Natural Law: Absolutist-Deontological Theory By Thomas Aquinas

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Introduction to Natural Law
Natural law is an absolutist- deontological theory which Thomas Aquinas came up with.An absolutist theory is where evrything is either right or wrong no matter the content. Deontological ethics is having to uphold boundaries set by laws and ignoring any context making it extremely inflexible.Another type of ethics is Relativism. Relativism takes into consideration context and appreciates that not everyone agrees with what's right or what's wrong.Much like Relativism Teleological ethics recognises the content and different views of situations but acknowledges that some things are justifiable and deserve consequences.Aristotle is a well known relative philosopher who uses teleological ethics in his euthyphro dilemma.Natural …show more content…

Meaning that in Thomas Aquinas theory every mortal has a telos which comes from God which can be altered if they change certain laws in society.If someone was to change their telos for the better they would be going against God and Natural Law theory meaning that they would be further from God.For example: A dictator who committed genocide could create new laws and argue that he is following his primary precepts(respecting the law). The murder of this dictator would go against one primary precept of self-preservation but inevitably his death would protect society which would be preservation of the innocent and in theory would be a real …show more content…

For example it doesn’t ask everyday questions such as 'should hospitals get more money than schools'?. Natural Law can only be applied to some things in the 21st century meaning that it cannot be fully functional,there would be use following it if it can only be applied to some things in life. It is virtually pointless in modern times. It cannot be used for things like fighting obesity, the forever shifting economy and increasing world

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