The Renaissance (PPP)

the-renaissance

NATURAL LAW AND CONSCIENCE

By Michael Jhon M. Tamayao, Ph.L., M.A.

I. Introduction

Life is not an absurdity.[1] Denying this assertion means affirming the insignificance and meaninglessness of our existence. Human consciousness is not a curse. It is an awareness of how significant and purposeful life is. And by saying this, the mind insists rationality and order.

Ethics begins with this realization; it is its ultimate presupposition, or even its ultimate principle. Remove it and you will create a whole new brand of ethics. Like the other fundamental sciences, ethics originated from an intrinsically significant question about our human existence; from questions like, “Where do I come from and where am I going?,” “What is the significance of my life?” Because of the gift of “consciousness”, man sought for the meaning of his very existence. What must he do to live a good and meaningful life? These basic questions of life are the main problems that preoccupy the science of morality or ethics.

Many great minds attempted to give a systematic, coherent and complete account about these fundamental questions about life. Among them were the Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, Medieval thinkers like St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and Modern thinkers like Kant and Bentham.

This principle of reason does not only apply to the movement of human life; it also applies and is even more evident in non-sentient beings. Trees exist for the purpose of giving life to oxygen-dependent organisms. Animals, both the prey and the predator, exist for the purpose of maintaining the ecosystem. From the motions of the celestial bodies down to the movements of the minute atoms, there is always an order that pushes everything towards a significant end. For both the sentient and non-sentient beings, there are laws that govern them.

The present paper will try to elucidate on this topic – the laws, specifically on the natural law. Man lives for his end, which must necessarily be good. The paper will discuss how the natural law and its precepts present themselves as the path towards that good. This will also highlight the uniqueness of this law from other laws. Because of freedom, man has the unique capability to deviate from the law. But the laws are not there for nothing. The conscience pushes man to continually be guided by these laws.

II. The General Notion of Law

THE METAPHYSICAL BASIS OF LAW…

We often think of law as a rule formulated to describe the natural tendencies of things. The Law of Inertia for example is a formulation of the natural tendency of physical objects to stay in their present direction or state until they are acted upon by an opposite force. Or the law prohibiting man to kill is also a formulation of man’s natural tendency to preserve life. In short, the reality of law is based on the nature of the thing on which it is implemented.

The nature or essence of a thing could be defined as that which makes the thing what it is. It is also the intrinsict worth and natural tendencies of a thing. It is universal, inasmuch as it applies to each and every individual possessing it, and transcendental, inasmuch as it goes beyond and is not limited by any individual object. An individual chair, for example, has the nature of being something to sit onto. Its nature governs what it is and what it should be. When the chair is no longer used for sitting, it forfeits its nature, which is also tantamount to saying that the chair seized to be what it is.

Things are as they are because they follow their nature. Or simply, they are as their nature. From this we could infer that the nature of a thing is itself its “law”.

Everything has an “end”[2] suited for its nature. The end of the chair is to be something used for sitting, the knife for cutting objects, and the pen for writing. They will not be what they are if they deviate from the end of their nature. If the ball-point of the pen becomes defective, the pen eventually loses its function and seizes to be a pen; it becomes a trash. Or by reason of human intervention, a pen forfeits its nature if it will be used as an instrument for killing. Briefly, the reality of something lies in the observance of this natural principle that nature must function according to its end.

This is not however a sweeping metaphysical explanation done out of our arbitrary choice to make things simpler. The laws are universal and transcendental. They exist independently of the existence of the human mind. They are not formed after the mind’s need to have a systematic view of the cosmos. Rather the mind is formed after them. Newton’s Law of Gravitation, for example, is not in itself “made” by Newton because it precedes the mind of Newton. The nature of an object thrown upward is to fall, not because Newton says so, but because it is the “objective” truth about the thing. To put it simpler, we do not “make” laws, we only “discover” them.

The nature of something also underlies the order of movement of that thing. Nature is the orderly flow in the existence or life of a physical or moral being. Since the law is the nature of objects, the law is itself a “guide”, an orderly path, imposed on the physical or moral being in order for them to achieve their fullness.

The Christian philosophers however developed this view into something “theistic.” For them the order found in the cosmos cannot simply be confounded in nature itself. By virtue of causality, the orderly cosmos must necessarily have an intelligent designer. Just as the complex mechanism of a watch cannot simply be explained through the orderly mechanism of the gadget, so is the orderly universe (cosmos) cannot simply be explained through the orderly mechanism of nature itself. It is only through a radical reference to an intelligent designer that the order can be fully explained. For the watch, man is the intelligent designer; and for the universe, it is no other else than God Himself. As the ultimate governor of the universe therefore, God is ultimate lawgiver and the source of all laws.

DEFINITION OF LAW (St. Thomas)…

According to St. Thomas, law is an “ordinance of reason, promulgated for the common good by the one who has charge of a society.”[3]

As an ordinance, the law is an objective guide which is so patterned after the natural course of movement of things. Hence, it is an ordering in reference to the end of an object or individual. And as an ordinance of reason, the law is something that is objective, permanent, useful, and good.[4] In being objective (that is, in being a “true account” of something), the law must necessarily be “just” and “honest.” Any law that does not give an objective account of something or someone is an untrue, unjust, and dishonest law. An untrue and unjust law is not itself a law.

A law is relatively permanent because it is discerned by reason as something universal and transcendental. The law is not a product of man’s arbitrary will but the “discovery” of his reason. Man discovers truths about God’s plan and providence.

A law is also something promulgated to its subjects, that is, it must be made known to those bound by it. Inanimate objects governed by physical laws “know” these laws simply by “doing” them. Man, who has free will and reason, “knows” these laws through the use of the said faculties. In man, it is not however the case that “knowing” is “doing” like that in inanimate objects. Knowing and doing are two separate operations for him.

