Ethics

Ethics Study Guide from seeds and animals is a rational element , which allows humans to know the world and the truth, and to guide choice and action. Aristotle recognized that humans could choose to do what is their good or act against it. He theorized that when humans use their rational element to perfect their capacities and abilities, they function well and are therefore happy. Following this line of reasoning, the ultimate good of humans is happiness, prosperity, and blessedness—or eudemonia. The Romans, in tackling the challenges of governing a multinational, multicultural, pluralistic commonwealth encompassing many nationalities, religions, ethnicities, and legal systems, needed a code of laws that would be uniformly enforced upon all of their subjects regardless of race, color, or religious creed. Of the common legal core that made up the Roman code, Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.) wrote in his De republica , “True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and adverts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions. . .We cannot be freed from its obligations by Senate or People, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it . . .” This common legal core could be found in the commonalities that existed in the codes of various peoples—a j us gentium . Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274 C.E.) combined Aristotle’s theory of Natural Law and Roman jus gentium with Christian theology to posit that Natural Law reflects a divine law , a plan for the universe, whose author is God. According to Aquinas, the order found in nature and in human nature is created by God and reflects God’s will. Therefore, moral good is found through following the innate tendencies of human nature. Moral good is defined through the rational element: treating ourselves and others as being capable of understanding and of having free choice is good. Those things that help us pursue truth (education, freedom of expression) and enable us to choose freely (self-discipline, options, reflection) are morally good. Those things that hinder pursuit of truth (deceit, lack of information) and our ability to choose (coercion, limited options) are morally bad. Furthermore, Aquinas observed that humans are social creatures that function best when they cooperate. Two important principles of the Natural Law theory serve to tie together the nature of human beings and moral law. The Principle of Forfeiture serves to resolve conflicts in basic values. It states that if one threatens another, then the one imposing the harm no longer has rights. The Principle of Double Effect deals with doing something morally permissible for the purpose of achieving some good while knowing that it also may have a bad secondary effect. Certain conditions must be met, however, for this to be right. First, the act must be morally permissible. One cannot do what is wrong to bring about a good end. Second, the person who acts must intend to bring about the good end rather than the harmful result. Third, the good results must outweigh the bad ones. The idea that no man is an island and everyone has a role to play as they perfect their rational element was a founding principal of the Enlightenment, which led to the waning of the power of monarchs and despots and the eventual formation of the United States and other modern governments. The works of John Locke (1632-1704 C.E.) had a great impact on the leading voices of the Enlightenment. Moving forward from Aristotle and Aquinas, John Locke proposed because of Natural Law that every human being had the natural right to life, liberty, and property. These words were ©2018 Achieve Page 38 of 116