ethics

Compiled by:
Cristina Marie M. Juanzo, Ph.D. Ann Janeth D. Alba, MAEd
Susan F. Frogosa, Ph.D. Carlo Joseph M. Juanzo, MAEd
 Learning Outcome
As you journey on this lesson, you are expected to:

Provide an assessment on the value or disvalue of post-truth phenomena

such as fake news or alternative facts.

Learning Objectives
a. Identify the natural law in distinction from, but also in relation to,
the other types of law mentioned by Aquinas: eternal law, human
law and divine law

b. Apply the precepts of the natural law to contemporary moral

concerns

Focus Questions:
1. Are there other ways that the word “natural” is used to justify a particular
way of behaving?
2. How do these approaches compare to the theory of Aquinas?
3. Can you think of human law that are proper extensions of the natural law?
4. Are there other forms of harm—sort of killing another person—that may be
taken as a violation of the natural inclination to preserve one’s being?
Justify your answer.
5. Is it possible to maintain a natural law theory without believing in the divine
source?

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 THOMAS AQUINAS
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Hailed as a doctor of the Roman Catholic

Church, Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican
friar who was the preeminent intellectual
figure of the scholastic period of the Middle
Ages, contributing to the doctrine of the
faith more than any other figure of his time.
His Summa Theologiae, Aquinas's magnum
opus, is a voluminous work that
comprehensively discusses many significant
points in Christian theology. He was
canonized in 1323.

There have been various thinkers and systems of thought emerging

throughout history that could be said to present a natural law theory. Among
them, the one we will be focusing on is the medieval thinker Thomas Aquinas. It
has to be recognized, however that this natural law theory is part of a larger
discussion, which is his moral theory taken as a whole. This moral theory, in turn, is
part of a larger project, which is Aquinas's vision of the Christian faith. Before we
turn to the natural law theory, let us take a look at these contexts.
THE CONTEXT OF THE CHRISTIAN STORY
The fundamental truth maintained and elaborated by Aquinas in all his
works is the promise right at the center of the Christian faith: that we are created
by God in order to ultimately return to Him. The structure of his magnum opus
Summa Theologiae follows the trajectory of this story.
There are three parts to this voluminous work. In the first part, Aquinas speaks
of God, and although we acknowledge that our limited human intellect cannot
fully grasp Him, we nevertheless are able to say something concerning His
goodness. His might, and His creative power. Recognizing then that we are
created by God, we move on to the second part, which deals with man or the
dynamic of human life. This is characterized by our pursuit of happiness, which we
should realize rests ultimately not on any particular good thing that is created by
God, but in the highest good which is God Himself.

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 Our striving for this ultimate happiness, while important will not in itself bring
us to this blessed state. In other words salvation only possible through the presence
of God's grace and that grace has become perfectly incarnate in the person of
Jesus. Thus, the third part focuses on Jesus as our Savior.
Given that our concern here is the question of ethics, it would seem clear
that what would be of greatest interest to us is the second part or the section of this
story that centers on human life and its striving toward God. However, bringing up
the notion that living a good life leads us to God could easily be misunderstood as
a simple exhortation to obey certain rules as given to us through Church doctrines
or by following certain passages lifted randomly from sacred Scriptures. In other
words, we may fall into the danger of the divine command theory, which we had
explored in the first chapter. Instead, we should hope to find that there is much
greater complexity, but also coherence to the ethics of Aquinas.
THE CONTEXT OF AQUINAS' ETHICS
A full consideration of Aquinas's ethics would require us to explore his
discussion of other matters, such as how, in our pursuit of happiness, we direct our
actions toward specific ends. We might explore how emotions- the passions are
involved in this process, and therefore require a proper order if they are to properly
contribute to a good life. We might explore how our actions are related to certain
dispositions (often referred to as "habits") in a dynamic way since our actions both
arise from our habits and at the same time reinforce them. We might explore his
discussion of how we develop either good or bad habits with a good disposition
leading us toward making moral choices, thereby contributing to our moral virtue,
and a bad disposition inclining us toward making immoral choices, bringing us to
vice. The Christian life, therefore, is about developing the capacities given to us by
God into a disposition of virtue inclined toward the good.
Aquinas also puts forward that there is within us a conscience that directs our
moral thinking This does not refer to some simple intuition or gut feeling. For Aquinas,
there is sense of right and wrong in us that we are obliged to obey However, he
also adds that a this sense of right and wrong must be informed guided, and
ultimately grounded in an objective basis for morality.
So, we are called to heed the voice of conscience and enjoined to develop
and maintain a life of virtue. However, these both require content, so we need
something more. We need a basis for our conscience to be properly informed, and
we need a clearer guidepost on whether certain decisions we make lead us
toward virtue or vice.