A law is promulgated for the common good, This is based from the fact that laws are someone or something’s nature. Nature, as we have said, is the order which is weaved towards an end or purpose. This purpose or end is good because it “perfects” the very being of someone or something. Since men share the same nature (because nature is universal), an authentic law promulgated on men also means a guideline that leads men towards the good each of them share, i.e. the common good.

The law is promulgated to a society. This is indicated by the idea of common good, that a law must reflect the “commonality” in the nature of men. Law sustains order not only within an individual, but also the extrinsic interconnections of peoples and things.

The ultimate “one” (person) who has charge for the society is the one who has supreme authority to say “what is right.” Man can be a legislator because, by virtue of his reason, he has the ability to know what is right from what is wrong. But definitely he cannot be the ultimate legislator of the universe. Only a Supreme Being endowed with an immeasurable wisdom can promulgate a perfect law that guides and order the whole of creation. Only a God knows what is “best” for the “universal” society.

It is important to note however, that law in its strictest sense (i.e. as it applies in ethics), pertains to the norms of “conduct” provided by reason that tells us, in reference to the good end, which action are good therefore to be performed and which actions are evil therefore to be avoided. Law as studied in ethics is limited to norms governing “free actions” of man.

Before going to the Natural Law, let us first have a brief discussion of the eternal law.

THE ETERNAL LAW…

Law could also be seen as a path programmed in each creature. For the non-living creatures, including the animals and plants, a definite path is laid down for each and everyone of them. But for man, who is endowed with will and intellect, the path is as convoluted as the streets of Manila. However, whether determined or free, the different paths lead towards each creature’s destined ends.

The eternal law can be viewed as the master plan that maps out all the different paths taken by all creatures in the universe. This plan is enacted and promulgated by no there else than God Himself, the ultimate source and master planner of creation. He eternally plans and directs the universe toward an end, which is also Himself.[5] This eternal law emanating from His Divine Wisdom is all-encompassing; it extends to all acts and movements in the universe. As St. Augustine says, the Eternal Law is the Divine Reason and Will commanding and directing everything to follow and preserve the natural order and to refrain from disturbing it.

The eternal law “determines” everything. It is the reason why objects follow the tendencies of their nature. The scientific laws give us a glimpse on how this Divine plan works. Stones fall after being thrown upward, plants grow with proper nourishment, brutes follow their instincts, and even celestial bodies follow a certain pattern of movement. Everything moves according to a certain order. This order maintains and balances the cycles of life and death, potentialities and actualities from the beginning of the world’s conception in the Divine Mind up to its end and final union with its Creator.

But even in this system governed by the eternal law, aberrations happen. Because of freedom and intellect, man may refuse the direction planned for him by the Eternal Law. He possesses “consciousness” which allows him to evaluate the course of his actions.

Man’s nature is a hegemony of rationality. This gives him power over the lower parts of his nature (physical). Physical laws for example dictate the body to eat in order to preserve its health, but rationality may push it not to eat in order to reach a higher good. Such movements done out of rational will are called “human acts.” In matter concerning human acts, the Eternal Law is not “necessarily” followed. While other creatures don’t have any choice about this matter, man has the “choice” whether or not to follow it. In other words, the eternal law directs man by suasion and not by necessity. Take note, however, that although man can be a law unto himself, the eternal law is still objectively present and ingrained in his very nature. There is a law which guides him in doing his natural tendencies, namely the natural law, in order for him to achieve the fullness of his nature. The Conscience is the instrument of God to continually guide him despite his power to choose whatever he wants.

III. The Natural Law

THE DEFINITION OF NATURAL LAW…

There are many definitions given to the concept of “natural law”. Frequently, natural law is equated with the “laws of nature”, meaning the natural order that governs the changes and movements of the physical or material universe. Sometimes, it is meant as the law which designates the instincts and emotions common to man and lower animals, such as instinct of self-preservation, procreation, and love of offspring. Although the idea of “laws of nature” is very near, its strictly ethical application is a rule of conduct prescribed to us by God in the very constitution of our human nature.

According to St. Thomas, the Natural Law is “nothing else that the rational creature’s participation in the Eternal Law.”[6] Although man is master of his own conduct, he cannot simply be a lawless being in an ordered universe. Yes, he can vary his actions as he pleases but as a creature of God he too has a law laid down for him, a law that also participates in the Divine ordination and directive for all things. This law, which God has prescribed for his conduct, is found in his very nature, so that it underlines all his natural tendencies. His compliance to this law will eventually lead him to his destined end. Thus all actions that conform with the law is to be morally right, and those at variance with human nature are immoral or evil.

It is important to note that the moral or natural law is not “necessarily” followed by its human subjects. Unlike in the case of irrational beings wherein the law must necessarily be followed, the natural law is only “ought” to be followed. Meaning to say, it “should” be followed but the moral agent “may not choose” to follow it.

Moreover, the norm of conduct reflects the whole of our nature and not only some part of it. This means that the norm of conduct is so arranged according to the structure of our whole human nature, with its manifold relationships moving towards a special end. There is a rational harmonious subordination of our lower faculties to our higher faculties. Reason as found in the law maintains this hierarchy in case there are conflicts of tendencies and desires. Nourishing our bodies, for example, is good because it satisfies the tendencies of our physical and sensible nature. But it forfeits its authority if it subverts the spiritual well-being of a person. Reading books is good because it develops our rational faculties. But it becomes bad if it disregards all the other parts of human nature which in the end will result to failure of the whole person. Lying in obviously bad because it breaks the very basis of community. Man is a social being, and lying will disrupt the smooth exercise of his social nature.

Now the natural law is also said to be the rational creature’s participation of the eternal law because it is in here that man, in his own finitude, knows and understands the eternal law. (The rational creature’s understanding of the eternal law is the natural law.) Unlike the irrational creatures which only partakes of the eternal law by way of action and passion, man partakes of the eternal law also through knowledge. In short, the natural law, more than just being a Divine medium to rule man, is something pertaining to the Divine gift of human reason; of man’s natural ability to reason and discover truths about his acts and end. It is in this venture that man is said to participate in the image and likeness of God.

