Chapter 6 Natural Law 2021 Natural Law Theory

Chapter 6: Natural Law © 2021

Natural Law Theory Natural law theory states: Actions are right just because they are natural and wrong just because they are unnatural. People are good or bad to the extent that they fulfill their true nature—the more they fulfill their true nature, the better they are. © 2021

Attractions of Natural Law Theory 1) Natural law theory promises to explain how morality could possibly be objective -- that is, how moral standards depend on something other than human opinion. Morality depends on human nature, not human opinion. © 2021

Attractions of Natural Law Theory (2) 2) Natural law theory easily explains why morality is specially suited for human beings and not for anything else in the natural world. Only humans are by nature moral agents. © 2021

Attractions of Natural Law Theory (3) 3) Natural law theory has a clear account of the origins of morality. Morality originated with human nature. © 2021

Attractions of Natural Law Theory (4) 4) Natural law theory may solve one of the hardest problems in ethics: how to gain moral knowledge. According to natural law theory, we can acquire moral knowledge by (1) determining what our human nature is and (2) looking to see whether various actions fulfill it. © 2021

Three Conceptions of Human Nature Human nature is animal nature. Human nature is what is innately human. But animals do things that are clearly morally wrong. But the origins of our impulses are not relevant to the morality of our actions. Human nature is what all humans have in common. But if everyone were cruel, that would not make cruelty morally permissible. © 2021

Natural Purposes Most natural law theorists reject the three conceptions and instead insist that human nature is what we are designed to be or do. © 2021

Natural Purposes (2) Two Models of Natural Purposes Efficiency Model: The function of a thing is whatever it does better than anything else. Fitness Model: The function of a thing is to do whatever enhances fitness or success in survival and reproduction. © 2021

Natural Purposes (3) Problems for Natural Purposes Efficiency Model There are too many things that human beings do efficiently. And many of these things seems clearly morally bad. Fitness Model Rape promotes reproduction but is clearly immoral. A soldier who sacrifices his life to spare his comrades is acting morally even though he undermines the natural purpose of self-preservation © 2021

Natural Law Argument 1. If an act is unnatural, then it is immoral. 2. Suicide, contraception, and homosexual activity are unnatural. 3. Therefore, suicide, contraception, and homosexual activity are immoral. The weakness of the various understandings of human nature allows us to see why this argument fails. Premise 1 is false on all interpretations we have so far considered. © 2021

The Argument from Humanity 1. It is always wrong to deliberately kill an innocent human being. 2. A fetus is an innocent human being. 3. Therefore, it is always wrong to deliberately kill a fetus. What goes wrong in this argument? © 2021

The Argument from Humanity (2) 1. It is always wrong to deliberately kill an innocent human being. 2. A fetus is an innocent human being. 3. Therefore, it is always wrong to deliberately kill a fetus. What goes wrong in this argument? © 2021

The Limits of Nature The Marriage Argument 1) Marriage is defined as a relation between a man and a woman. 2) Homosexual relations are between men and men or women and women. 3) Therefore, homosexual relations can never qualify as a marriage. The basic philosophical point: We can't solve substantive moral issues merely by appealing to definitions. © 2021