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 Being told that one should heed one's conscience or that one should try to be
virtuous, does very little to guide people as to what specifically should be done in a
given situation. Thus, there is a need for a clearer basis of ethics, a ground that will
more concretely direct our sense of what is right and wrong. For Aquinas, this would
be the natural law.
We can recall how the ethical approach called the divine command theory
urges a person toward unthinking obedience to religious precepts. Given the
problems of this simplistic approach to ethics, we can contrast how the moral theory
of Aquinas requires the judicious use of reason. In doing so, one's sense of right and
wrong would be grounded on something stable human nature itself. We will start by
exploring how Aquinas restates the Christian message, making use of a philosophical
vocabulary appropriated from the ancient Greeks. We then look at how Aquinas
speaks of the essence and abo the varieties of law. From there, we will be able to
explore the precepts of the natural law.

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 THE GREEK HERITAGE
NEOPLATONIC GOOD
God creates. This does not only means that He brings about beings, but it also
means that He cares for and thus governs, the activity of the universe and of every
creature. This central belief of the Christian faith, while inspired by divine revelation,
has been shaped and defined by an idea stated in the work of the ancient Greek
philosopher Plato, which had been put forward a thousand years before Aquinas.
He is credited for giving the subsequent history of philosophy in one of its most
compelling and enduring ideas: the notion of a supreme and absolutely
transcendent good.
In his work The Republic. it is often supposed that Plato is trying to envision the
ideal society. But that plan is only a part of a more fundamental concern that
animates the text, which is to provide an objective basis and standard for the striving
to be moral In other words, it can be said that Plato was trying to answer questions
such as, "Why should I bother trying to be good?" and Why cannot good be just
whatever I say it is?" His answer, placed in the mouth of the main character Socrates,
is that the good is real and not something that one can pretend to make up or
ignore.
Socrates, in discussing this, elevates the notion of the good to unprecedented
heights:

The Idea of the Good

Excerpt from The Republic3
Plato
Now, that which imparts truth to the known and the power of knowing to the
knower is what I would have you term the idea of good, and this you will deem to be
the cause of science, and of truth in so far as the latter becomes the subject of
knowledge, beautiful too, as are both truth and knowledge, you will be right in
esteeming this other nature as more beautiful than either; and, as in the previous
instance, light and sight may be truly said to be like the sun, and yet not to be the sun,
so in this other sphere, science and truth may be deemed to be like the good, but not
the good; the good has a place of honor yet higher.

You would say, would you not, that the sun is not only the author of visibility in all visible
things, but of generation and nourishment and growth, though he himself is not
generation? In like manner the good may be said to be not only the author of
knowledge to all things known, but of their being and essence, and yet the good is not
essence, but far exceeds essence in dignity and power.

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Readers of The Republic have long been baffled by this enigmatic passage and are
still trying to figure out how exactly to interpret it. Rather than be dismissed, this idea
of the good-a good which is prior to all being and is even the cause of all being-will
become a source of fascination and inspiration to later thinkers even to this day.
In the next centuries after Plato's time some scholars turned to his texts and tried
to decipher the wealth of ideas contained there. Because they saw their task as
basically clarifying and elaborating on what the great thinker had already written,
these later scholars are often labeled as Neoplatonists.
In the hands of the Neoplatonists, Plato's idea of the good, which is the source
of all beings becomes identified with the One and the Beautiful. This is the ultimate
reality, which is the oneness that will give rise to the multiplicity of everything else in
the cosmos. All these beings have a single goal which is to return to that unity.