So why is the law of human conduct called “natural”? The answer is already evident – it is set up concretely in our very nature and it is manifested to us by the natural medium of reason.

The Natural Law can thus be analyzed now according to its constituent parts: the discriminating norm, the binding norm, and the manifesting norm. The Discriminating Norm as discussed above is the human nature itself. It is the norm laid down by the Divine hands on the basis of which the good and bad are classified. Human nature, however, is only the “proximate” discriminating norm. The ultimate discriminating norm and the supreme ground work of all created work is the Divine Nature. The Binding or Obligatory Norm, which imposes upon the rational creature the obligation of living in conformity with his nature, is the Divine Nature itself. Many scholars argue, as the Kantians did, that only reason as the conscience is the only moral authority which directs human conduct. But looking at it more deeply, what the reason dictates about our nature ultimately conforms with the universal order established by the Creator. Conscience is thus said to be the mouthpiece of the Divine Will. And Lastly, the Manifesting Norm, which determines the moral quality of actions, is reason. As the manifesting norm, reason manifests (lets us perceive) the moral constitution of our nature, what actions it calls for and what actions it abhors.

CONTENTS OF THE NATURAL LAW…

So what is the “content” of the Natural Law? This must necessarily reflect the eternal Divine ordination. Radically, the natural law consists of only one supreme and universal principle from which all our different moral obligations and duties are derived. Catholic moralists, though agreeing with its underlying substance, gave their own fundamental formula for the natural law.[7] Among these formula are: “Love God as the end and everything on account of Him”; “Live conformably to human nature considered in all its essential respects”; “Observe the rational order established and sanctioned by God”; “Manifest in your life the image of God impressed on your rational nature.” However we can take Aquinas’ formula for the reason that it is the simplest and most philosophical. According to him, the first principle, from which all other principles and precepts are derived, is that good is to be done, and evil is to be avoided.[8] This is based on the fact that the good is the central object of practical reason, that is, of reason acting as the dictator of conduct.

The problem is that the “good” is so elusive. No one can by acting simply pursue “good”; he can only pursue it in particular instances. Thus the good is experienced as an individual good and not as the good in general towards which all are destined. And Aquinas holds that there are a variety of things that we know immediately, by inclination, to be good and thus to be pursued. This included life, procreation, knowledge, society, and reasonable conduct.[9] On the basis of these immediately knowable goods, “primary principles” (in contrast to “secondary” ones) are identified. Primary principles include precepts like “Thou shall not kill,” “ Thou shall not commit adultery,” “Adore God,” “Take care of your offspring,” “Commit yourself to the truth,” “Love your neighbor,” etc.[10] Those under the category of secondary principles are conclusions and precepts which are only reached through more or less complex course of inference. Because there is uncertainty in knowing these precepts, positive laws (Human and Divine) are supplemented.

The precepts could also be classified according to its vigor and binding force. Primary precepts, on the one hand, are those whose observance is “necessary” in “maintaining” the moral order, both in the individual and in the society. The second class precepts, on the other hand, are those whose observance adds to the “perfection” of the moral order, but is not absolutely necessary to the rationality of conduct. For example, the precept that prohibits killing is a primary precept because its observance is necessary in maintaining the social moral order. Many Human positive laws (laws of the state), on the other, are examples of secondary precepts.

According to St. Thomas, the good is prior to the right. This means that a right action is logically posterior to the good that is primarily intended by practical reason. If an action leads us to the good, then it is right, but if it diverts us, then it is evil. But this is not to say as long as the action leads to the good then it is right (as the utilitarians propose). For Aquinas, a right action should be spotless (not “intrinsically flawed” as St. Thomas states) because it is “the” path towards the good. Aquinas however did not give a master list of all the intrinsically spotless actions man should take. But he gave us criteria to evaluate the rightness of the action. This includes objects of our actions, their ends, the circumstances surrounding them, and the intension of the agent. [11] Every individual act must conform to these criteria for it to be right. A single flaw in the action will render it at once wrong.

THE KEY QUALITIES OF THE NATURAL LAW…

We could highlight two important qualities of the natural law: first, it is “universal”, and, second, it is “immutable.” The natural law is universal because it applies to the whole human race, and is itself the same for all. By virtue of our human nature, we are all the same despite our differences. Since natural law, as was said, is our human nature, and human nature is universal, then the natural law is universal as it applies to each and every man.

The Natural law is immutable because it is founded in the very nature of man and his destination to his end, which in themselves are grounded in the immutable nature of the eternal law. As long as man persists, the natural law will never stop governing him.[12] The natural law maintains its authority everywhere and always.

We must remember, however, that the law can be expressed in different formulae but in the condition that the legislator retains the essential meaning of the law. The immutability of the natural law is not relinquished by the multiplicity of the formulas expressing it. Its essence remains despite the “accidental” changes in its formulation.

The law “Thou shall not lie” is one way of expressing a primary moral precept that forbids the concealment of truth from duly concerned individuals. But sometime we are justified to “lie” to people for safety purposes. We didn’t break the law “Thou shall not lie” in here because we did not conceal the truth from a “duly concerned individual.”

So far, what we have been discussing is the “Paradigmatic” Natural Law theory. It has a definite list of views that, if incomplete, renders the natural law theory “Non-Paradigmatic.” By way also of summarizing our previous discussions, we will now enumerate the list of views taken by the paradigmatic theory:

(1) the natural law is given by God; (2) it is naturally authoritative over all human beings; and (3) it is naturally knowable by all human beings. Further, it holds that (4) the good is prior to the right, that (5) right action is action that responds nondefectively to the good, that (6) there are a variety of ways in which action can be defective with respect to the good, and that (7) some of these ways can be captured and formulated as general rules.

