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GE ETH1
Week 9: Aristotelian Being and Becoming

Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify the natural law in distinction from, but also in
relation to, the other types of law mentioned by Aquinas;

2. Apply the precepts of the natural law to contemporary

moral concerns.

Concept Digest

ARISTOTELIAN BEING AND BECOMING

According to Aristotle, any being can be said to have four

causes.

1. Material cause- any being is corporeal (bodily), possessed of

a certain materiality or physical “stuff”.

2. Formal cause- the “shape” that makes a being a particular

kind.
Example: A bird is different from a cat, which is different
from a man.

3. Efficient cause- a being does not simply “pop up” from

nothing, but comes from another being which is prior to it.
Example: (1) Parents beget a child.
(2) A mango tree used to be a seed that itself came from an
older tree.
(3) A chair is built as the product of a carpenter.

4. Final cause- end or goal.

Example: (1) A child to become an adult.
(2) A mango seed become a tree.
(3) A chair to be sat on.

Identifying these four causes- material, formal, efficient,

final- gives a way to understand any being.

We need to take note that a being is not something that

remains forever unchanging. So in addition, Aristotle explain
the process of becoming or the possibility of change that takes
place on a being. A new principle is introduced by him, potency
and act. A being may carry within itself certain potentials,
but these require being actualized.

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Example: A puppy is not yet a full grown dog. These potencies
are latent (undeveloped) in the puppy and are actualized as the
puppy grows up and achieves what it is supposed to be. The
process of becoming- or change- can thus be explained in this
way.

Understanding beings, how they are and how they become or

what they could be, is the significant Aristotelian
contribution to the picture which will be given to us by
Aquinas.

SYNTHESIS

As Aquinas puts it, God is that which essentially is and

is essentially good. God’s act, is the creation of beings.
Noting that all beings come from God, it is possible for us to
speak of Him as our efficient cause. Also it is possible for us
to speak of Him as our final cause since all beings seek to
return to Him. We see here the beginning of synthesis by noting
how the Neoplatonic movement from and back toward the
transcendent is fused with the Aristotelian notion of causes.

It must be noted, though, while beings are good because

they are created by God, the goodness possessed by beings
remains imperfect. For Aquinas, only God is perfect, and all
other beings participating in this goodness are good to that
extent, but are imperfect since they are limited in their
participation. God did not create us and leave us imperfect,
instead He directs us how we are arrive at our perfection. The
notion of divine providence riders to how beings are properly
ordered and even guided toward their proper end; this end,
which is for them to reach their highest good, is to return to
the divine goodness itself.

Now we need to recall that beings are created by God in a

particular way, each being is created in a particular and
unique way, the unique way that we have been created can be
called our nature.

This nature is both good and imperfect at the same time.

Our nature has yet to be perfected by fulfilling or actualizing
our potencies that are already present in our nature. It is of
key importance then that the presence of a capacity for reason
is the prime characteristic of the kind of beings we are, and
how the capacity for reason is the very tool which God had

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placed in our human nature as the way toward our perfection and
return to Him.

We should not forget that this applies not only to human

beings but this also applies to the whole community of being
which is the universe itself that is directed toward its return
to God.

Under the governance of the Divine, beings are directed as

to how twit acts lead them to their end, which is to return to
Him. We shall now try to understand this dynamic once again,
but this time think of it in terms of law.

THE ESSENCE AND VARIETIES OF LAW

As rational beings, we have free will. Through our

capacity for reason, we are able to judge between possibilities
and to choose to direct our actions in one way or another.

Example:
(1) We work on a project to complete it.
(2) We study in order to learn.
(3) You bake in order to come up with cookies.

These are goods, and we act in certain ways to pursue them, so

goods are referred to as the ends of actions.

However, just because we think that a certain end is good

and is therefore desirable does not necessarily mean it is
indeed good. It is possible to realize later that doing so was
a mistake. This is why it is important for reason to always be
part of the process. It is necessary to think carefully of what
is really in fact good for us.

In thinking about what is good for us, thinking

exclusively of our own good without any regard for other
people’s ends or good will not do. Aquinas reminds us that
since we belong to a community, we have to consider what is
good for the community as well as our own good. This can be
called the common good.