The Good and the One

Excerpt from the Enneads4
Plotinus
Still, do not, I urge you, look for The Good through any of these other things, if you do,
you will see not itself but its trace: you must form the idea of that which is to be grasped cleanly
standing to itself not in any combination, the unheld in which all have hold; for no other is such,
vet one such there must be

Now it is clear that we cannot possess ourselves of the power of this principle in its
concentrated fullness: so to do one must be identical with it: but some partial attainment is
within our reach

You who make the venture will throw forward all your being but you will never tell it
entire--for that, you must yourself be the divine Intellect in Act-and at your utmost success it will
still pass from you or rather, you from it. In ordinary vision you may think to see the object entire:
in this intellective act, all, less or more, that you can take to mind you may set down as The
Good.

It is The Good since, being a power, it is the cause of the intelligent and intellective life as of life
and intellect; for these grow from it as from the source of essence and of existence, the Source
as being One, simplex and first because before it was nothing. All derives from this, it is the origin
of the primal movement which it does not possess and of the repose which is but its absence
of need; for neither rest nor movement can belong to that which has no place in which either
could occur, center, object, ground, all are alike unknown to it for it is before all. Yet its Being is
not limited; what is there to set bounds to it? Nor, on the other hand, is it infinite in the sense of
magnitude; what place can there be to which it must extend, or why should there be
movement where there is no lacking? All its infinitude resides in its power, it does not change
and will not fail; and in it all that is unfailing finds duration.

Through Neoplatonists like Plotinus, the Platonic idea of the good would
continue well into the Christian Middle Ages, inspiring later thinkers and allowing it to
be thought anew in a more personal way as a creative and loving God.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 7

ARISTOTELIAN BEING AND BECOMING

In Aristotle's exploration of how to discuss beings he proposes four concepts which

provide a way of understanding any particular being under consideration Any being
according to Aristotle can be said to have four causes. First, we recognize that any being
we can see around is corporeal, possessed of a certain materiality or physical stuff: We can
refer to this the material cause. A being is individuated it becomes the unique individual
being that it is because it is made up of this particular stuff. Yet, we also realize that this
material takes on a particular shape: so a bird is different from a cat, which is different from
a man. The shape that makes a being a particular kind can be called its form. Thus, each
being also has a formal cause. One can also realize that a being does not simply "pop up"
from nothing, but comes from another being which is prior to it. Parents beget a child A
mango tree used to be a seed that itself came from an older tree. A chair is built as the
product of a carpenter. Thus, there is something which brings about the presence of
another being This can be referred to as the efficient cause. Also, since a being has an
apparent end or goal, a chair to be sat on, a pen for writing, a seed to become a tree, or
a child to become an adult, one can speak of the final cause of each being. Identifying
these four causes-material, formal, efficient, and final gives a way to understand any being
Of course, it is not a case of a being that is something which is already permanently
setas it is and remains forever unchanging. So in addition to describing a being, Aristotle
abo has to explain to us the process of becoming or the possibility of change that takes
place in a being. A new pair of principles is introduced by him, which we can refer to as
potency and act. A being may carry within itself certain potentials, but these require being
actualized, A puppy is not yet a full-grown dog. These potencies are latent in the puppy
and are actualized as the puppy grows up and achieves what it is supposed to be. The
process of becoming-or change-can thus be explained in this way, Understanding beings,
how they are and how they become or what they could be, is the significant Aristotelian
contribution to the picture which will be given to us by Aquinas.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 8

SYNTHESIS
The idea of a transcendent good prior to all being resurfaces in Aquinas in the form
of the good and loving God, who is Himself the fullness of being and of goodness; as
Aquinas puts it. God is that which essentially is and is essentially good.6 So, we recognize
that all beings are only possible as participating in the first being, which is God Himself.7
God's act like an emanation of light, is the creation of beings.8
Insofar as God is that from which all beings come it is possible for us to speak of Him
as the first efficient cause.9 Insofar as God is that toward which all beings seek to return, it
is possible for us to speak of Him as the final cause.10 We see here the beginning of the
synthesis by noting how the Neoplatonic movement from and back toward the
transcendent is fused with the Aristotelian notion of causes.
It must be noted, though, that this is not some mechanistic unthinking process. It is
God's will and love that are the cause of all things to every existing thing, God wills some
good.11 Creation therefore is the activity of the outpouring or overflowing of God's
goodness. Since each being in this way participates in God's goodness, each being is in
some sense good
However, while beings are good because they are created by God, the goodness
possessed by being remains imperfect "For Aquinas, only God in the fullness of His being
and goodness is perfect; all other beings are participating in this goodness, and are good
to that extent, but are imperfect since they are limited in their participation. But once again
God did not create us to simply be imperfect and to stay that way as He leaves u alone
Instead, God, in His infinite wisdom. directs how we are to arrive at our perfection. The
notion of divine providence refers to how beings are properly ordered and even guided
toward their proper end this end, which is for them to reach their highest good, is to return
to the divine goodness itself.12
God communicates to each being His perfection and goodness. Every creature then
strives to its own perfection: thus the divine goodness is the end of all actions. All things
come from God and are created by Him in order to return to Him.