IV. The Conscience

GENERAL NOTION OF CONSCIENCE…

We usually see the conscience as an intrinsic element in the human soul that continually guides and pushes us to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, and praises or condemns us after the action. For this reason, we call the conscience the mouthpiece or voice of God in us. If we are to situate conscience in our discussion of natural law, it is the instrument used by God to persistently persuade man to be what he planned him to be, as a part of the Divine ordination. Conscience guides the free will of man; without this guide man is just a bohemian roaming aimlessly in the universe.

The popular culture depicts this religious view very well. It portrays the conscience as the angel standing on the right shoulder of the moral agent that persuades him to do the right thing. Not following the command of the “angel” means agreeing with the “devil,” who stands on the left shoulder of the moral agent. Following the angel means acquiescing with the “voice of God”, and disobeying the angel means disrupting the Divine order that is sanctioned by the devil.

There are differing views about the meaning of conscience among the various scholars and thinkers. It is no longer an exclusive topic for ethics and religion. It has also been a topic of interest for disciplines like ethology, neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary psychology. For the latter group of disciplines, conscience is just a function of the brain that evolved to facilitate reciprocal altruism within societies. Segmund Freud, one of the great minds in psychology, proposed that conscience is a human phenomenon that originated from the superego through early childhood rearing. These views may look very plausible but they are nonetheless insufficient in explaining the phenomenon. The empirical sciences reduced conscience into a mere coping mechanism of humans, and in a way, the same with human instinct. This reduces man into just a highly evolved animal whose conscience is not really an instrument for “moral” order but only for the “physical” order. Freud’s account, on the other hand, although very much akin with the Christian notion of conscience, reduces consciences into a human faculty whose existence is grounded in the society’s standards (environmental influences) and therefore arbitrary and conditioned.

CONSCIENCE AND SYNDERESIS…

In Moral Philosophy, we usually adopt St. Thomas’ definition of conscience. This is due to the simplicity, clarity, and philosophical worth of his definition.[13] For him, conscience (conscientia) is the application of moral principles from synderesis or synteresis to our individual human activities.[14] Or simply, it is acting out what is laid down by synderesis. The notion of synderesis is very important in the discussion of conscience not only for St. Thomas but also for the thinkers who preceded him.

The Latin word synderesis came from the Greek term suneidesis, which is indefinitely related to phronesis (prudence). These two concepts (suneidesis and phronesis) explain the reality of conscience. In the early stages of Christianity, synderesis was view as a “supernatural phenomenon,” a Spirit Who groans in man,[15] the Spirit who alone knows what is in man,[16] a power in the soul that lets us soar like an “eagle”.[17] However, it was Alexander of Hales who leveled synderesis into something which is innate in the human soul, thus, not something which is “supernatural” as a Spirit who dwells inside man. He says that synteresis is a “potential habitualis”, that is, something innate, essential, indestructible in the soul, but also liable to obstruction and bafflement. It is an innate light (lumen innatum) of the intellect that helps the will to achieve its universal goal, which is the good. It is a faculty in the soul that knows the moral “principles”[18] of action. These principles are the basis for evaluating what to do in individual instances. Although it is more on the side of intellect, synderesis is still akin to the human will, inasmuch as it identifies the good to be “willed.” For Hales, conscience and synteresis are the same. The difference is only that the former is more on particular deliberations (Don’t lie to your mother in this situation) while the latter is on wholly general principles (Do not lie).

St. Bonaventure, Hale’s pupil, clarified this distinction by saying that “conscience not only consists in the universal but also descends to deliberative particulars,”[19] meaning to say synderesis is the universal part of conscience. The general principles (synderesis) in the conscience are innate, while particular applications of these principles are acquired.[20] It may even be helpful if we look at synderesis as the instrument for knowing the principles of the natural law (moral law), and the conscience the enactment of these moral principles in individual acts. St. Bonaventure in here adapts St. Jerome’s idea of synderesis as scintilla conscientia (handmaid of conscience) only that it is no longer a supernatural reality in man but an innate faculty in his soul.

But it was St. Thomas who made a very sharp distinction between synderesis and conscience. He places synderesis not in the will but in the intellect, and he applies the term conscience to concrete determinations of the general principles which synteresis furnishes. For him, both conscience and synderesis is a practical judgment, that is, a judgment in reference to something to be done. Both refer to an evaluation of an action whether it be an obligatory, permissible, prohibited or prudent act. These two judgments form a practical inference. The principles of synderesis comprise a part of the premise and the conscience comprises the conclusion. Thus we have the following example:

One should not steal (synderesis)

This situation of getting band papers without permission suggests itself to me as stealing

Therefore, I should not get the band papers. (conscience)

But unlike the logical inference, which is composed of “speculative” judgments, our example in here is composed of practical judgments. The expressed sentences are not “propositional” but, rather, they are “imperatives” or “dictates.” While synderesis is the practical judgment of a “category” of action (Do not steal, Do not kill, or Do not lie), conscience is the practical judgment of our individual acts using the moral principles from synderesis (I should not get the band paper, I should not kill Juan, etc.). Before the action, the conscience, grounding on synderesis, persuades or dissuades us, while after the action, it praises or admonishes us.[21]

THE ROLE OF PRUDENCE…

Aquinas defines prudence as the ability to judge what is good and bad in a given time and place. For him, it is the most important among the virtues. He adopted Aristotle’s view that prudence (phronesis) is the uniting bond between the intellectual and practical virtues. This is why he also associated prudence with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. This virtue obviously requires a continuous development of our intellect (necessary for developing our intellectual virtues) and at the same time the continuous exercise and application of knowledge in specific circumstances. Prudence then is our means to have a good discretion and decision about our state of affairs.

Prudence sharpens our conscience. It serves in increasing our treasuries of principles in synteresis and in intensifying our zeal and precision in applying these principles. In other words, prudence is the knot that binds together synteresis and conscientia. The lack of prudence may lead into the breakdown of synderesis and conscientia. If we are to refer to the example above about stealing, the middle judgment that unites the first and last is a product of prudent judgment.

