Topic Test Questions + Answers

1. What is natural moral law (AKA natural law theory)?

The view that moral rules can be discovered through observing nature

2. What is Aristotle’s function argument?

The function of a human being is the use of reason; therefore, a good human being is one who uses their reason well and lives accordingly.

3. What does Aristotle think is the purpose of human life?

The use of reason and living accordingly (to achieve eudaimonia)

4. How did Aristotle’s philosophy influence natural law theory?

Aristotle contributed the idea that (human) animals have a purpose, from which moral rules can be derived.

5. Quote a verse from the Bible that supports natural moral law.

Jeremiah 8:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Amos 6:12; Romans 1:20; Romans 2:14-16

6. What did the Apostle Paul say about the natural moral law?

Gentiles are "without excuse", and know the moral law through "instinct".

7. What did prophet Jeremiah say about the natural moral law?

God's law is "written on [our] hearts"

8. Name a famous natural law theorist.

St Thomas Aquinas

9. What idea did Aquinas take from Aristotle in developing his natural law theory?

The idea that a good human life is one that fulfils its function

10. Which part of Aristotle’s function argument did Aquinas reject?

The idea that rationality is the ultimate purpose of human life

11. Which organisation still largely follows Aquinas’s ethical teaching today?

The Catholic Church

12. What did Aquinas mean by the term, “primary precept”?

One of the five fundamental purposes of human life on earth

13. What did Aquinas mean by the term, “secondary precept”?

A moral rule derived from the primary precepts

14. What did Aquinas mean by the term, “synderesis”?

The view that human beings instinctively know the difference between right and wrong, and seek to do good.

15. Name Aquinas’s primary precepts.

Survival; reproduction; educate children; live in society; worship God

16. Name a secondary precept.

Any of the ten commandments; any of the familiar prohibitions in medical and sexual ethics

17. What did Aquinas believe was the ultimate purpose of human beings?

Union with God

18. Explain the difference between intended and merely foreseen outcomes.

Intended outcomes form part of our goal, whereas merely forseen outcomes are side-effects of our action.

19. Explain the doctrine of double effect.

Evil outcomes can be justified if they are side effects of doing good.

20. What are the three conditions for applying the doctrine of double effect?

Evil outcomes must be (1) unintended. They must also be (2) proportionate to, and (3) causally independent of, the intended outcome

21. What is meant by “legalism”?

The view that morality is a system of laws

22. What is meant by "absolutism?

The view that some actions are right or wrong no matter what

23. What does natural law theory say about euthanasia?

Both active and passive euthanasia are wrong

24. What does natural law theory say about abortion?

Abortion to save the pregnant woman's life is justified by the doctrine of double effect. In all other circumstances, it is morally wrong.

25. What does natural law theory say about killing in self-defence?

It is justified by the doctrine of double effect

26. Explain a strength of the doctrine of double effect.

intuitive; retains legalism; principled; straightforward; acknowledges both intention and outcomes.

27. Explain a weakness of the doctrine of double effect.

Counterintuitive; evil effects can cause good ones; unpragmatic; open to abuse.

28. Name a famous proportionalist.

Bernard Hoose

29. Why did Hoose adapt Aquinas’s natural law theory?

Because it was too legalistic

30. What is proportionalism?

The view that we should obey the natural law unless there is proportionate reason not to do so.

31. What is meant by “proportionate reason”?

A "strong enough" reason

32. What is the difference between moral evil and ontic evil?

Moral evil means evil actions (e.g. lying); ontic evil means evil things (e.g. suffering)

33. What might a proportionalist say about artificial contraception?

It is justified if it avoids a proportionate harm (e.g. unwanted pregnancy or STI)

34. What might a proportionalist say about abortion?

It is justified if it avoids a proportionate harm (e.g. after rape)

35. What might a proportionalist say about same-sex marriage?

It is justified if it avoids a proportionate harm (e.g. living apart from the person you love)

36. What might a proportionalist say about euthanasia?

It is justified if it avoids a proportionate harm (e.g. pain & suffering)

37. What might a proportionalist say about the use of nuclear weapons?

It is justified if it avoids a proportionate harm (e.g. a long and bloody war)

38. Explain a case where proportionalism disagrees with Thomistic natural law theory.

Abortion; contraception; euthanasia; non-procreative sex; nuclear weapons (on civilians); same-sex marriage; killing Hitler to stop WWII

39. Explain a strength of proportionalism.

Intuitive; flexible; humanistic; realistic; pragmatic

40. Explain a weakness of proportionalism.

Ad hoc; uninformative; too radical; insufficiently radical; incoherent.