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 We now need to recall that beings are created by God in a particular way. It is not
accidental how beings emerge into existence, each being is created as a determinate
substance, as a particular combination of form and matter. This applies to all beings,
including man.13 The particular form determines the materiality which makes a being a
certain kind of being: the unique way that we have been created can be called our
nature.
This nature, as a participation in God's goodness, is both good and imperfect at the
same time. Coming from God, it is good, but in its limitations, it has yet to be perfected, This
perfection means fulfilling our nature the best we can, thus realizing what God had
intended for us to be. We accomplish this by fulfilling or actualizing the potencies that are
already present in our nature.
While all beings are created by God in order to return to Him the way the human
being is directed toward God is unique. Given that we are beings with a capacity for
reason, our way of reaching God is by knowing and loving him.14 It is of key importance
then that the presence of a capacity for reason is the prime characteristic of the kind of
beings we are, and how that capacity for reason is the very tool which God had placed
in our human nature as the way toward our perfection and return to Him.
This applies not only to an individual human being, but also to all humankind. But we
should not forget how the whole community of being, which is the universe itself, is directed
toward its return to God. This is not as mentioned earlier, an unthinking process, but is the
very work of divine reason itself or God's will. We can think, then, of the whole work of
creation as divine reason governing a community toward its end. Under the governance
of the Divine, beings are directed as to how their acts are to lead them to their end, which
is to return to Him. We shall now try to understand this dynamic once again, but this time
think of it in terms of law.
THE ESSENCE AND VARIETIES OF LAW
ESSENCE
As rational beings, we have free will. Through our capacity for reason, we are able to judge
between possibilities and to choose to direct our actions in one way or the other.15 Our
actions are directed toward attaining ends or goods that we desire. We work on project to
complete it. We study in order to learn: My mother bakes in order to come up with some
cookies. Maybe my brother practices playing his guitar in order to get better at t. It can
also be as simple as the fact that I play basketball because I enjoy doing so. These are
goods, and we act in a certain way to pursue them, so goods are sometimes referred to
as the ends of actions. There are many possible desirable ends or goods, and we act in
such ways as to pursue them. However, just because we think that a certain end is good
and is therefore desirable does not necessarily mean it is indeed good. It is possible to first
suppose that something is good only to realize later that doing so was a mistake.
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 This is why it is important for reason to always be part of the process. Acts are rightly
directed toward their ends by reason."16 But this does not simply mean that through reason
we can figure out how to pursue something that we already had thoughtlessly supposed
to be good for ust what is necessary is to think carefully of what really is in fact good for us.
In thinking about what is good for us, it is also quite possible that we end up thinking
exclusively of our own good. Aquinas reminds us that this will not do; we cannot simply act
in pursuit of our own ends or good without any regard for other people's ends or good. We
are not isolated beings, but beings who belong to a community. Since we belong to a
community, we have to consider what is good for the community as well our own good
This can be called the common good."17
What exactly the common good is might not always be easy to determine as there
are many variables to consider, such as the particular community we are thinking of or the
particular ends that the community is pursuing. But that need not occupy us right now.
What is of greater significance for us here is the recognition that, since we must consider
not just our own good but also that of others, we cannot act in just any which way, there
would have to be some kind of measure to our acts. It is good for us to not simply be free
to act in whatever way we like. We should recognize the proper measure or the limits in our
actions that would allow us to direct our acts in such a way that we can pursue ends, both
our own and also that of others, together. The determination of the proper measure of our
acts can be referred to as law.
Using a simple example, we can think of traffic rules. A motorist cannot just drive in
any way he likes, but must respect traffic rules. These rules seem to measure or place a limit
on his driving for example, by placing a maximum speed he can travel on a particular
road. Such a limit or such a rule is something good, for bath him and for others as it helps
prevent motor accidents. As Aquinas puts it, the law must regard properly the relationship
to universal happiness.18
A law, therefore, is concerned with the common good. In a way, making of a law
belongs either to the whole people or to a public person who has care for the common
good or is tasked with the concern for the good of the community or of the whole people."
Consider Some of these examples. On a modest scale, imagine a student organization of
twenty members. Together all the members decide that it would be best if they were to
meet on Friday afternoons or that they all had to contribute for lunch in their meetings. On
a larger scale, a teacher who is in charge of a class of forty students has to put some rules
in place so that things will go smoothly. Perhaps, she would maintain that students may not
just walk in and out of the classroom and that they are not supposed to chatter loudly with
their seatmates.