Moreover, prudence pushes us to educate our conscience, to act well and align our actions towards the highest good. Remember that although our conscience always leads us to the “good”, this good may only be an “apparent” good. Thus, if it haven’t acquired enough of the virtue of prudence, the conscience may become “erroneous”. This will be discussed subsequently.

THE STATES OF CONSCIENCE…

There are many states of the conscience. According to Glenn, if the conscience is a judgment in accordance with the fact, that is, when it judges as good that which is really good, and as evil that which is really evil, then it is correct or true.[22] And the conscience that is not true is erroneous. As seen earlier, a true conscience is achieved only through our acquisition of enough virtue of prudence. Moreover, we can classify the erroneous conscience according to the knowledge or fault of the agent as invincibly or inculpably erroneous and culpably erroneous conscience. On the one hand, the conscience is invisibly or inculpably erroneous if it is without the knowledge or fault of the agent. On the other hand, the conscience is culpably erroneous if its error is through the agent’s fault.

Moreover, when the conscience is an altogether firm and assured judgment, in which the agent has no fear whatever of being in error, it is called certain conscience.[23] However, when the conscience is not certain or hesitant because it is aware that there is a possibility of error, the conscience is called doubtful or dubious. In addition, when the conscience is doubtful, but grounded upon solid reason, it is called probable conscience.[24]

AUTHORITY OF CONSCIENCE…

According to Catechism of the Catholic Church, man must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience.[25] Conscience in this sense is the ultimate authority guiding human conduct. If one will be asked to choose between two different acts, he must follow what his conscience dictates. Take note however that the conscience we are talking in here is a “certain” conscience, regardless of whether it is invincibly erroneous or correct.

How about in the case of a culpably erroneous conscience which is certain? This is somehow a dilemma. However, we can give a possible solution in here. Although there is no fault in following a certain conscience in itself, it becomes wrong when the moral agent irresponsibly disregarded the education of his conscience. The teachings of the Church and its authority must therefore be recognized and followed to avoid developing an erroneous conscience. The virtue of prudence is once again highlighted in here.

Moreover, it is not permissible to act while in the state of practical doubt. This is because we are allowing the possibility that an evil act may happen. Practical reason tells us that only a good act is performed and that evil should be positively avoided. Thus we must first remove all our doubts before proceeding in making the act.

V. Summary

The mind insists rationality and order in the cosmos. It insists that there are laws that govern this order; laws that guide each being to fulfill the destined end of its nature. According to St. Thomas, the ultimate law that governs everything from its beginning to its end is the Eternal Law. The eternal law is the Divine Ordination and directive for all creation. God, the ultimate authority, promulgated these laws as part of the nature of each creature. The laws for non-sentient beings, as discovered in the physical sciences, direct all physical movements to maintain balance and natural order. But unlike these non-sentient beings, man has freedom and reason. This makes the laws guiding their natures not necessarily followed. It is only an “ought” and not a “necessity.” This law, which is ingrained in man’s nature, serves as a guide for their action and comprises all the natural tendencies of man towards the good. This law is the Natural Law.

Although he has freedom to choose the course of his actions, Man is not a creature wondering pointlessly in the ordered universe. There is still a beacon that continually pushes him to follow the natural (moral) law which is so patterned after the eternal law. This natural light implanted in his nature is the conscience. It is a moral authority which is ultimately grounded in God.

This traditional view has always been challenged by the relativistic and skeptic view. Relativism and skepticism make everything variable and arbitrary. Under these views, truth is an arbitrary or even illusionary thing that emanates from the mind of men. We must always safeguard ourselves from succumbing to these tendencies of thought. We must preserve the universality of laws, of what is right and wrong. These are not just arbitrary products of the human minds. They are real; they are as real as our flesh and blood.

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[1] Jean Paul Sartre could have challenged this proposition. For him, freedom makes life absurd. We are continuously making ourselves into what we are not (things-in-themselves). The universe is not as we think it is. It is just this One undifferentiated whole beyond the categories assembled by the mind. To hold this is to commit ourselves into an atheistic mind-view. Nevertheless, we will only discuss in here the more popular tradition that descended in the Philippine mind set, which is the teleological and theistic view.

[2] The end here is understood, not as the termination or last stage of a thing, but the “purpose” of the thing.

[3] Summa Theologica, IaIIae Q. 90, Art. 4.

[4] Cf. Fr. Raul Glenn, Ethics: A Class Manual in Moral Philosophy (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1968), p. 74. Henceforth, Ethics.

[5] ST IaIIae Q. 91, Art. 1

[6] ST IaIIae, Q.91, Art. 2.

[7] Note that “law” can be expressed in different “formulas” while expressing one and the same meaning.

[8] ST IaIIae Q. 94, Art. 2

[9] ST IaIIae Q. 94, Art. 2; Q. 94, Art. 3

[10] Cf. ST IaIIae Q. 94,Art. 2. The list given by Aquinas is not exhaustive.

[11] ST IaIIae Q. 18, Art. 2-4

[12] Another way of looking at this is that the natural law is part of the eternal law. And in being part of the eternal law, the natural law also becomes immutable.

[13] Although his work inclines towards Aristotelian philosophy, Aquinas’ account gives a more balanced epistemological explanation on conscience as a practical judgment. Unlike the Platonist accounts about conscience, Aquinas did not disregard the importance of sense perception in knowledge acquisition. Moreover, he also clearly delineates the concepts surrounding the idea of conscience that were so convoluted during his time.

[14] De Veritatae, Q. XVII, a. 2.; Cf. ST, Q. Ixxix, a. B; III Sent., dist. Xiv, a. 1, Q. ii; Contra Gentiles, II, 59.

