the individual, the greater will be one’s obedience to natural law and the closer therefore to God.The second primary precept states that man shares the inclination with animals to procreate and nurture one’s offspring.
Natural law ordains that one ought to act in accordance with reason—what is rational is good, what is irrational is evil. The precepts of natural law guide humanity toward what is good—self-preservation, procreation, education, and the like—the knowledge of which is manifest in human beings natural tendency toward it.
Natural Law does not take into account the people involved or most of the consequences, but more on the act of abortion itself. Reproduction as known is a primary precept of natural law, and because the act of abortion stops procreation then it is frowned upon by Natural Law followers. The act of abortion can also disturb the precept of.
Nonetheless, Aquinas’ ethical system cannot be further elaborated without discussing his idea of Natural Law.In this paragraph be sure to have a clear statement of what makes an act good or evil and when consequences can make an act good or evil based on what he says in the 11 th excerpt.
NATURAL LAW AND GOODNESS IN THOMISTIC ETHICS The purpose of this essay is to recover a correct conception of natural law and goodness in the ethics of St Thomas Aquinas. In the years since the Second Vatican Council, there have been many accounts and reconstructions of Thomistic ethics and natural law. While this profusion of Thomisms testifies.