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 The teacher imposes these rules not on a whim, but for the good of the class. On
a still larger scale, city officials put up ordinances concerning, for example, garbage
collection, traffic schemes, or zoning to control building sites. Ideally speaking these all
are done in view of what would be best for the community.
It is also necessary for rules or laws to be communicated to the people involved
in order to enforce them and to better ensure compliance. This is referred to as
promulgation In an ideal sense, without considering the reality that sometimes rules are
not properly thought out or seem to favor select persons or groups rather than the
common good, we can speak of law as a form of restriction and direction of human
actions in such a way that the common good is promoted. Aquinas's own summary of
this point is worth citing: "The definition of law may be gathered, and it is nothing else
than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the
community, and promulgated.”20
Now, in thinking about a community, what if we thought more grandly, not just
a small group, a class, a city, or even a country? What if we think of vast community
which is the entire universe and everything in it, or in other words, all of being? Is there
Someone in charge of this community, guiding all toward their common good and
directing all with His wisdom?
VARIETIES
We have noted earlier how God, by His wisdom, is the Creator of all beings. By
saying this, we do not only recognize God as the source of these beings, but also
acknowledge the way they have been created and the way they could return to Him,
which is the work of His divine reason itself. This includes the proper measure governing
the acts of these beings. Aquinas writes: "He governs all the acts and movements that
are to be found in each single creature, so the type of Divine Wisdom, as moving all
things to their due end, bears the character of law.”21 This line involves the assertion
that the divine wisdom that directs each being toward proper end can be called the
eternal law.
Eternal law refers to what God wills for creation, how each participant in it
intended to return to Him. Given our limitations, we cannot grasp the fullness of the
eternal law. Nevertheless, it is not completely opaque to us We must recognize that
first, we are part of the eternal law, and second, we participate in it in a special way.
All things partake in the eternal law, meaning, all beings are already created by
God in a certain way intended to return to Him. Thus, we can find in them the very
imprint of the rule and measure of the acts by which they are guided. These can be
determined in the very inclinations that they possess directing their acts toward their
proper ends.22

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 Therefore, irrational creatures leg. plants and animals) are participating in the eternal
law, although we could hardly say that they are in any way conscious of this law. Aquinas
notes that we cannot speak of them as obeying the law, except by way of similitude,23
which is to say that they do not think of the law or chose to obey it, but are simply, through
the instinctual following of their nature complying with the law that God has for them. More
appropriately, these creatures are moved by divine providence.
On the other hand, human beings participation is different. The human being, as
rational, participates more fully and perfectly in the law given the capacity for reason. The
unique imprint upon us, upon our human nature by God is the capacity to think about what
is good and what is evil, and to choose and direct ourselves appropriately. So Aquinas
writes: "Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination
to its proper act and end and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature
is called the natural law.”24
Therefore, by looking at our human nature, at the natural inclinations given to us by
God, we can determine the rule and measure that should be directing our acts. These are
the precepts of the natural law, which we will study more closely in the next section.
However, let us mention first two more kinds of law provided by Aquinas.
Aquinas points out that while reflecting on our human nature will provide us the
precepts of the natural law, these are quite general and would have to be made more
specific and at the same time more concrete in the actual operation of human acts.25 For
this reason, there is also human law.
Human law refers to all instances wherein human beings construct and enforce laws
in their communities. Given the larger picture of Aquinas's view, one would have a basis for
assessing the validity or invalidity of a human law. Whether or not it conforms to the natural
law. Insofar as a human law goes against what nature inclines us toward, it is not properly
speaking a law-in the ideal sense of directing us to the common good-but instead is unjust
and can be called a matter of violence.26
Finally, Aquinas asks us to recall that there is a certain form of happiness that is
proportionate to our human nature, which we can obtain by means of our natural
principles However, there also is another, more complete, happiness that surpasses
human's nature, a supernatural happiness that can be obtained through the power of God
alone To direct us toward our supernatural end, we had been given further instructions in
the form of divine law.27 This term, often confused with eternal law, refers specifically to the
instances where we have precepts or instructions that come from divine revelation. For
example, we have what is handed down to us in the sacred Scriptures (e.g., the Ten
Commandments in the book Exodus in the Old Testament or Jesus's injunction to love one's
neighbor in the Gospels),