[15] Romans 8: 26

[16] 1 Corinthians 2:11

[17] This is an allusion to St. Jerome’s commentary in Ezech., 1, Bk. 1, ch. 1

[18] By “principle” we mean a knowledge which is apriori, self-evident, and in need of no proof. Using the language of Geometry, Principles are the “postulates” of thinking. From them, we derive the other precepts (theorems) in evaluating individual instances. Synderesis is only concerned with the principles.

[19] II Sentences, dist. Xxxix, ant. I, O: ii

[20] Ibid.

[21] Many thinkers argue about the real nature of the conscience. John Newman and Green, for example, emphasizes on the admonishing or reproving office of conscience. Supporting this is Caryle’s assertion that we should have not observed that we have a conscience if we had never offended.

[22] Ethics, pp. 86-87.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid., p. 88.

[25] CCC, paragraph 1782

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY

I. Introduction

Most people look at Christianity only as an instrument for spiritual salvation. But little do they know, Christianity has been an instrument for the longevity of human knowledge and culture. In the period called the Dark Ages, following the collapse of the once glorious Greco-Roman civilization, the entire western civilization entered a state of anarchy. As implied by the term “Dark Ages,” there was both a bankruptcy in human knowledge and human spirituality. The brutish barbarians sacked into ruins the proud Roman states and colonies, including their important cultural sites. As a result almost all the works of the great Greek and Roman thinkers were lost and burned into ashes. The ignoble vandals ravishingly put human civilization at the verge of annihilation.

A sudden spark of light was initiated by the Christian Carolingian Period. This period, spearheaded by Charlemagne, aimed at reviving education and religion. The so-called Medieval universities were instituted for the said purpose and from which began the series of revivals of the great philosophical heritage of the Classical Period. The Patristic Age revived the Platonic philosophy with the aim of supplementing the treasuries of truth in the Sacred Scriptures. This age believed that faith and reason complement each other. There were great Patristic philosophers and theologians, such as St. Augustine, St. Francis. Following this age is the Period of Scholasticism, which revived Aristotelian philosophy with the same aim of supplementing faith with reason. Under this period were also great thinkers like John Scotus, Boethius, St. Albertus Magnus, Alexander of Hales, St. Boneventure, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and, the most illustrious of them all, St. Thomas Aquinas.

With its great contribution to the flourish of education and culture, Christianity paved the way for the renaissance of human civilization.

Part of reviving the civilization is the revitalization and reconstruction of a complete system of ethical principles. Moral order is essential to all individual and social state of affairs, without which progress is impossible. We will discuss in this paper one of the most dominant philosophical schools that gave a complete system of ethical principles for the then budding Christian community – the Scholastic Philosophy. Thus, we will discuss what is meant by “scholasticism,” its influences and basic doctrines, and its fundamental ethical principles. Inasmuch as it is the culmination of Scholastic philosophy, the Thomistic ethical treatise will be the major source of our discussion.

II. What is Scholasticism?

Before going to the details of scholastic ethics, let us first discuss the general features of scholastic philosophy.

The word “scholasticism” has its roots in the Latin word “schola” which means school. In Latin medieval universities, the heads of the schools are called “magistris scholarum” (masters of the schools) or simply “scholastici” (scholastics). These scholastici generally taught dialectic, which is a philosophical method used to evaluate, analyze, and criticize a dominant philosophical doctrine to come up with a new and more profound philosophical answer to the pervading questions. During the Medieval times, the scholastici were recognized as the bearers of authentic philosophical and theological views. Out of these dialectical teachings of the scholastici or scholastics came the philosophical tradition known as Scholasticism.

Through their dialectic method, the scholastics tried to synthesize the antithetical realms of reason and faith, science and religion, pagan philosophy and Christian theology. The Patristic philosophers (which came before them) also tried to give a synthesis to these opposing realms but they lacked the technicalities of the dialectic method as that used by the scholastics. While the Patristic philosophers wrote in the mystical and poetic style of Platonic philosophy, the scholastics wrote in a more empirical and prosy style of Aristotelian philosophy. These two schools however have the same goal, i.e. to explain faith through reason and to supplement reason with faith. For them, the revealed truths in the Bible and the truths found in pagan philosophies ultimately have the same source – God. Contradiction between these two realms is therefore impossible.

Moreover, Scholasticism highlights two things: first, that there should be a clear delimitation of the respective domains of philosophy and theology, and; second, that man should guide his faith with his reason. Unlike the Patristic thinkers who did not give definite limits between philosophical truth and Biblical (theological) truths, the scholastics, in particular St. Thomas, pointed out that philosophical truths are known through human reason while theological truths are known through revelation, thus, putting a clear distinction between the two realms of knowledge.

Reason should guide our faith. This philosophical view is usually associated with rationalism, i.e. the view that reason reigns supreme in man. Scholastics believe that every human, regardless of his beliefs, share in humanity through the possession and use of reason, without which man is not man. Reason has the capability to arrive at indubitable truths, as that achieved by the Aristotelian wisdom. As rationalists, the scholastics cannot just disregard the evident truths of pagan philosophy (Aristotelian philosophy). So they assimilated Aristotle’s philosophy in defense of faith. Through this view, scholastics provided faith with a rational foundation. Undoubtedly, this is one of their crowning achievements. But just as they trusted human reason, they also believed in the primal veracity of reveal truth. If God is Truth itself, then His revelations must necessarily be true. Thus a unique blend is necessary for the scholastics.

III. The Existence of God

One of the bedrocks of our faith is the belief in the existence of God. Through reason, one can prove that God indeed exists. In this vantage point, reason definitely aids faith.

Adapting Aristotle’s philosophical ideas, St. Thomas proved the existence of God in his famous Quinque Viae (Five ways).

