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