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 While this is necessary for Aquinas as he sees our end as the blessed return to God, it
is not our concern here insofar as given that our concern is ethics, one need not rely on the
divine law in order to be moral. Of interest then about this natural law theory of Aquinas is
that while it is clearly rooted in a Christian vision. it grounds a sense of morality not on that
faith but on human nature. Aquinas writes: "So then no one can know the eternal law, as it
is in Itself, except the blessed who see God in His Essence But every rational creature knows
it in its reflection, greater or less…. Now all men know the truth to a certain extent at least
as to the common principles of the natural law….”28
The statement is a remarkable claim: anyone, coming from any religious tradition
Just by looking at the nature that she shares with her fellow human beings, would be able
to determine what is ethical. The complication one may have over an overtly religious
presentation is dispelled when we recognize the universal scope that Aquinas envisions.
NATURAL LAW
We may now turn to the specifics concerning the natural law.

The Natural Law

Summa Theologiae 1-2, Question 94, Article 2
Thomas Aquinas

Since, however, good has the nature of an end, and evil, the nature of a contrary, hence
it is that all those things to which man has a natural inclination, are naturally apprehended by
reason as being good, and consequently as objects of pursuit, and their contraries as evil, and
objects of avoidance. Wherefore according to the order of natural inclinations, is the order of
the precepts of the natural law, Because in man there is first of all an inclination to good in
accordance with the nature which he has in common with all substances: inasmuch as every
substance seeks the preservation of its own being, according to its nature: and by reason of
inclination, whatever is a means of preserving human life, and of warding off its obstacles,
belongs to the natural law.

Secondly, there is in man an inclination to things that pertain to him more specially,
according to that nature which he has in common with other animals and in virtue of this
inclination, those things are said to belong to the natural law, "which nature has taught to all
animals such as sexual intercourse, education of offspring and so forth. Thirdly, there is in man
an inclination to good, according to the nature of his reason, which nature is proper to him: thus
man has a natural inclination to know the truth about God, and to live in society: and in this
respect, whatever pertains to this inclination belongs to the natural law, for instance, to shun
ignorance, to avoid offending those among whom one has to live, and other such things
regarding the above inclination.

