This course takes up themes arising within fundamental moral theology. In what sense is moral theology really a theology? What constitutes morality? 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 question of freedom, the foundation and meaning of natural law, and the structure and character of moral action. Readings include Veritatis splendor and texts drawn from J. Ratzinger, St. Thomas Aquinas, Kant, H. U. von Balthasar, S. Pinckaers, M. Rhonheimer, and L. Melina.
Selected Texts
John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.
Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.
John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism.
Joseph Ratzinger, On Conscience.
Servais Pinckaers, The Sources of Christian Ethics.
Henry Veatch, Human Rights: Fact or Fancy?
Faculty
David S. Crawford
Dean
Associate Professor of Moral Theology and Family Law
Dr. Crawford’s teaching spans the areas of moral theology and philosophical ethics, the theological and philosophical anthropology of marriage and family, and legal and political philosophy. His publications address human action, natural law, homosexuality, “gender identity,” and the anthropological implications of modern civil law.
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