Question: How are we going to determine the common good?

Law is the determination of the proper measure of our acts. We

should recognize the proper measure or limits in our actions

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that would allow us to direct our acts in such a way we can
pursue ends, with our own and also of others, together.

Example:

(4) Traffic rules- a motorist cannot just drive in any way he

likes but must respect the traffic rules like the maximum
speed on a particular road.

Such rule is something good, not only for him but also for
other motorists as it helps prevent motor accidents.

As Aquinas puts it, the law must regard properly to universal

happiness.

It is also necessary for rules or laws to be promulgated in

ideal sense.

VARIETIES

As noted, God, by His wisdom, is the Creator of all beings. We

recognized that, God created us and that we return to Him. As
Aquinas writes: “He governs all the acts and movements that are
to be found in each single creature, so the type of Divine
Wisdom, as moving all things to their due end, bears the
character of law”. Therefore, the divine wisdom that directs
each being toward its proper end can be called the eternal law.

Eternal law refers to what God wills for creation, how each
participant in it is intended to return to Him. Given our
limitations, we cannot grasp the fullness of the eternal law,
it is completely not opaque to us. We recognize that first, we
are part of eternal law, and second, we participate in it in a
special way.

All things partake in the eternal law, as all beings are

already created by God. Therefore irrational creatures (plants
and animals) are participating in eternal law by way of
similitude through the instinctual following their nature. On
the other hand, human beings participates more fully and
perfectly in the law given the capacity for reason, to think
about what is good and what is evil, and to chooses and direct
ourselves appropriately.

TWO KINDS OF LAW by AQUINAS

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(5) Human Law— refers to all instances wherein human beings

construct and enforce laws in their communities.

Question: How are we going to assess the validity of human

law?

Answer: Given the larger picture of Aquinas’s view, the basis

for assessing the validity or invalidity of human law is
whether or not, human law, conforms to the natural law.
Insofar if a human law go against what the nature inclines us
toward, it is not properly speaking a law— but instead, is
unjust and can be called a matter of violence.

(6) Divine Law— precepts or instructions that come from divine

revelation. For example, the Ten Commandments in the Old
Testament or Jesus’s injunction to love one’s neighbor in the
Gospels.

Point: Natural Law Theory of Aquinas is clearly rooted in a

Christian vision, it grounds a sense of morality not on that
“faith” but on “human nature”.

Aquinas writes: “So then no one can know the eternal law, as it
is in itself, except the blessed who see God in His Essence.
But every rational creature knows it in its reflection, greater
or less.. Now all men know the truth to a certain extent, at
least as to the common principles of the natural law….”.

The statement is a remarkable claim: anyone, coming from any

religious tradition, just by looking at the nature that she
shares with her fellow human beings, would be a able to
determine what is ethical. The complication one may have over
an overtly presentation is dispelled when we recognize the
universal scope that Aquinas envisions.

NATURAL LAW

We now turn to the specifics concerning the natural law.

The Natural Law

Summa Theologiae 1-2, Question 94, Article 2
Thomas Aquinas

Since, however, good has the nature of an end, and evil, the nature of a contrary,

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hence it is that all those things to which man has a natural inclination, are
naturally apprehended by reason as being good, and consequently as objects of
pursuit, and their contraries as evil, and objects of avoidance. Wherefore,
according to the order of natural inclinations, is the order of the precepts of the
natural law. Because in man there is first of all an inclination to good in
accordance with the nature which he has in common with all substances:
inasmuch as every substance seeks the preservation of its own being, according to
its nature: and by reason of inclination, whatever is a means of preserving human
life, and of warding off its obstacles, belongs to the natural law. Secondly there is
in man an inclination to things that pertain to him more especially, according to
that nature which he has things in common with other animals: and in virtue of this
inclination, those things are said to belong to the natural law, “which nature has
taught to all animals”, such as sexual intercourse, education of offspring and so
forth. Thirdly, there is in man an inclination to good, according to the nature of his
reason, which nature is proper to him: thus man has natural inclination to know
the truth about God, and to live in society: and in this respect, whatever pertains to
this inclination belongs to the natural law; for instance, to shun ignorance, to avoid
offending those among whom one has to live, and other such things regarding the
above inclination.

