Ethical Method of John Duns Scotus

Chapter I. Natural Law, Modernity, and Proportionalism: Limits of the Methods

Section I Methodology and Contemporary Moral Theology Chapter I Natural Law, Modernity, and Proportionalism: Limits of the Methods A. Natural Law Here I will present several perspectives on natural law to show what I consider its essential claims to be. A core statement on natural law comes from Troeltsch: the eternal principle of ethics lies first of all in the eternal, Divine, world-wide, and natural Law of Reason, which governs the whole cosmos, and which in the different spheres of Reality realizes their special purpose, according to the manner, which, for the time being is fitted for them, which in each lower sphere prepares the way for the succeeding higher sphere; in the sphere of human life, this becomes the reasonable law of freedom, which has to 2 / Scotus: Contemporary Implications of his Thought regulate in a rational way the senses, the affections, and the passions towards the end of reason.1 Thomas Aquinas used this key insight to develop a synthesis of two major traditions, the Stoic and the Aristotelian, which he combined with the common theology of the Church, articulated in particular by St. Augustine. From Aristotle, Aquinas took the idea of society as an order existing for the mutual exchange of services for the common good. This suggests that society, and implicitly government, is a part of the structure of nature. Within this context, law functions not simply as a regulatory agency, but as a part of the universal structure of creation, which derives its rational character from the intelligent plan of the creator. Aquinas accepts from Aristotle the concept of an hierarchically ordered universe with definite structures ordained by the creator. From the Stoics, Aquinas borrowed the concept of an absolute and a relative state of nature. From a theological perspective, Aquinas identified the relative state of nature with the human condition after the fall of Adam and Eve, which grounds a transition from innocence to sinfulness and the consequent weakening of human nature with its disastrous personal and social implications. Thus it became necessary to introduce government and laws to regulate the community and to restrain evil. Eternal law for Aquinas is the plan or order of creation which has existed in the mind of God from all eternity. It is a divine reality, immutable, and the locus of all truth and values; 1 Ernst Troeltsch, The Social Teaching of The Christian Churches, Vol. I. Translated by Olive Wyon. (NY: Harper Torchbooks. 1960) p. 258. Natural Law, Modernity, and Proportionalism / 3 consequently, it is the source of all objective morality. Parallel to this is the natural law, the participation in and apprehension of this eternal law by human reason. In its pure form, natural law is the Stoic absolute law of nature; but given human weakness and the clouding of the intellect due to sin, the natural law of Aquinas is the Stoic relative law of nature. Aquinas defines two other types of law parallel to these: divine law, the law of the Church derived from revelation but also having affinities to natural law and human law; and the laws of states or governments, which regulate personal and social interaction. This division of law forms the basic matrix within which all persons and institutions act and provides the norms to which they must conform. As Troeltsch summarizes the theory, Thus the substructure of reason, composed of natural, social, and ethical elements, became an integral part of the whole; it is justified as the expression of the same Divine reason which is revealed in the Decalogue, yet at the same time, as mere reason, it is subordinated to the sacramental, ecclesiastical, miraculous realm with its higher morality.2 Of critical significance in the traditional theory of natural law is the moral link between a particular act and the moral order. This link is based on the metaphysical assertion that the biological order reflects the eternal law in the mind of God and constitutes the foundation for an objective moral order. An example 2 Troeltsch, Social Teachings, I, p. 268. 4 / Scotus: Contemporary Implications of his Thought may help clarify the issue. Pope John Paul II, writing as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, stated the position this way: Thus, the whole order of nature has its origin in God, since it rests directly on the essences (or natures) of existing creatures from which arise all dependencies, relationships and connections between them. In the world of creatures...