Natural Law and Injustice Evaluation - 2017 PDF

5. (b) ‘Following Natural Law results in injustice.’ Evaluate this view. [AO2 25] Candidates could include some of the following, but other relevant points should be credited....

5. (b) ‘Following Natural Law results in injustice.’ Evaluate this view. [AO2 25] Candidates could include some of the following, but other relevant points should be credited.  One line of thinking could be that Natural Law results in injustices because it ignores any potential bad consequences of our actions. For example, a Natural Law secondary precept is that ‘contraception is wrong’ because it breaks the primary precept of Reproduction of the Human Species. However, the consequences of this is that poor families, particularly in third world countries, are having children they can ill afford to bring up. Therefore, creating greater poverty and suffering.  However, the above could be countered because Natural Law is objective. Natural Law gives us rules that are independent of our individual thoughts and desires. Therefore, Natural Law is completely objective (it is not biased by our own feelings and desires).  Another line of thinking is that Natural Law can create injustices because it is out-dated. Natural Law is enforcing centuries old views that are out of touch with 21st century ethical valves e.g. the purpose of sex is to procreate, this can lead to homophobia etc.  This point can be countered because Natural Law is reliable and consistent. Ethics that rely on moral agents predicting consequences, like Situation Ethics or Utilitarianism, are not reliable because human reactions are often unpredictable. Natural Law gives us set rules that do not rely on unpredictable consequences.  Another line of thinking is that Natural Law has an inflexible approach that can lead to immoral outcomes e.g. not allowing contraception has led to the spread of AIDS in Africa.  However, this line of reasoning can be countered because Natural Law does have a certain amount of flexibility. Natural Law allows for secondary precepts to vary if an extreme situation arises (it has a teleological aspect to it).  Another line of thinking is that Natural Law can create injustice because religious scripture is a more reliable approach to ethics than Aquinas’ use of reason. This is because reason (as Aquinas admits in his ‘apparent good’ theory) can be used wrongly.  However, this line of thinking could be countered because Natural Law is all-encompassing. Natural Law can be applied to all ethical issues including modern ethical issues that are not covered in the religious texts e.g. genetics. Therefore, Natural Law can be applied to all ethical issues in contemporary (modern) society making it just. Overall candidates should engage with the debate and come to a substantiated evaluation regarding the issue raised. B120U30-1 RS Component 3 MS Summer 2017/LG 14 © WJEC CBAC Ltd.