ETHICS
GUILLERMO, KYLA ANGELI
BSED II- ENGLISH
MIDTERM
In Common with Other Beings
In reading Aquinas, we have to consider how we,
human beings, are both and at the same time participating
in the community of the rest of creation.
Our presence in the rest of creation does not only
mean that we interact with creatures that are not human,
but that there is also in our nature something that shares in
the nature of other beings.
Aquinas thus identifies first that
there is in our nature, common
with all other beings, a desire to
preserve one's own being.
A makahiya leaf folds inward
and protects itself when touched.
A cat cowers and then tries to run
away when it feels threatened.
For this reason, Aquinas tells us that it is according
to the natural law to preserve human life. We can
thus say that it would be a violation of the natural
law, and therefore unethical to take the life of
another. Murder, for instance, would be a clear
example of a violation of the natural law.
On a more controversial note, it seems that taking
one's own life would be unacceptable, even in the
form of physician-assisted suicide.
On a more positive note, we can confidently posit
that acts that promote the continuation of life are to
be lauded as ethical because they are in line with
the natural law.
In Common with Other Animals
Aquinas then goes on to say that there is in our
human nature, common with other animals, a desire that
has to do with sexual intercourse and the care of one's
offspring.
As a matter of fact, animals periodically engage in
sexual intercourse at a specific time of "heat," and this
could result in offspring.
In human beings, too, that natural inclination to engage in
the sexual act and to reproduce exists.
The intrinsic connection between the sexual act and
fecundity gives rise to a number of notions of what
is acceptable and unacceptable in varying degrees
of contentiousness.
An ethical issue that is hotly contested in some
parts of the world is whether abortion is
acceptable.
From the stance of the natural law, the act of preventing
the emergence of new life would be considered
unacceptable.
Not so controversial, perhaps, would be the claims that we
could more easily make about how it is good to care for the
young, to make sure that they are properly fed, sheltered,
and educated.
On the other hand, it is bad to abuse the young,
to force children into hard labor or to deprive them
of basic needs or otherwise abuse them in a
physical or emotional way.
With regard to the sexual act, the moral judgments get
more volatile. This argument seems to provide ground for
rejecting various forms of contraception since these allow
for the sexual act to take place, but inhibit procreation.
This also seems to justify the claim that any form of the
sexual act that could not lead to offspring must be
considered deviant. One of these is the homosexual act.
To explain, Thomas writes: "...certain special sins
are said to be against nature; thus contrary to
sexual intercourse, which is natural to all animals,
is unisexual lust, which has received the special
name of the unnatural crime.
The question can be raised as to whether all
animals "naturally" engage in heterosexual (rather
than unisexual or homosexual") intercourse as
Aquinas (with the much more rudimentary
scientific knowledge of his time) believed.
THANK YOU!