IN COMMON WITH OTHER BEINGS

Aquinas identifies first that there is in our nature, common

with all other beings a desire to preserve one’s own being.

Example:
(1) A makahiya leaf folds inward and protects itself when
touched.
(2) A cat cowers (flinch) and then tries to run away when it
feels threatened.

For this reason, Aquinas tells us that it is according to

natural law to preserve human life. We can thus say that to
take the life of another would be a violation of the natural
law, and therefore it is unethical.

Example:
(3) Murder — it seems that taking one’s own life would be
unacceptable even in the form of psychical-assisted suicide.

We can confidently asset that acts that promote the

continuation of life are to be lauded as ethical because they
are in line with the natural law.

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IN COMMON WITH OTHER ANIMALS

According to Aquinas, sexual intercourse and the care of one’s

offspring are common in our human nature with other animals. As
a matter of fact, animals engage in sexual intercourse at a
specific time of “heat” and this could result in offspring,
same in human beings too, that natural inclination to engage in
sexual acts and to reproduce exists.

The intrinsic connection between the sexual act and fecundity

gives rise to a number of notions of what is acceptable and
unacceptable in varying degrees of contentiousness.

Example: Abortion. From the stance of natural law the act of

preventing the emergence of new life would be considered
unacceptable.

With regard to sexual act, the moral judgments get more

volatile.

Example: The use of contraception. This argument provides

ground for rejecting various forms of contraception since these
also for the sexual act to take place, but inhibit procreation
which is considered deviant,

To explain, Aquinas writes: “…certain special sins are said to

be against nature; thus contrary to sexual intercourse, which
is natural to all animals, is unisexual lust, which has
received the special name of the unnatural crime.”

UNIQUELY HUMAN

After two inclinations, Aquinas presents a third reason which

states that we have an inclination to good according to the
nature of our reason. With this, we babe a natural inclination
to know the truth about God and to live in society. It is of
interest that this is followed by matters of both an epistemic
and a social concern.

PROBLEM: It is frustrating to anyone trying to read Aquinas’s

texts since he does not go into great detail in enumerating
what specific acts would be clearly ethical or unethical.
Instead, he gave certain general guideposts:

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(a) Epistemic concern, which is that we know we pursue the
truth.
(b) Social concern, which is that we know we live in relation
to others.

Let us elaborate on this further.

First, we are presented with three inclinations as bases for

moral valuation.
(3) Preserving the self is good.
(4) Sexual inclination and sexual act.
(5) The nature of our reason.

Thomas points out that the need to recognize that whole our
other inclinations are good, as they are in our nature, what it
means to be human os, precisely to exercise our reason in our
consideration of how the whole self should be comported toward
the good.

We cannot simply say that “sex is natural”, if what we mean we

could just engage in the act on any way we like without thought
or care. Instead we are encourage to make full use of our
reason and determine when the performance of our natural
inclination is appropriate.

Second, the vagueness of the third inclination. To say that

Aquinas mentions that he is not interested in providing
precepts that one would simply, unthinkingly follow. To say
that human being is rational is to recognize that we should
take up the burden of thinking carefully how a particular act
may or may not be a violation of our nature. It is to take the
trouble to think carefully about how our acts would either
contribute tom or detract from, the common good.

For this reason, in making human law, additions that are not at
all problematic for the natural law are possible. If human law
has been decided these contribute to the common good, then they
could, be proper extensions of the natural law.

Aquinas puts it, nothing hinders a change in the natural law by

way of addition, since our reason has found and can find many
things that benefit individual and communal human life.

REFERENCES:
Davies, Brian and Eleonore Stump, editors. The Oxford Handbook
of Aquinas. Oxford: Oxford 2009.

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Plato. “Plato’s Republic”.
http://www.idph.net/conteudos/ebooks/republic.pdf

Plotinus.“Plotinus’ Enneads.”
https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0204-
0270,_Plotinus,_The_Six_Enneads,_EN.pdf

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