February 3, 2015 Summa Theological St. Thomas Aquinas Theology as Superior to Philosophy- Philosophy is an attempt to provide, insofar as possible, a rational explanation of doctrines that are revealed knowledge, or matters of faith. - Theology concerns itself with knowledge that has been revealed by God and that man must accept on faith. - Philosophy is concerned with knowledge that man acquires through sensory experience andthe use of natural light of reason.o Philosophy attempts to arrive at general principles through a consideration of that which is perceived by the sense and then rationally evaluated. - People naturally seek knowledge of that which is their true goal and happiness, that is, the vision of God. o While reason and philosophy have their respective roles in the acquisition of knowledge, they are inherently limited in their ability to apprehend all truths. o Rather, philosophical knowledge is a subset of theological knowledge:  All theologians are philosophers, but not all philosophers are theologians. - The fact that theological knowledge is based on revealed truth and faith rather than on sensory experience and the exercise of reason does not mean that theological knowledge is in any way inferior to philosophical knowledge. o On the contrary, theological knowledge is superior to philosophical knowledge not only insofar as it deals with issues of the utmost importance, but also insofar as it alone can actually afford us complete knowledge of those issues. Natural Law and Natural Rights John Finnis - Around 700 years after Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Finnis returned to Aquinas’ ideas and tried to reformulate a modern theory of natural law - Finnis: we can’t say what the law is without understanding what the purpose of the law is: o “The…rational of natural law theory…is to establish ‘what is really good for human persons’.” - Like Aristotle before him, Finnis starts his argument by asking this question: what constitutesa worthwhile, valuable life? - The answer: there are 7 “basic goods” that contribute to a fulfilling life: o Life o Knowledgeo Playo Aesthetic experienceo Sociability (friendship) o Practical Reasonableness o Religion - Finnis thinks that these 7 ‘basic goods’ are universal: they apply to all humans at all times. o To flourish as human being we need all of these basic goods. - Let’s look at them more in detail o Life: the drive for self-preservation  It includes every aspect of life which puts a human being in good shape for self-determination.  It includes bodily health, freedom from pain  Also the transmission of life by procreation  Finnis added the institution of marriage (a man and a woman) to this category in a 2011 post script o Knowledge: it is desirable for its own sake- it’s a good to be well-informed instead of being ignorant o Play: recreation, enjoyment, fun  Engaging in a performance for no other reason than the performance itself o Aesthetic Experience: an appreciation of beauty in art or nature o Sociability (friendship): peace and harmony amongst men at its minimum, in its strongest form it is the flowering of a full friendship  Acting in the interests of one’s friends or for the sake of a friend o Practical Reasonableness: using one’s intelligence to solve problems of deciding whatto do, how to live, and shaping one’s character o Religion: our concern about an order of things that transcends or individual interests (not necessarily a ‘religion’ per se) - The second-to-last one on the list is “practical reasonableness.” o Finnis explains more about that. o He says there are 9 basic requirements of practical reasonableness:  The good of “practical reasonableness” structures the pursuit of goods generally. - It shapes our participation in the other goods. - It helps us to choose what to do, what projects to commit our time to  A coherent plan of life  No arbitrary preference among values  No arbitrary preferences amongst persons  One should be both open-minded and committed to one’s projects  The relevance of consequences: actions should be reasonably efficient  Respect for every basic value in every act  The requirements of the common good- one should act to advance our interests of the community  Following one’s conscience- we shouldn’t go against our inner conscienceSo What Have We Got? - The 7 basic goods and the 9 requirements of practical reasonableness = Finnis’ idea of the universal and immutable “principles of natural law”o His theory, he says, accords with the basic ideas of natural law put forward by Aquinas. Some Points to Note 1. He says that these 7 basic goods are not derived from anything: they are all self-evident, understood by all, and they are all equally fundamental 2. Of course, each person can choose whether to make one (or more) more important in their own lives 3. One of these goods is called “practical reason”- he means the type of reasoning we use to make decisions. 4. He thinks that “practical reason” is universal, timelessSome Possible Criticism- Whose idea of “reason” does his “practical reason” include? - His concept is based on Western ideas of reason- can “practical reason” even be isolated from the value system of a society? - What has historically counted as “reasonable” has reflected the values of white, European men. Differences in power have an effect on what we might count as “reasonable.” - His idea that sometimes we might have to obey immoral laws might mean putting up with a tyrant just to preserve order. Other Points about His Theory to Consider- He says that unjust laws are not simply nullities. o But because they go against the common good, they lose their direct moral authorityto bind. o So in other words, an unjust law is still a law.- He says that in some situations we must obey an unjust law and even comply with an unjust law to further a common goods (the continued operation of the legal system). o So an unjust law might sometimes have to be complied with- it will depend on the circumstances. o We cannot automatically assume that an unjust law is no law at all and need not be obeyed.  In other words…He argues that a legal system is there to further the “common good” - Therefore any disobedient act that tends to weaken the legal system as a whole may be unjustified. - Surprisingly, he thinks that sometimes a law may have to be obeyed, even if