Aristotle posited that the principle of causality forms one of the foundational building blocks of human knowledge. Like other principles of thinking (e.g. principle of identity and principle of contradiction), the principle of causality admits of no proofs and is considered to one of the ultimate presuppositions for knowing. To question its objective certainty (as Kant did) is to open the door for subjectivism and universal skepticism. Meaning to say, the denial of the principle of causality may also mean a declaration that the whole process of human reasoning could be fallacious.

The principle simply states that every effect necessarily has a sufficient reason or cause for its existence. The emergence of global warming, for example, is an effect, which has the overly excessive carbon dioxide combustion as its necessary cause. Every thing, event, and occurrence follows the same fashion. According to Aristotle, one cannot go one to infinity because or else there should have not been any beginning. Thus the principle of causality admits the existence of a self-sufficient cause or ground of being to which all physical and mental phenomena ultimately refer. This one ultimate source of all movements is the supreme first mover, which in itself does not move. It is the unchanging being whose presence the world responds to. It is the unchanging and unmoving “good” towards which every being tends and ends. This “Prime Mover,” “First Cause,” “Necessary Being,” “Perfect Good,” and “Final Cause and Good of all things” is, for Aristotle, God.

Aquinas acknowledged the validity of these arguments and adapted them in his Quinque Viae. Nevertheless, Aquinas saw their inadequacy in explaining the Christian notion of God. The Aristotelian God is an impersonal God, which is contrary to the Personal God revealed in the Scriptures. As a consequence, Thomas developed his “argument from design” with a more Christian touch. He says that the order in the universe is not simply initiated by an impersonal God from afar but it is something continually guided by a loving God. God is now seen as a Loving Father who takes care for his children or as a Shepherd tending his flock.

IV. The History of Creation

The different scholastic accounts are more than just a random list of philosophical and theological discussions. Faithful to the aim of (Aristotelian) philosophy, the scholastics attempted to give an orderly and truly universal, rational view of the universe. All of their accounts are meant to explain the history of the cosmos and provide an outline for the meaning of life itself. St. Thomas’ Summa Theologica for instance is a sweeping attempt to explain what reality itself is. It is a proposal for the grand scheme of things.

Founded on purely Christian ideals, the scholastics proposed a history that revolves around the relationship of God and man, and how man’s reconciliation with God is made possible through Christ, the Perfect Man. With these ideals, they came up with a cyclic history that begins and also ends with God. But although their ideals are Christian, they use pagan concepts (Aristotelian) in explaining the intricate details of the existence of God and man. God’s existence, as was seen above, is explained through Aristotelian philosophy. And man’s ultimate end is also based on the Aristotelian teleological philosophy of happiness.

Adopting St. Thomas’ treatise in Summa Theologica, we can diagram the history of creation as follows:

When we say that everything begins with the existence of God, it does not mean that at a point in time, God suddenly came into being and from there everything also came into being. Rather, God’s essence is to exist so that He does not have a beginning or an end. He is outside the limiting dimensions of space and time or, as the philosophers state, He is eternal. Now from His existence comes the existence of the material world. This emanation of reality from the Divine is what we call creation.

Scholastic discussions in ethics are situated in this grandiose scheme. For this reason, our own discussions will be patterned after this diagram. It is also important to note that because of its strictly theistic nature, scholastic ethics or morality cannot be separated with religion. Unlike the modern ethical treatises, scholastic ethics firmly believes that the moral order is ultimately founded in the Divine Ordination of things.

V. Man as an Image of God

The proofs of the existence of God are not intended for metaphysical or cosmological uses only. They have direct application to human ethics. In Thomistic ethics, man could only be understood under the context of being an “Image of God.” In Summa Theologica, St. Thomas wrote:

“Man is made to God’s image, and since this implies, so Damacene tells us, that he is intelligent and free to judge and master of himself, so then, now that we have agreed that God is the exemplar cause of things and that they issue from his power through his will, we go on to look at this image, that is to say, at man as the source of actions which are his own and fal under his responsibility and control.”[1]

God is not only the efficient cause of man (the agent that caused man’s existence) but also his exemplar cause (the agent towards which man’s essence conforms and participates). Man’s very ontological constitution and mode of living a meaningful life, by way of intelligence, freedom, and mastery over himself, are all rooted in his being an image of God. Thus, for the scholastics (St. Thomas in particular), an ethical life can only be a life in conformity with the life of God.

VI. Virtue and Happiness

In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas highlighted how the human intellect guides the will towards the “Good,” who is God Himself. Since God is the Good towards which man craves to be with, human practical reason dictates that man should follow the example of His being, which is perfection. Thus man seeks the best way of living. Using Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the scholastics saw the different virtues as a rational way towards the Good. Although the scholastics agree with Aristotle that the good towards which every man intends is Happiness, they added that this Happiness is no other else than God Himself (thus going beyond nature itself).

Man is said to lie in between divinity and brutishness. This is because man has, in his nature, rationality and animality. Inasmuch as rationality (which is purely present in the Divine) has superiority over animality (which is present in brutes), reason must reign supreme in man. Since it is only the intellect that knows what is truly good from what is only apparent, it must guide instinctual passions and appetites toward what is truly good. And one of the principles of practical reason is to always act in moderation. This is the basic presupposition of a virtue; it always stands in the middle.

Before going to the different virtues, it is important to discuss the different powers or faculties in man. Man cannot be otherwise but composed of body and soul. Like the animals, the body of man is governed by the laws of nature. On the other hand, the soul (according to Thomistic psychology) is considered as the principle of life without which the body ceases to exist. Meaning to say, the soul governs the acts and movements of the body. Like Aristotle, the scholastics identify two powers in the soul: the appetitive or irrational power and rational power. By means of the rational powers, we know the truth about things. The rational faculty has two parts – the practical and the contemplative. The practical part determines the proper act and ends of man. It is firmly connected to the appetitive powers of the soul inasmuch as it guides human desires and passions. This firm connection between practical reason and the appetitive faculty, together with the contemplative activity of the rational faculty, differentiates us from the animals. Following Aristotelian ethics, the scholastics taught that the right habitual use of practical reason creates moral virtues; and the habitual practice of contemplation, of course functioning in accordance with its proper excellence, is the highest form of intellectual virtue. Through these virtues one can achieve eudaimonia or happiness.

