PHGA 5003 – Natural Law Ethics 
Professor Joseph W. Koterski, S.J.
Mondays 2:00pm–4:00pm                                                                       

Syllabus

Objectives: The tradition of natural law ethics includes a rather wide variety of theories over the course of time.  From its origins natural law thinking has attempted to identify and defend an objective and intelligible basis for morality by concentrating on human nature, especially in terms of its structures and teleology.  For some, the natural law refers primarily to a higher law by which to measure the justice of human institutions and civil legislation.  Some thinkers have called on natural law in order to defend the natural rights of individuals.  Others prefer to use it to understand what makes agents morally virtuous and what the goal of human development is.  What unites these many views under a common title is the appeal to nature as in certain ways normative for human behavior.
            An important aim of this course is to acquaint the student with the history of theories that fall under the heading of natural law ethics and the different sorts of problems they are designed to address in each age.  A second aim is to exemplify the application of the natural law/natural rights tradition to current moral problems in light of the historical developments of this approach to ethics.   Given the important theological uses made of the natural moral law for the entire history of moral theology, a third aim is to explore some connections between philosophical and theological approaches to ethics by considering the history of Catholic Social Theory as enumerated by the popes from Leo XIII to the present. 

Required texts:

Paul E. Sigmund, trans. & ed. St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics (Norton, 1988).
Yves R. Simon.  The Tradition of Natural Law: a Philosopher's Reflections (Fordham UP,1992).
Pope John Paul II. Veritatis Splendor and Evangelium Vitae [available in various editions]
Russell Hittinger, First Grace (ISI Books, 2002).
John Rist. Real Ethics: Rethinking the Foundations of Morality (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002).

Some Additional Resources:

Heinrich Rommen. Natural Law.  Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998.
John F. Kavanaugh, S.J. Who Count as Persons?  Human Identity and the Ethics of Killing.  Washington, D.C.: Georgetown Univ. Press, 2001
Thomas Hibbs.  Virtue’s Splendor: Wisdom, Prudence, and the Human Good.  Bronx: Fordham Univ. Press, 2001
John Locke. Second Treatise on Government [available in various editions]
Immanuel Kant. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals [various editions available]

Requirements:  Class attendance is expected.  Final comprehensive examination and three short
            papers (6-8 pages) as preparatory parts of a comprehensive essay on natural law.  They
            will be organized on some aspect of the following themes:
            1) human nature and the basis of natural law and natural rights (due Oct. 6)
            2) conscience, moral principles, and the application of natural law (due Nov. 3)
            3) the relation of God to questions of natural law (due Dec. 1)
 
The three writing assignments are to be combined into a final synthesis paper, due Dec. 15. 

But it is also permissible, and especially recommended for doctoral students, to substitute for the previously described project one 20-25 page research paper on a topic to be determined ahead of time in consultation with the instructor, such as a paper on the historical development of natural law theory, a current moral problem from the perspective of natural law, or a paper on a textual problem in some natural law text, and so on.  Arrangements for using the research paper option should be made with the instructor by October 6, 2008.

The final grade for the course will be based upon final paper (50%) and the final exam (50%).  Class participation may modify the final grade.  The final paper is due at the time of the final class on Dec. 15.  It will be accepted later but at the penalty of one letter grade.

Calendar

Sept. 8 Introduction, historical context of natural law theory; Simon, chs. 1-2
Sept. 15           Aquinas’s treatise on law – Summa theologiae I-II-, 90-97 in Sigmund
Sept. 22           Aquinas’s treatise on law – Summa theologiae I-II, 90-97 in Sigmund
Sept. 29           Natural law as part of a general theory of morality – Simon, chs. 4-5
Oct. 6              Differentiating among ethical theories – Rist, chs. 1-2 (Locke)
Oct. 13            The importance of philosophical anthropology – Rist, chs. 3-4 (Hibbes)
Oct. 20            Rule-based moralities; conscience – Rist, chs. 5-6 (Rommen)
Oct. 27            Autonomy, choice, ideology – Rist, chs. 7-8 (Kant)
Nov. 3             NL, God, and theology – Veritatis splendor, ch. 2; Hittinger, ch 1; Rist, ch. 9
Nov.  10          Natural law vis-a-vis civil law and jurisprudence – Hittinger, chs. 2-3
Nov. 17           Contemporary issues in natural law – Sigmund, pp. 172-247
Nov. 24           NL and Catholic social thought – Sigmund, 152-171 and handouts
Nov. 26-30      Thanksgiving vacation
Dec. 1              Some applications of natural law – Evangelium vitae, ch. 2-3
Dec. 8              Some applications of natural law – Hittinger, chs. 4-7
Dec. 15            Some applications of natural law – Hittinger, chs. 8-10
Dec. 22            Final examination