The 13th century

The last century of the high Middle Ages, characterized by

Population and economic growth in western Europe
Rise of new religious orders (Franciscans, Dominicans)
A powerful papacy
Increasing power of the centralized monarchies especially in England and France
Common conflicts over authority between secular and ecclesiastical rulers
Works of Aristotle come to the west from Islamic and Jewish thinkers most notably
Averroes (Ibn Rushd)
St Thomas Aquinas
Born in the country of Aquino, Italy
Joined the Dominican order
- Fryers dedicated to learning
Taught at the university of paris
Synthesized Aristotelian philosophy and Christian theology
- Radical during his time
- Condemnation of 1277: considered to be dangerous and rule out from acceptable
range of views
- Canonized in 1323: apparent intellectual power
- Named doctor of the church in 1567; summa theologiae placed next to the bible
on the altar alongside the decretals (official letters of the popes)
Christian eudaimonism
The legacy of Aristotle
Eudaimonism
Rational action is orientated to the good
There is a final end, a sovereign good summum bonum
the summum bonum is something that is final (desired for its own sake) and complete in
itself
the summum bonum is happiness which all desire even if they disagree about what it
consists of
a Christian conception of happiness
is happiness possible in this life?
- Perfect happiness is only possible after this life when we directly encounter god
- No real consummation of desire until we encounter god in the next life
- In this life we can participate in an imperfect intimation of that complete
happiness in as much as we enjoy earthly goods as an ascent to the perfect
goodness of god
III Natural law Theory
The definition of law
1. Ordinance of reason

- Rational proposition
2. For the common good
3. Made by him who has care of the community
4. And promulgated
- Accessible to all to see
The kinds of law
1. Eternal law gods plan for the world
- providence
- Everything that happens is planned by god
- Nothing can happen inconsistent
- Fundamental
2. Natural law mans rational participation in gods plan;
- moral law that can be known by reason
- Realist view about morality
- Doesnt require revelation to tell us what is right and what is wrong
3. Human law the positive law of communities
- Laws as you would think of them today
4. Divine law the law revealed in scripture which consists in the old law (from old
testament) and the new law (new testament)
- Partly overlaps with natural law
- Sometimes divine law doesnt overlap
- Incarnation of Christ, sacraments of church (requires revelation)
Our knowledge of the natural law
God is good and gods creation is good
So creatures naturally seek what is good
- Instincts they have are
- i.e. dog driven to eat, rest, procreate (good and suitable for itself)
- natural inclination towards what is good for that particular kind of creature
therefore all those things to which man has natural inclination are naturally apprehended
by reason as being good, and consequently as objects of pursuit and their contraries as
evil, and objects of avoidance
- i.e. sexual instinct is to procreate, reproduce
- reproduction is good
- appetites can get out of control by starting to think in disordered way
- sexual appetite running rampant and oblivious to natural good then it turns to sin
if appetites is no longer directed to the purpose of good
- i.e. if you are eating beyond what you need for health then you are falling in
gluttony
- no longer being led by natural good
our natural inclinations
1. all things naturally seek their own preservation
- life itself is good

2. all animals seeks to continue the life of their species by reproducing and caring for their
offspring insofar as this is necessary
3. man is social animal and has a natural inclination to life in society
- i.e stealing is bad because it distorts society
- i.e. justice is good because it promotes natural good
4. man has natural inclination to know the good , the ultimate source of which is god
what is the content of the natural law
1st precept of the natural law:
good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided
Therefore
Human law
Its purposes
If there is a natural law then what need is there of a human law?
1. To promulgate and enforce the natural law
2. To interpret the natural law in particular circumstances
3. To translate general principles into determinate rules
In general the purpose of the human law (like the natural law) is to make people virtuous
- To make sure people are sociable
- To lead people to their true happiness in god
- No sharp distinction between politics and moral
- Politics just a way of making us good and fully realizing that good in association
with one another
Human law
Its limits
Limits of human law
Vice should not be repressed through human laws when the attempt to do so would cause
more evil than good
Thus human legislators must recognize what their subjects are capable of and the limits
of laws effectiveness
Who is subject to the law?
1. Sovereigns?
- Are kings subject to their own laws
- Coercive power comes from the sovereign, so the sovereign cannot be coerced
- But the sovereign is subject to the laws directive force
2. The church?
- Is the church subject to the laws of secular power
- The law of the holy ghost is above all law framed by men: and therefore spiritual
men in so far as they are led by the law of the holy ghost are not subject to the
law in those matters that are inconsistent with the guidance of the holy ghost

The legistimacy of human law

an unjust law is no law at all
Human law that is inconsisten with the law of the natural law (or divine law) is unjust and not
binding in conscience; it has no authority; it is not truly a law
For i.e a human law may be unjust because it promotes the good of the rulers rather than the
common good; or because the law was not issues by the proper authroty; or though it has a good
purpose imposes burdens inequitably
Nevertheless whether one should disobey an unjust law depends on the consequences that might
follow from disobedience