Contemplative part, on the other, has for its object the higher things beyond itself. It is through the contemplative activities of the soul that man shares with the perfection of higher beings. Thus, the theoretical or contemplative part seems more favorable than practical because it is closer to the Divine. In here man transcends himself and becomes like a god.

While for Aristotle true happiness is achieved by living a virtuous life, the scholastics believe that true happiness is achieved only through the beatific vision. Happiness does not end in living a moral life or achieving human excellence on earth, but rather it comes into completion in one’s union with God. The happiness in living a moral life is just a means towards the happiness in the after life.

Moreover, Scholastics also added to Aristotelian virtues such notions as Duty, Sin, Sovereign Lawgiver and Judge, Reward and Punishment in a life to come. As seen by the scholastics, the Aristotelian road to happiness (virtue) is also a path of duty. For Aristotle, if a man does not want to be rationally happy, he is said to be a fool and thus falls short of living an excellent life. For the scholastics, one the other, if a man will not take the road of rational happiness then he is a lawbreaker. He breaks the law which is discovered and formulated by reason, but imprinted in his nature by the Supreme Designer and Divine Legislator of the universe – God.

VI. Final Words

Christianity has been a very important tool for the conservation and development of human culture and education. It has perpetuated the important philosophical teachings of the Greeks by adapting and using them to explain Christian beliefs. It has also instituted places that have served for centuries as repositories of knowledge. Medieval universities did not only serve as a storage for philosophical works, but they also produced one of the best philosophical schools ever created by man – Scholasticism. And one of the best philosophers produced by scholasticism was St. Thomas Aquinas

As a philosopher of history, St. Thomas viewed history as a cyclic process that starts and ends with God. St. Thomas presented this view again through Aristotelian philosophy but substantiated it with the revealed truths of the Bible.

That man is made into the image and likeness of God grounds the Thomistic philosophy of man and ethics. Man cannot, according to St. Thomas, live ethically unless he conforms and patterns himself to the life of God.

If there’s one thing you need to remember about Scholastic (Thomistic) Ethics, it is its reverence for man’s faculty of reason. Although he was a devote Catholic, St. Thomas did not condemn Aristotle, a pagan, because he found truth in Aristotle’s words. Reason binds all men together. Regardless of the heterogeneity of its source, reason has one final destination – truth. All rational beings who exercise their reason to its fullest will arrive at this common destination. St. Thomas affirms the correctness of Aristotelian philosophy, but he also affirms the veracity of the revealed truths in the Bible. So he ingenuously constructed a philosophy that beautifully tied the two together without any contradiction.

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[1] Quoted from the translation of the Prologue of Summa Theologica, IaIIae.

Lecture notes on St. Augustine

Summary

1. Augustine merged Greek Philosophy and the revealed truths from the Judeo-Christian Bible
2. God is Love. And because He is our model, we should imitate Him by living a life of love.
3. Life is a Dialectic movement towards love
   1. Virtue, the art of right living, is the order of love
   2. Vice is turning away from love
   3. To love God means to also love others
4. True happiness is not found in Hedonism and Stoicism
   1. Possession of world goods is not the true source of happiness
   2. Virtue is not the ultimate end of man; it still serves as a means to a further end, which is God Himself.
   3. Virtue is the constant harmonizing and ordering of all activities of the human personality towards Love under the guiding inspiration of Love.
5. Man belongs to two social institutions: the church and the state.
   1. The church takes care of the spiritual well-being of the people
   2. The state takes care of the temporal well-being of the people
   3. Although the church is more supreme than the state, they are inseparable
   4. Obedience, Love, and Justice must reign in both cities
   5. All created under the image of God, men share one brotherhood under the fatherhood of God.
   6. Justice, which is the foundation of order of all societies, springs from love.
6. The will is free and it aims towards the good. How can we reconcile law and freedom?
   1. For the Greeks, the moral law (man always aims the good) is part of the law of nature. Man is naturally drawn to the good
   2. For St. Augustine, although man is physically free to do any action, he is morally bound to obey the law; that is to say, he can obey or disobey the laws. Man ought to follow the laws but he may disobey it.
   3. There are two types of laws: the Physical Laws and Moral Laws. The first can never be violated but the second is violable.
   4. Responsibility and sanction are necessarily attached to the Moral laws.
7. Moral Truth: Do good and avoid evil.
   1. This rule does not come from us. Reason only recognizes and tells us of this law, but we do not make them.
   2. This law of conduct is binding, immutable, and irreversible. And only an All-powerful Being can promulgate and constitute this invariable norm of morality. Augustine calls this the Eternal Law or the Eternal Reason, which leads all things to their proper ends.
   3. The law of conscience, which constantly tells us of this moral rule, is the proximate norm of morality.
8. Moral evil is man’s irresponsible and unnatural turn towards the bad. Physical evil is non-being.
   1. The consequence of the ill choice of man is moral evil.
   2. Physical evil is the negation or privation of being. While order needs explanation, disorder needs no explanation for there is nothing positive in it to explain.
9. Human history is a constant struggle between two forces: Love and Hate, Good and Evil.
   1. There are two camps: those belonging to the city of Jerusalem who are imbued with the spirit of Love, and those belonging to the city of Babylon who are imbued with the spirit of Hate and lust.
   2. The warfare, beginning with the revolt of the angels, goes on raging in every nation, in every city, in every heart of man, all throughout the ages; but in the end, good will triumph over evil.

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Lecture notes on Medieval Art

early-christian-and-byzantine-art

medieval-art-in-the-north

here are softcopies of our lecture on medieval art (early xtian art and byzantine art, & Medieval art in the North). read them well ready for next meeting’s quiz.