SAMPLE Ethics in America
and are therefore happy. Following this line of reasoning, the ultimategoodofhumansishappiness, 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 religiouscreed.OfthecommonlegalcorethatmadeuptheRomancode,Cicero(106-43B.C.E.)wrotein his De republica , “True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting;itsummonstodutybyitscommands,andadvertsfromwrongdoingbyits prohibitions. . .We cannot befreedfromitsobligationsbytheSenateorPeople,andweneednotlook outsideourselvesforanexpounderorinterpreterofit...”Thiscommonlegalcorecouldbefoundinthe commonalities that existed in the codes of various peoples—a j us gentium . Medievaltheologian ThomasAquinas (1224-1274C.E.)combinedAristotle’stheoryofNaturalLawand Roman jusgentium withChristiantheologytopositthatNaturalLawreflectsa divinelaw ,aplanforthe universe,whoseauthorisGod.AccordingtoAquinas,theorderfoundinnatureandinhumannatureis created by God and reflects God’s will. Therefore, moral good is found through following the innate tendenciesofhumannature.Moralgoodisdefinedthroughtherationalelement:treatingourselvesand others as being capable of understanding andofhavingfreechoiceisgood.Thosethingsthathelpus pursuetruth(education,freedomofexpression)andenableustochoosefreely(self-discipline,options, reflection) are morally good. Those things thathinderpursuitoftruth(deceit,lackofinformation)and our ability to choose (coercion, limited options) are morally bad. Furthermore, Aquinasobservedthat humans are social creatures that function best when they cooperate. TwoimportantprinciplesoftheNaturalLawtheoryservetotietogetherthenatureofhumanbeingsand moral law. The Principle of Forfeiture serves to resolve conflicts in basic values. It states that ifone threatensanother,thentheoneimposingtheharmnolongerhasrights.The PrincipleofDoubleEffect dealswithdoingsomethingmorallypermissibleforthepurposeofachievingsomegoodwhileknowing that it also may have a bad secondary effect. Certain conditions mustbemet,however,forthistobe right.First,theactmustbemorallypermissible.Onecannotdowhatiswrongtobringaboutagoodend. Second, the person who acts must intend to bringaboutthegoodendratherthantheharmfulresult. Third,thegoodresultsmustoutweighthebadones.Theideathatnomanisanislandandeveryonehas aroletoplayastheyperfecttheirrationalelementwasafoundingprincipleoftheEnlightenment,which ledtothewaningofthepowerofmonarchsanddespotsandtheeventualformationoftheUnitedStates 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 Lawthateveryhumanbeinghadthenaturalrighttolife,liberty,andproperty.Thesewordswereechoed later in the Declaration of Independence of the United States as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”TheideasarebuiltintotheUnitedStatesConstitutionandsociety(freedomofspeech,free public education, freedom of information, etc.) and interpretations of these ideas form the basis for various political ideologies.
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