1. John Finnis’ development of Natural Law
Development of the seven basic human goods (life, knowledge, friendship, play, aesthetic experience, practical reasonableness and religion);
Distinction between theoretical / practical reason;
Nine Requirements of Practical Reason (view life as a whole, prioritise certain goods over others, basic goods apply equally to all, do not become obsessed with a particular project, use effort to improve, plan your actions to do the most good, never harm a basic good, foster common good in the community and act in your own conscience and authority);
The common good and the need for authority.

2. Discussion – Natural Law
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What are Natural Laws?
Do you think Natural Laws exist?
If so, what are they?
_rs_notes_2017.pdf

3. Universal
What do we need to know about the seven basic ‘goods’? On A4/3 – to complete
Self evident a. b. c. d.
What are they?
Life
Knowledge
Friendship and sociability
Play
Aesthetic Experience
Practical reasonableness
Religion
Valuable for there own sake
They are obvious
Theoretical reason
Finnis rejected ideals like liberty, opportunity and wealth as primary goods and sees them as intermediate ends that help make the basic values achievable
Practical reason

4. Why did Finnis develop an ethical theory?
The solution
The problem – why did he develop an ethical theory?
Demonstrate that there are universal basic values that are necessary for us to live worthwhile lives ‘Basic Goods’ are part of human nature
Natural Law has been criticised by David Hume and Jeremy Bentham. It was seen as derived largely from religion

5. Seven basic human goods John Finnis
Mnemomic
Life: self-preservation, including the transmission of life
Knowledge (for its own sake)
Friendship and Sociability: the common good
Play (for its own sake), skilled performance
Aesthetic Experience
Practical Reasonableness, i.e. the ability to reason correctly about what is best for your- self and to act on those decisions.
Religion i.e. a connection with, and participation with, the orders that transcend individual humanity

6. Summarise each Requirement in less than five words
Summarise each Requirement in less than five words.   Summarise each principle in less than five words.
 Life as a whole
Don’t ignore a basic good
Apply basic goods equally
Don’t be obsessed – project/person
Effort
Plan – do good/avoid evil
Never harm a basic good
Common good
You should act according to your own conscience and practical reason, not the authority of someone else.
How can we make decisions using the Seven Goods and Nine Principles

7. Nine Principles of Practical reasonableness
You should view your life as a whole, and not live moment to moment
You naturally have to prioritise certain goods over others (e.g. an academic would prioritise knowledge higher than a tradesperson), but you should always do so with good reason. You should never arbitrarily discount one of the basic goods.
Basic goods apply equally to all people. You can be self-interested to the extent that you are in the best position to look after yourself, but you should always take into account the good of others. A person must commit to all of these basic goods, none can be left out.
You should make sure that you do not become obsessed with a particular project, and keep the perspective that the project is a participation of a basic good. A person should not show arbitrary preference among people. In other words: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Use effort to improve – you should actually do projects and make an effort to improve – don’t just sit around and repeat old habits
Plan your actions to do the most good - try to be efficient in our moral choices {e.g. reasonable to save the old woman from the burning house and not her budgie}
Never harm a basic good - In every moral act, all the basic values must be remembered. For example, you should not kill even if it will indirectly save more lives later.
We must foster the common good of the community
You should act according to your own conscience and practical reason, not the authority of someone else.

8. The common good and authority
What is the common good?
What do authority figures need to do according to Finnis?

9. Recap
Seven Goods
Nine Principles

10. AO2 Evaluation of Finnis pg 26/27
Weaknesses
Strengths
Doesn’t solve Naturalist Fallacy
Moral relativism
Based on fallible human reason
Why those seven values?
Adds religion to ‘secular’ theory
Doesn’t help with moral dilemmas
Similar to utilitarianism
Seven basic goods are ethically neutral
Not clear
Not fluid enough for modern world
More ‘measured’ than NL
Acceptable to atheists
More flexible than other theories
Makes sense to the modern mind
Focus on community

11. Evaluation questions
Use the strengths and weaknesses to answer the questions on pages of Booklet 2

12. ‘Do the strengths outweigh the weaknesses of Finnis’ Natural Law’ Evaluate this view
Strengths don’t outweigh weaknesses
Strengths outweigh weaknesses
Which strengths would you choose here? How will you link them back to the questions

13. Only provides a basis for moral decision making for believers
‘Finnis only provides a basis for moral decision making for believers.’ Evaluate this view
Only provides a basis for moral decision making for believers
Provides a basis for moral decision making for believers and non-believers

14. ‘Finnis’ Natural Law is acceptable in contemporary society
‘Finnis’ Natural Law is acceptable in contemporary society.’ Evaluate this view.
Finnis’ Natural Law is acceptable in contemporary society
Finnis’ Natural Law is not acceptable in contemporary society  2
 4 – give examples  5  1  6