| A | B |
|---|
| the origin of natural law theory goes all the way back to | Stoicism in ancient Greece |
| Thomas Aquinas | formulated a view of natural law theory that has been influential, including on just war theory as well as healthcare |
| In addition to the idea that we strive to do good and avoid evil, Aquinas' theory said people | 1) value life 2) value sexual reproduction and the raising of children 3) value the seeking of knowledge, including knowledge of God; 4) value getting along with others in society |
| Martin Luther King, Jr, in this document, referenced Augustine and Aquinas' natural law theory in making a case for civil disobedience in the civil rights movement | the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" |
| the Nazis during the Nuremberg trials after WWII were condemned not on the basis of German law but on the basis that they violated________--a set of principles they should have known were true simply on the basis of reasoning | natural law |
| Augustine of Hippo, North Africa, said | an unjust law is not a law |
| Aquinas maintains that the default position is to obey all civil laws | except when they are serious violations of natural law---such as Martin Luther King said Jim Crow laws were |
| Natural law theory would agree with protests that violate laws by sitting on freeways and blocking traffic | No--because traffic laws are for the common good and do not violate natural law |
| natural law theorists would say natural law is | law according to reason |
| Regarding sex and marriage, natural law advocate Janet Smith would maintain that | sexual intercourse should only occur in a marriage intended for life, since the purpose of sex is not pleasure but producing and raising of children and increasing the bond between the couple |
| Regarding contraception, the natural law position as described by Janet Smith is that | contraception contradicts the procreative purpose of sex and interferes with the feeling of total self-giving of one to another during sex |
| A utilitarian position on sex outside of marriage and contraception is that | both are fine as long as overall pleasure for self and society is increased and not decreased |
| Suicide is prohibited by natural law theory | because it goes against the basic good of life, which should be protected and promoted |
| Suicide might be allowed by the utilitarian position, | depending on whether it increases or decreases pleasure for the people involved and society as a whole, both in the short term and in the long run |
| When both good and bad effects result from an action, this principle of natural law theory from Aquinas is used | the principle of double effect |
| There are __________steps according to decision-making process of the principle of double effect | four |
| The first step of the principle of double effect | Determining whether the action in itself is good or at least morally neutral |
| An example of the first step of the principle of double effect | Removing a diseased uterus meets this criteria. (Directly killing the fetus in the case of rape or incest does not. Directly killing in euthanasia does NOT meet the criteria.) |
| The second step of the principle of double effect. | Determining whether the bad side effect is unavoidable. |
| An example of the second step of the principle of double effect | When removing a cancerous uterus to save a woman's life, the death of the nonviable fetus is unavoidable, so it meets this criteria. |
| The third step of the principle of double effect | Determining whether the bad effect is a means of securing the good effect or whether it is an unintended side effect |
| An example of the third step of the principle of double effect | The death of the fetus was not the means of saving the woman's life but an unintended side effect: the cancerous uterus would have been removed even if she was not pregnant |
| The fourth step of the principle of double effect | Determining whether the good effect and the bad effect are proportional |
| An example of the fourth step of the principle of double effect | The life of the mother is proportional to the life of the fetus, so the cancerous uterus can be removed |
| In pain medication in end of life care | medication which might somewhat shorten the life of the dying person can be given because such shortening is an unintended side effect and the horrible pain could not be relieved without the medication |
| In natural law medical ethics, food and water is ordinary care that cannot be withdrawn while protecting the good of life | unless the patient is already in the dying process and the body is unable to process hydration and nutrition |
| In natural law medical ethics, keeping on or putting someone on a heart and lung machine or zapping them back life | is considered ordinary care in some circumstances but extraordinary (and not required) care in other circumstances |
| Using a defibrillator on an accident victim with a good chance of recovery | is considered ordinary care and required according to natural law theory if the technology is available |
| Using a defibrillator on a terminal patient with end-stage cancer | is considered extraordinary care and not required according to natural law theory (though the patient may choose it) |
| Weakness of natural law theory | It could be difficult to agree on what the basic "reasonable" principles are |
| Strength of natural law theory | It can be used to argue for the improvement of civil laws when the "majority" in a society are seen to have come up with laws that are not ethical (such as in the case of Jim Crow laws) |
| the principle of forfeiture | a principle of natural law theory in which the attacker forfeits his right to life because he/she is threatening the life of another |