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In Common with Other Beings
In reading Aquinas, we have to consider how we, human beings, are both unique
and at the same time participating in the community of the rest of creation. Our presence
in the rest of creation does not only mean that we interact with creatures that are not
human, but that there is also in our nature something that shares in the nature of other
beings.
Aquinas thus identifies first that there is in our nature, common with all other beings,
a desire to preserve one's own being. A makahiya leaf folds inward and protects itself when
touched. A cat cowers and then tries to run away when it feels threatened. Similarly,
human beings have that natural inclination to preserve their being. For this reason, Aquinas
tells us that it is according to the natural law to preserve human life. We can thus say that
it would be a violation of the natural law, and therefore unethical to take the life of another.
Murder, for instance, would be a clear example of a violation of the natural law. On a more
controversial note, it seems that taking one's own life would be unacceptable, even in the
form of physician-assisted suicide. On a more positive note, we can confidently posit that
acts that promote the continuation of life are to be lauded as ethical because they are in
line with the natural law.
In Common with Other Animals
Aquinas then goes on to say that there is in our human nature, common with other
animals, a desire that has to do with sexual intercourse and the care of one's offspring. As
a matter of fact, animals periodically engage in sexual intercourse at a specific time of
heat and this could result in offspring. In human beings, too, that natural inclination to
engage in the sexual act and to reproduce exists.
The intrinsic connection between the sexual act and fecundity gives rise to a number
of notions of what is acceptable and unacceptable in varying degrees of contentiousness.
An ethical issue that is hotly contested in some parts of the world is whether abortion is
acceptable. From the stance of the natural law, the act of preventing the emergence of
new life would be considered unacceptable. Not so controversial, perhaps, would be the
claims that we could more easily make about how it is good to care for the young, to make
sure that they are properly fed, sheltered and educated. On the other hand, it is bad to
abuse the young, to force children into hard labor or to deprive them of basic needs or
otherwise abuse them in a physical or emotional way. With regard to the sexual act, the
moral judgments get more volatile. This argument seems to provide ground for rejecting
various forms of contraception since these allow for the sexual act to take place, but inhibit
procreation. This also seems to justify the claim that any form of the sexual act that could
not lead to offspring must be considered deviant. One of these is the homosexual act.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 15

 To explain, Thomas writes:”. . .certain special sins are said to be against nature: thus
contrary to sexual intercourse, which is natural to all animals, is unisexual lust, which has
received the special name of the unnatural crime.”29 The question can be raised as to
whether all animals naturally engage in heterosexual (rather than unisexual or homosexual
intercourse as Aquinas (with the much more rudimentary scientific knowledge of his time)
believed. Another question is whether there must be a necessary connection between the
act of sexual intercourse and procreation.
UNIQUELY HUMAN
After the first two inclinations, Aquinas presents a third reason which states that we
have an inclination to good according to the nature of our reason. With this, we have a
natural inclination to know the truth about God and to live in society. It is of interest that
this is followed by matters of both an epistemic and a social concern. The examples given
to us of what would be in line with this inclination are to shun ignorance and to avoid
offending those people with whom one lives. We could surmise on this basis that acts of
deception or fraud would be unacceptable to Aquinas. This, as mentioned, is surmise
because this is not something we are told directly by Thomas.
In fact, a characteristic of the text which may be frustrating to anyone trying to read
Aquinas is that he does not go into great detail here enumerating what specific acts would
be clearly ethical or unethical. Instead, he gave certain general guideposts: the epistemic
concern, which is that we know we pursue the truth, and the social concern, which is that
we know we live in relation to others. The question of what particular acts would be in line
with these or not is something that we have to determine for ourselves through the use of
reason. Let us elaborate on this further.
First, we had been presented with these three inclinations as bases for moral
valuation. In light of this, we know that preserving the self is good. Contrary to common
misconception, the sexual inclination and the sexual act are considered good things, not
something to be deplored or dismissed. However, reason is not only another inclination that
we have in par with the others. Instead, reason is the defining part of human nature. Thomas
tells us that there is a priority among the powers of our soul, with the intellectual directing
and commanding our sensitive and nutritive capacities. What this amount to is the need
to recognize that while our other inclinations are good, as they are in our nature, what it
means to be human is precisely to exercise our reason in our consideration of how the
whole sell should be comported toward the good. I cannot simply say, "Sex is natural,” if
what I mean by that is that I could just engage in the act in any way I like without thought
or care. Instead we are enjoined to make full use of our reason and determine when the
performance of our natural inclinations is appropriate.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 16

 Second recognizing how being rational is what is proper to man the apparent
vagueness of the third inclination that Aquinas mention is counter balanced by the
recognition that he is not interested in providing precepts that one would simply
unthinkingly, follow. To say that the human being is rational is to recognize that we should
take up the burden of thinking carefully how a particular act may or may not be a violation
of our nature. It is to take the trouble to think carefully about how our acts would either
contribute to, or detract from the common good.
For this reason, in making human laws additions that are not at all problematic for
the natural law are possible. At first glance, it may seem like there is nothing "natural" about
obeying traffic rules or paying taxes However, if it has been decided that these contribute
to the common good then they could, in fact, be proper extensions of the natural law. As
Aquinas puts it nothing hinder a change in the natural law by way of addition, since our
reason has found and can find many things that benefit individual and communal human
life.
SUMMARY
In this chapter, we have seen how the natural law theory is instrumental to an ethics
that is rooted in the Christian faith. In elaborating this, we explored how Aquinas had
synthesized concepts of the ancient Greeks to put forward an intellectual grounding that
can overcome the limitations of a simplistic divine command theory. Instead, we are
provided an objective basis for ethics: our own natural inclinations. Since these are given
by God, they provide us the path toward our perfection. Our natural inclinations as
enumerated by Aquinas include the desire to preserve our being the sexual act and its
fecundity, and our use of reason.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 17

