ETHC445N - Principles of Ethics Required Resources Read/review the following resources for this activity: Minimum of 5 scholarly sources (This includes the sources from the annotated bibliography. Add
Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adrianna F. Pierson
Chamberlain University
February 10, 2020
Introduction
Natural law as an ethical perspective has attracted numerous scholastic attention in recent times. The focus is not surprising because, since the medieval era, the theory has served to illuminate the views of seminal Western thought thinkers. It is to the extent that it can be argued that western morality inflexibly veers toward natural law as its autonomous foundation. In the present discourse, I posit that natural law explains same-sex relationships as a misnomer and chaotic pattern of reproductive nature. It is a view that challenges established natural law thoughts that nature confronts chaos as a twin, and an equal, and hence anomalous behavior is also acceptable as the genuine representation of nature. The thoughts are critical to the extent that pedagogic perspectives on same-sex marriage are mainly based on the view that biological and sexual differences are part of the mainstream nature, and therefore, they constitute the support of natural law as the defense of same-sex relationship.
Lago, P. A. (2018). Same-sex marriage: a defense based on foundations of natural law. Revista Direito GV, 14(3), 1044-1066.
Lago( 2018) article is seminal to understanding the natural law perspective of same-sex marriage. The author illuminates the issue with a sound and coherent understanding of natural law theory as developed throughout history by seminal thinkers such as Aristotle, Aquinas, and Augustus, as well as leading, enlightenment era thinkers. Lago begin the critical discourse by first refuting claims that natural thinkers are overly religious to be considered for serious scholastic discussion (P. 1044). Highly inspired by Finnis, Lago defines natural law as a set of basic practical principles which indicate the basic forms of human flourishing as goods to be pursued and realized (p.1056). He then emerges from the subsidiary concerns to internally critique the natural law thoughts based on the thinking of Finnis. I disagree however with some of the tentative arguments about same-sex marriage, as Lago oversimplifies natural law and mistake it in a way to the pursuit of pleasure; for he believes that nature itself is the basis of different sexual pursuits. It is a point that many would also find divisive.
Mackinnon, B., & Fiala, A. (2018). Ethics: theory and contemporary issues, 9th edition.
Mackinnon & Fiala, (2018) which Duke(2018) references argues that natural law is established in the foundation that the study of natural law would not be complete without alluding to Aristotle (p.456). The author highlights in-depth that a precondition for any adequate assessment of Aristotle's natural law credentials is a close analysis of the Nicomachean Ethics (p.2). He further illuminates the topic by postulating that Aristotle's relationship with natural law should be perceived from the focal point of the concept just, which was the primary predisposition of Aristotle (p.10). I agree with Duke that Aristotle established a concrete foundation of understanding natural law, from the perspective of both reason and justice and hence Duke’s Account of Aristotle is worth reading and worth exploring.
Murphy, T. (2019). Natural law and natural justice: a Thomistic perspective. In Research Handbook on Natural Law Theory. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Murphy (2019) article provides a groundbreaking and captivating account of natural law as a distinctive ethical theory. Critical to Murphy is the realization that natural law flows seamlessly from personal virtues that bestow upon an individual the ability to recognize other people’s legitimate claims (p.304). The scholar introduces a paradigm shift in the understanding of natural law. First, he deviates considerably from Nicomachean Ethics when he refuses to derive natural law as emanating from higher beings. “This view of justice, Murphy argues, does not emphasize rules or norms laid down by some higher source, as contemporary natural law accounts often do’’(P.306). Murphy is right to the extent that he considerably removes natural law from the discourse of religiosity and spirituality and defends it as an ultimate law of nature which can be studied empirically. His account is also flawless and a must-read for everybody seeking to understand natural law from an empirical perspective.
Lago, P. A. (2018). Same-sex marriage: a defense based on foundations of natural law. Revista Direito GV, 14(3), 1044-1066.
Lago( 2018) article is seminal to understanding the natural law perspective of same-sex marriage. The author illuminates the issue with a sound and coherent understanding of natural law theory as developed throughout history by seminal thinkers such as Aristotle, Aquinas, and Augustus, as well as leading, enlightenment era thinkers. Lago begin the critical discourse by first refuting claims that natural thinkers are overly religious to be considered for serious scholastic discussion (P. 1044). Highly inspired by Finnis, Lago defines natural law as a set of basic practical principles which indicate the basic forms of human flourishing as goods to be pursued and realized (p.1056). He then emerges from the subsidiary concerns to internally critique the natural law thoughts based on the thinking of Finnis. I disagree however with some of the tentative arguments about same-sex marriage, as Lago oversimplifies natural law and mistake it in a way to the pursuit of pleasure; for he believes that nature itself is the basis of different sexual pursuits. It is a point that many would also find divisive.
Puolimatka, T. (2017). How Wolterstorff’s Defense of Same-Sex Marriage Violates His Theory of Justice: Philosophical Note on Wolterstorff’s Argument for Same-Sex Marriage. Philosophia Christi, 19(2), 363-380.
Poulmatka (2017) article aptly refutes some of the fundamental views of Wolterstorff, who had in a glaring and provocative intellectual dispensation highly defends same-sex marriage as grounded barely on natural law (P.363). The views held by the scholars illuminate the weakness of defense for same-sex marriage based on the idea of naturally bestowed differences in sexual orientation (p.365). The author alludes to nature, and from an Aristotelian perspective attempts to demystify what constitutes the natural and whether such can be read from nature as Aquinas alleged. The author concludes, and for which I agree that nature is orderly, readable and conceivable and that chaos and anomaly do not constitute part of the refined nature and hence should not be used to describe natural law.
Vaccarezza, M. (2017). Beyond a Dichotomy. Aquinas Theory of Natural Law as a Form of Autonomous Theonomy. Dialegesthai, Rivista telematica di Filosofia, 19(20-28)
Vaccarezza (2017) article is among the few seminal accounts that aptly simplify the perspectives of Aquinas on natural law, making an overly complex topic captivating to read and flawless. The scholar argues that the genuine ground of Aquinas's theory of natural law is to be found not only in his metaphysical perspective but also in an explicit reference to God as a lawgiver (p.21). The author, however, favors an autonomous view of Aquinas, a natural law model he also assigns to scholars such as Kant, Augustus of Hippo among other church fathers over the heteronomous model (P.26). I agree with the author's critical view that Aquinas saw in natural law the imprints of the Christian divine being. However, by oversimplifying natural law squarely as a predisposition of divinity, the author, like Aquinas has been criticized for being non-empirical.