41. Explain a strength of natural moral law.

Naturalistic; universal; rational; informative; explanatory; easily applicable to new cases; comprehensive.

42. Explain a weakness of natural moral law.

Reductive; commits naturalistic fallacy; generalises human nature; too idealistic; heteronormative; product of its time; contrary to teaching of Jesus. 

Challenge Questions - Take it Further!

FOR THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE END.

1.The philosopher most closely associated with Natural Moral Law theory was…

a. Aristotle

b. Kant

c. Aquinas

d. Bentham

2. TRUE or FALSE? Natural Moral Law is a teleological ethical theory.

3. The term used by Aristotle for human flourishing was…

a. arete

b. eudaimonia

c. Golden Mean

d. phronesis

4. TRUE or FALSE? For Aquinas, Natural Law emphasizes God’s plan for humanity based on the way that He created things.

5. According to Aquinas’s ethical theory of Natural Law…

a. Natural Law ranks below Eternal Law and Divine Law.

b. Natural Law ranks above Eternal Law and Divine Law.

c. Natural Law ranks below Human Law.

d. Natural Law is identical to Divine Law.

e. Natural Law is identical to Eternal Law.

6. TRUE or FALSE? For Aquinas, being made in God’s ‘image’ according to Genesis 1 entails that we have been given the ability to reason, together with an inclination to ‘seek good and avoid evil’.

7. TRUE or FALSE? The God-given faculty described in the previous question is known as the conscientia faculty.

8. TRUE or FALSE? This faculty is then used to identify several more natural or God-given inclinations. These form the basis for what are known as the Primary Precepts or guiding ethical principles.

9. Which of the following is NOT a Primary Precept?

a. Heterosexual reproduction.

b. Preservation of human life.

c. Treating others as you would have them treat you.

d. Educating and nurturing the young.

e. Sociability – to live and participate actively in society.

10. TRUE or FALSE? Moral decision-making for Aquinas therefore involves combining our ability to reason with an appropriate and relevant Primary Precept in order to arrive at what is known as a Secondary Precept, the more specific rule that we must then follow to resolve the moral dilemma we are working through.

11. Which of the following is arguably NOT a Secondary Precept that could be discovered by following Aquinas’s system?

a. Heterosexual sexual activity is morally right as long as it involves the possibility of conception taking place.

b. Using a condom as an artificial form of contraception is morally right because it prevents the spread of STI’s (Sexually Transmitted Infections).

c. Child labour is morally wrong because it deprives children of an education.

d. Going to unnatural lengths to keep a dying patient alive in a hospital is morally wrong.

12. TRUE or FALSE? Aquinas’s idea of human purpose and perfection was to seek eudaimonia.

13. TRUE or FALSE? In summary, when applying Aquinas’s system, we must combine our ability to reason with agape in order to do the most loving thing in any situation.

14. Something which seems to be good or the right thing to do but which turns out to involve the misuse of reason and does not help us to perfect ourselves and grow into eventual union with God is referred to by Aquinas as…

a. a real good.

b. a partial good.

c. an apparent good.

d. an unnatural good.

15. A traditional problem with Natural Law theory is that it commits the naturalistic fallacy. This is the idea that…

a. You cannot derive an ought (a moral value) from an is (a fact about the world).

b. You cannot derive an is (a moral value) from an ought (a fact about the world).

c. You cannot tell other people what is the case. They have to figure out how to resolve moral dilemmas by themselves.

d. It is wrong to tell people what they ought to do.

16. TRUE or FALSE? Another problem with Natural Moral Law theory is that philosophers cannot agree on what our natural inclinations are. For example, Hobbes argued that we have no inclination to be sociable and that any sociable behaviour that we engage in is motivated by a desire for self-preservation.

17. TRUE or FALSE? A possible weakness of Natural Moral Law theory is that all the inclinations that Aquinas identified could have arguably not been put there by God but are instead products of the process of evolution.

18. Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of a further possible weakness of Natural Moral Law theory?

a. The claim that homosexuality is unnatural can be criticised. Research suggests that a minority of members of many mammalian species are exclusively homosexual. For example, studies of Longhorn sheep have shown that 10 per cent of ewes will consistently choose to mount other ewes rather than fertile rams, even when both are freely available. So a powerful drive towards homosexual activity is something that God, if he exists, seems to have given to a minority of the members of many species. It therefore seems possible that God might have given this same inclination to some members of our own species (about 1-3 per cent of whom, also seem to be exclusively homosexual).

b. Aquinas considered masturbation to be a worse sin than rape. As masturbation cannot result in procreation, it is more ‘unnatural’ than rape. But this seems self-evidently wrong because rape involves violence.

19. Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of a possible strength of Natural Moral Law theory?

a. Natural Moral Law theory offers a universal moral code that many people can get behind : building a good society, preserving life, educating the young etc. Most people tend to agree that things like this are good regardless of what kind of society they live in.

b. The code is based on reason and so is open to non-religious people. We therefore don’t need to actually believe in God for the conscientia faculty to give us knowledge of Natural Law.

20. Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of another possible strength of Natural Moral Law theory?

a. It can be adapted to different times and places and new moral issues through the working out of secondary precepts. It therefore does have some flexibility, unlike Kantian ethics, Divine Command Ethics and Situation Ethics.

b. It stresses the importance of the physical body in morality (rather than concentrating on motives). This can encourage careful reflection on moral issues that involve the body, such as abortion, genetic engineering and euthanasia.

ANSWERS

1. c – Aquinas (though the origins of Natural Law theory can be traced back to Aristotle and the Stoic School of Greek Philosophy, as well as Roman thinkers like Cicero).

2. False – it is a deontological theory.

3. b – eudaimonia

4. True – in addition to the Bible as a source of moral knowledge, Aquinas believed that God has instilled natural inclinations within everyone to steer us in the direction of correct moral decisions.

5. a. Natural Law ranks below Eternal Law and Divine Law. The term ‘Eternal Law’ refers to the laws of the universe. Only God is privy to these laws. We can only dimly perceive them at best. ‘Divine Law’ refers to God’s command as revealed through revelation e.g. in the 10 Commandments found in Exodus Chapter 20.

6. True

7. False – it is known as the synderesis faculty (and take care with the spelling of this term).

8. True – these inclinations are: to reproduce heterosexually, to preserve life, to be sociable, to nurture and educate our young and to worship God.

9. c – The inclination to worship God is the missing precept.

10. True

11. b – Note that homosexual activity would be regarded as unnatural and morally wrong because it can never result in conception. The use of a condom would be morally wrong because it prevents conception. Finally, in theory, one should not needlessly strive to keep a patient alive (e.g. hooked up to a panoply of life support machines) but in practice keeping a patient in a persistent vegetative state hydrated and fed with nutrients artificially is still regarded as morally correct by the Catholic Church. Catholic Church teaching on other matters (e.g. contraception and abortion) has been heavily influenced by Aquinas’s thinking with regard to Natural Moral Law.

12. False – for Aquinas, the fact that we are made in the image of God means that our purpose is to develop ourselves morally and spiritually until we perfect ourselves and achieve union with God in the afterlife.

13. False – doing the most loving thing is associated with Situation Ethics. For Aquinas, we should use reason in association with the Primary Precepts to derive the Secondary Precepts which should then serve to guide us morally.

14. c – an example might be going clubbing all night on a Saturday as a reward for revising hard but then finding oneself too exhausted on Sunday to take in more information for an examination that is to take place first thing on Monday morning.

15. a – Even if we agree that we are in possession of the natural inclinations identified by Aquinas and that they are ‘facts’ as far as human nature is concerned, we cannot say that we ought to follow these inclinations just because we have them e.g. from the mere fact that we have an inclination to reproduce this does not mean that conception should be the purpose of every heterosexual act. Jack Dominian (a Catholic psychiatrist) has criticised Natural Moral Law theory for emphasising this aspect of sex at the expense of the loving relationship that exists between a couple that might be nurtured through sex. This is worth noting when it comes to the topic of Sexual Ethics.

16. True

17. True – even an inclination to worship God might confer evolutionary advantages. For example, if we think that God exists, is watching us and wants us to reproduce as much as possible (‘Be fruitful and multiply’) then outlawing homosexual activity might increase procreation and increase the chances of our tribe out-competing others for scarce resources because there are more of us.

18. a – Rams are male and ewes are female.

19. b- it’s the synderesis faculty.

20. Situation Ethics is a teleological theory that was specifically devised to introduce more flexibility into Christian ethical reasoning.