Natural Law

Catalog description

Taught by DSPT. This seminar will examine the concept of natural law in Aquinas and its development in several contemporary authors (particularly Jean Porter). In particular it will address the following major issues, among others: the relation of natural law to Christian revelation and to the acquired and infused virtues; the relation of reason to natural structure and inclination ("natural law" to "laws of nature");" the transition between human "well being" (a factual state) and human "happiness" (a moral state); and the sources of moral obligation. Are the roots of natural law in reason or revelation or both? Is morality "underdetermined" by human nature? What role could and should natural law play in Christian ethics? Is there an unbridgeable gulf between the "is" and the "ought?" The goal of the seminar is to give the participants the opportunity to think through the foundations of moral living (in both the natural and supernatural orders) in the tradition of Aquinas. Requirements are class attendance and two ten page essays. [A course in Fundamental Moral Theology in the RC tradition with a solid foundation in Aquinas; faculty consent required; 6 max enrollment; Auditors with faculty permission]