 Name: ________________________________________ Year/Block/Major:___________

Now that you have read the text above, it is expected that you are ready
to answer the following exercises. Please answer them with sincerity.

Activity 1. Fill in the blanks. (10 pts)

Directions: Read and analyze the following statements derived from the topic
above. Identify the words/phrases that would accurately complete the
statements below. Write your answer on the space provided.
1. The _________________________ is Aquinas’s magnum opus, a voluminous work that
comprehensively discusses many significant point in Christian theology.

2. The fundamental truth maintained and elaborated by Aquinas in all his works is
the promise right at the center of the Christian faith that
_________________________________________________________________.

3. The __________________________ is about developing the capacities given to us by

God into a disposition of virtue inclined toward the good.

4. He is credited for giving the subsequent history of philosophy in one of its most
compelling and enduring ideas: the notion of a supreme and absolutely
transcendent good. _______________________

5. In the hands of the Neoplatonists, Plato’s idea of the ____________ which is the
source of all beings becomes identified with the One and the Beautiful.

6. According to Aristotle, any being can said to have ________ causes.

7. Considering what is good for the community as well as our own good is called
as____________________.

8. The determination of the proper measure of our acts can be referred to

as________________.

9. The divine wisdom that directs each being toward its proper end can be called
the ____________________.

10. According to Aquinas, humans have similar nature to animals, that is a desire to
engage in sexual intercourse and _____________________________________________.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 18

Name: ________________________________________ Year/Block/Major:___________
Activity 2. REFLECTIVE ESSAY (15 pts)

Directions: Explain the following statements concisely.

1. Cite one human law that may be a proper extension of the natural law. Explain how
this is so.

2. Cite one human law that may violate the natural law. Explain how this is so.

3. Explain the difference between eternal law, natural law and divine law.

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 19

Name: ________________________________________ Year/Block/Major:___________

Activity 3. PRACTICAL APPLICATION (15 pts)

Directions: Read the text “Post Truth” and accomplish the activity provided at the
concluding part of the text.

Post-Truth
We find the lines blurred between fact and fiction between news reports and
advertisements. We are accustomed to hearing and reading fake news. We are inundated
by figures and statistics that we can barely comprehend, much less confirm. We are told to
consider alternative facts and to not take seriously everything we might hear our political
leaders say. We read and revel in and then repost the most hyperbolic and hysterical
statements without asking ourselves whether we or anyone else should reasonably maintain
this. We are now in the "post-truth" era.

This label of post-truth" means that we are more and more becoming habituated to
disregard or at least to devalue the truth. Itis a tendency to think of truth as insignificant in
view of other concerns. This is a significant question in the field of media ethics, as practitioners
in that field-news reporters, writers, investigative journalists, and advertisers-ought to ask the
question as to what extent the integrity of their work might be compromised in view of other
interests, such as popularity, profit, higher viewership, or stronger sales. Yet, this issue is not
limited to people working in media. It should be recognized as relevant by anyone who
makes use of social media, caught up in statements and exchanges of dubious worth. It
should be considered by anyone who wants to take seriously Aquinas claim that reason and
a concern for truth are what make us human.

I. Go online and look for an instance of what might be "fake news”. See whether you are
able to determine the veracity of the news report. Detail your findings and opinion
below. (use additional sheets if necessary)

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 20

 1. Albee, Ernest. (1902). A History of English Utilitarianism. New York:
Macmillan,
2. Bulaong, O.G. et al (2018). Ethics: Foundations of Moral Valuation. REX
Bookstore

ETHICS Module 3: Natural Law 21