Summary of Natural Law Ethics

• Summary of natural lawethics

• Aquinas says that every natural object has a natural purpose or function.

• When natural objects performtheirpurposes,theresultingsituation is wholesome, andone which has a natural value. But when natural objects are unable to perform their natural functions or achieve their natural purposes, the resulting situation is undesirable.

• As life is a natural value, attempts to preserve it are good. Duty of preserving humanlife (and indeed all life) is basic to natural ethics and sets it apart from other approaches to ethics.

• Human beings as rational creatures have a natural purpose of leading a life of reason.

Many conclusions follow from the above conception.

• As human beings flourish in a well-ordered society, morality requires that we do things which promote social order.

• For a similar reason, it becomes a moral duty of people to support institutions such as marriage and civil government, which promote social stability.

Following criticism can be made against natural law ethics

• Promoting natural purpose and functions may not always be desirable.

• Natural processes and functions may not yield morally acceptable principles.

• Natural law theories pick and choose what they regard as natural.