Application of Natural Law

-

Voluntary Euthanasia

Preservation of life is a Primary Precept, meaning that the "sanctity of life" argument is often used as opposition for voluntary euthanasia. It is argued that human life is a gift that only G-d can give or take away, special and unique among creation.

It is also argued that ethically, people have a duty to address the prolonged suffering of others, and that in providing help and care for those suffering through intensive medical care in Hospices, for example, are displaying Christian love. The impact of a prolonged and painful death has an impact that should be taken into consideration to potentially justify assisted dying.

There is a generic argument that if euthanasia were legalised, a "slippery slope" for greed or abuse of the aged and ill would be created, leading to eugenics or genocide. This goes against the precept of Ordered Society.

The lines are certainly blurred. In heavily Roman Catholic Spain, it is legal and permissible to induce unconsciousness through heavy sedation to ease suffering, eventually leading to death. In line with the principle of double effect, the intention was not to kill the person, but to bring relief to their pain despite the consequences.

Abortion

Aquinas' Natural Law had no clear directive on abortion, however, the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church and the magisterium has been to reject all forms of abortion in all circumstances. The key debate concerns the question as to at what point potential human life acquires such value as to make abortion an ethical injustice. Since it is taught that life begins at conception, abortion is contrary to Natural Law, breaking the first Primary Precept.

In accordance with this, the method of foetal reduction through selection of embryos is also condemned by the magisterium since fertilisation and conception are seen as the same. It refers to this practice as ‘selective abortion’.Even in Christian theology, Aquinas appears to recognise the humanness of a foetus at ensoulment.

Others would accept the Roman Catholic position in general but also argue that there are exceptional circumstances such as rape and incest. Others, like Kainz argue that the issue of abortion is also about the Primary Precept involving a woman’s right to choose whether or not to reproduce. There are some Roman Catholic pro-choice groups (e.g. Catholics for Choice)

QUOTE BANK!!

Hippocratic Oath: “… I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.”

Hippocratic Oath: “I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy.” 

Mackie: “The basic argument against abortion, on which all others build, is that the unborn child is already a human being, a person, a bearer of rights, and that abortion is therefore murder.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Situation Ethics: Fletcher and Agape

-
Fletcher, influenced by earlier moral theologians, advocated a ‘new’ approach to Christian ethics between the two extremes of legalism and antinomianism. His solution was that we should always use the principle of love or agape (selfless love) applied to each unique situation, meaning that ‘right’ decision in one circumstance cannot be a blueprint for all circumstances. Fletcher considered his teachings as firmly grounded in ‘classical’ Christianity, a key text being Mark 2:27: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath", indicating for Fletcher that the practical application of Christian love (agape) involved a more flexible approach to rules. For Fletcher, ‘absolute’ principles of right and good are not realistic; they became problematic if applied blindly without considering specific situations. He quotes Henry Miller's reference to legalism as ‘the immorality of morality’.  Fletcher argued that the Church’s legalistic approach that used ‘prefabricated rule...
Read more

Utilitarianism: Application

-
The use of animals for medical research Often, the principle of utility (or the ‘greatest happiness principle) is used to argue that human happiness in the long-term outweighs the suffering of animal experimentation. However, such philosophers as Peter Singer says we should have a rule against causing harm or suffering to any sentient being. However, the purpose of animal experiment should be considered; medical research after all, is more noble than cosmetic safety tests. The sheer numbers benefitting from successful treatments or controlling epidemics over against the amount of pain caused for animals is justification enough. Whether one uses Bentham or Mill is another variant. The above arguments would certainly support Mill; however, Jeremy Bentham argued famously, ‘the question is not, can they reason? Not, can they talk? But can they suffer?’ and indeed was an active campaigner for animal rights. Another point to consider is that any conclusion reached on for this area is difficu...
Read more

Irenaean type Theodicies

-
Irenaeus, like Augustine, did not have a systematic theodicy; unlike Augustine, Irenaeus presents God as responsible for the possibility of the existence of evil. This was deliberate because God wanted human beings to develop the qualities that would make them spiritually perfect. Crucial for Irenaean type theodicies is the first part of Genesis 1:26: ‘Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.”’ For Irenaeus, human beings were created with partial maturity, but the potential to develop and grow into the image and likeness of God. Thus, Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden not because they were perfect and then sinned, but because they were immature. Hick Medieval theologians, and in last century the theologian John Hick, made an analogical distinction between ‘image’ (possessing the potential qualities of God’s spiritual perfection) and ‘likeness’ (actualising those qualities). John Hick disliked a literal reading of Genesis; instead h...
Read more