Natural Law – Introduction to Aquinas
By the end of the lesson you will have:
•Been introduced to who Thomas Aquinas was• Have discovered how his theory of natural law is influenced by that of
Aristotle• Have familiarised
yourself with Aquinas’ concepts of purpose,
reason and eudemonia
Video Clips
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hzb-HcxUl4&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnKbPj7EhCg
Natural Purpose
Reason and Eudemonia
REASON EUDEMONIA
Natural or Unnatural?
Natural or Unnatural?
Natural or Unnatural?
Natural or Unnatural?
Natural or Unnatural?
Do we need to believe in God?
• Going against natural order, often leads to negative consequences
• God can modify the application of natural law or add to it. For example in Genesis 22 God modified the law in asking Abraham to kill Isaac
Is natural law truly universal?
• We can all use our reason to discover it
• It is immutable and will not cease to exist as long as humans exist
• Immutability applies to the absolute principle, not to the law which expresses it. I.e ‘you shall not murder’ = law, ‘prohibition of the unjust taking of a life’ = absolute principle