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Words: | Submitted: Mon Sep 22 2003
... 'Natural Law Theory' is St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) 'Summa Theologica', who described the theory as 'nothing else than an ordination of reason for the common good promulgated by one who is in charge of the community'. Aquinas based his teaching on that of Aristotle, who also believed that everything in nature severed a purpose. Aristotle stated that natural law applies to everyone no matter what: 'that which is natural is unchangeable, and has the same power everywhere.' Aristotle distinguished between 'efficient causes' and 'final causes', an 'efficient cause' is what gets things done and the 'final cause' is the end product. It was Aristotle's belief that everything, including objects and actions, have some final purpose that determines it's goodness, through the understanding of what makes us good will help us to achieve it. Aquinas further developed the ideas of Aristotle stating that the world was created by God and due ...
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