An Excerpt from “Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law” by Melissa Moschella

The foundational principles of ethics and politics are principles that guide us to respect and promote human flourishing. In Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law Melissa Moschella provides an accessible explanation and development of the new natural law account of these principles while clarifying common misconceptions.

What could motivate someone to accept death—and not just any death, but a slow, painful death by starvation—to save the life of a stranger? What could enable someone to endure such a death calmly and even cheerfully, to the point that the Nazi guards themselves expressed amazement at Kolbe’s courage? Of course, what Kolbe did went beyond the requirements of natural law—he had no moral obligation to sacrifice his life for his fellow prisoner. But it is nonetheless interesting to consider what could provide someone with sufficient rational motivation to make such a choice, especially since it was far from guaranteed that he would succeed in saving Gajowniczek’s life or enabling him to reunite with his wife and children. After all, the Nazi guard could have scoffed at Kolbe’s offer and punished his boldness by taking him in addition to the other 10 prisoners. And even if the offer to take Kolbe’s place was accepted, Gajowniczek’s chances of survival were still slim. Further, Gajowniczek’s wife and children were also likely to die before the end of the war, if they had not died already. (In fact, his wife survived and he was reunited with her after the war, but his two sons were killed in a bombardment.)

These sorts of uncertainties about whether our choices and actions will in fact give rise to the good outcomes that motivated them are not limited to dramatic cases like this one—though the high stakes in this case make the problem especially poignant. Indeed, though we do not often stop to think about it, most of the desired effects of our actions—the goods that we seek to protect or promote by our actions—rely on a host of contingent factors over which we have no direct control. Even a simple act like taking a walk to get some exercise relies upon countless physical, biological and chemical causes. Our ability to achieve the goods we seek is even more uncertain when the free cooperation of other human beings is required. To take an example likely to be familiar to many readers of this book: the success of a teacher’s efforts in the classroom depends in no small part on the dispositions and choices of the students; on the other hand, the success of a student seeking to learn depends to a significant extent on whether the teacher explains the material in a clear, organized and engaging manner.

Given all of these contingencies and uncertainties with regard to the fruits of our actions, one might easily be tempted to think: Is it really worth the effort to try to protect and promote human goods, acting in morally upright, virtuous ways, even when—as is often the case—this requires considerable toil and sacrifice? Can there be any assurance that our efforts and sacrifices will not be in vain?

Further, there are some cases in which it may seem that human goods might be more effectively promoted by violating moral norms rather than acting in accordance with those norms. In such cases, what can motivate us to act morally? What can assure us that, despite appearances to the contrary, violating moral norms is never truly compatible with integral human fulfillment?

In this brief concluding chapter, I want to consider how understanding God’s relationship to human flourishing and morality can alleviate these problems, providing a deeper grounding for moral obligation and moral motivation. I will consider this primarily from the perspective of what can be known by rational reflection—as is fitting for a work of philosophical ethics—but at the end of the chapter I will venture a few reflections from the perspective of Christian revelation.

(excerpted from chapter 5)

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