JPI 548/748
Fundamental Moral Theology: Freedom and Human Action
This course takes up themes arising within fundamental moral theology. In what sense is moral theology really a theology? How can we relate the need for a moral “universality” of the humanum to the “particularity” of faith? What role do desire, fulfillment, love, truth, beauty, and the invitation to communion (cf. Veritatis splendor, ch. 1) play in our grounding of moral theology? The course takes up the issue of the relationship between “norm-based” and “virtue-based” moral theology, as well as the different understandings of freedom and moral action that tend to arise, given these different starting points. The course also addresses the specific themes raised by Veritatis splendor with regard to recent moral theology: freedom and truth, conscience, fundamental option, proportionalism, the ecclesial setting for moral action, and the role of Church teaching. Readings include Veritatis splendor and texts drawn from St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Kant, H. U. von Balthasar, S. Pinckaers, M. Rhonheimer, and L. Melina.
