Deck 9: Natural Law Theory: Morality Is Part of Rational Nature

Question 1

Which of the following summarizes Kwame Gyekye's response to Socrates's question "Do the gods love holiness [the good] because it is holy [good], or is it holy [good] because the gods love it?"

A) Something is good because the gods love it.
B) The gods, being perfectly holy/good, can only command us to do what is good.
C) The gods love the good because it is good, not the other way around.
D) God does not exist. People like Euthyphro who claim to hear God giving them commands are hallucinating and perhaps even dangerous.

Answer 1

The gods love the good because it is good, not the other way around.

Question 2

Which of the following organizations adopted natural law ethics in their Nuremberg Charter?

A) Hitler's Third Reich
B) the United States Congress
C) the Summa Theologica
D) the United Nations

Answer 2

the United Nations

Question 3

What does it mean to say that natural law is teleological?

A) The origin of natural law is in Catholic theology.
B) Natural law is directed toward a particular vision of the natural order.
C) Natural law is indirectly transmitted to humans, who intuitively know it to be true, through the divine Ethernet.
D) Natural law is directly transmitted to humans from God through mental telepathy.

Answer 3

Natural law is directed toward a particular vision of the natural order.

Question 4

According to natural law ethicists, what is the relationship between human law and natural law?

A) Natural law is higher than human law.
B) Human law is higher than natural law.
C) Natural law and human law are the same.
D) Natural law is binding only if it is accepted by a majority of humans.

Question 5

According to Henry David Thoreau, a criterion for civil disobedience is that:

A) the laws being protested must be degrading to nonhuman animals.
B) only moral and nonviolent means must be used to achieve a goal.
C) the disobedience movement must be kept secret so that the government cannot interfere.
D) it must precede legal efforts to change unjust laws.

Question 6

Which of the following is the best example of civil disobedience?

A) the U.S. military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals
B) a woman refusing to pay her taxes because, in her opinion, the tax money was being used to wage an immoral war
C) a man killing an abortion provider because, according to him, God commanded him to do so
D) a group of students organizing a legal, nonviolent sit-in on their college campus to protest discrimination and racial violence on campus

Question 7

Martin Luther King Jr. believed that:

A) morality is dependent on God's commands and differs from person to person; therefore, we must each heed our own calling.
B) it is always wrong to break the law in a democracy; instead, we should try to change unjust laws through legal means.
C) we should practice nonviolent resistance, as taught by Gandhi, against our oppressors.
D) patience is a virtue; those who are oppressed must wait until the majority are "ready to hear the message" if they are to achieve their dreams.

Question 8

What law did Susan B. Anthony, in 1872, protest as immoral?

A) the law permitting slavery
B) the poll tax law
C) the law restricting women's access to legal abortions
D) the law prohibiting women from voting

Question 9

According to Thomas Aquinas's hierarchy of laws, _____ is the uncreated reason of God that guides the universe as it moves toward a particular goal or end.

A) divine law
B) eternal law
C) human law
D) natural law

Question 10

In the context of Catholic natural law ethics, with which of the following statements would Thomas Aquinas agree?

A) Natural law is a human construction that is as fallible and frail as the human psyche.
B) Natural law is unknowable to humans, and people must rely in divine law to participate in natural law.
C) Natural law provides universal morality and is binding on all humans.
D) Natural law ethics places too much emphasis on human autonomy instead of emphasizing God's guidance.

Question 11

In the context of natural law, the _____ states that an action which causes serious harm may be permissible if that harm is an unintended side effect of bringing about a particular good.

A) naturalistic fallacy
B) principle of reciprocity
C) golden rule
D) principle of double effect

Question 12

The just war theory is defined as a list of conditions in natural law theory to ensure that:

A) war is humanely conducted and directed toward the establishment of lasting peace.
B) all the acts of the soldiers are akin to the acts of God Himself.
C) war is justifiable on the grounds of divine command, because God's word supersedes all other laws.
D) war cannot be permitted under any circumstances because all violence is wrong.

Question 13

In the context of natural law theory, which of the following do natural law ethicists stand against specifically on the grounds that it involves the direct and intentional killing of a person?

A) murder in self-defense
B) active euthanasia
C) war
D) suicide

Question 14

Identify a common critique of natural law theory.

A) It fails to differentiate between human law and divine law.
B) It argues that murder is justifiable if it was done in the service of God.
C) It fails to account for the imperfection in human reasoning.
D) It views religiosity as backward superstition that has no place in society.

Question 15

According to Thomas Aquinas's hierarchy of laws, the law that is least binding on humanity is _____.

A) divine law
B) natural law
C) eternal law
D) human law

Question 16

_____, as outlined by Thomas Aquinas, directs humans and other creatures to their supernatural end, which consists of a vision of God and eternal blessedness.

A) Natural law
B) Human law
C) Divine law
D) Eternal law

Question 17

According to natural law theory, cloning is immoral because:

A) current regulations of cloning procedures are far too lax.
B) it is forbidden in Judeo-Christian sacred texts.
C) there is no way to gain consent for the procedure from the cloned zygote.
D) it is unnatural, and it breaks down the traditional family structure.

Question 18

Identify the person who said each of the following.

-..there is in man an inclination to good, according to the nature of his reasons, which nature is proper to him: thus man has a natural inclination to know the truth about God, and to live in society...."

A) Thomas Aquinas
B) A. J. Ayer
C) Euthyphro
D) Kai Nielsen