Moral Evil - Moral Absolutes

Catalog description

Perhaps no ethical topic is more hotly debated today than moral absolutes: whether there are some actions that are always and everywhere morally wrong. From abortion to artificial contraception, from torture to the death penalty, these issues are of pressing concern for marriages, families, associations, government and international relations. This course seeks to review the Catholic response to this question through encountering the Christian tradition. After a short investigation on the nature of moral evil in Thomas Aquinas, this reading seminar will begin its historical overview of the Christian tradition with Sacred Scripture and culminate with Blessed John Paul II’s Encyclical Veritatis Splendor. All of this as we seek to get a clearer grasp on the Church’s teaching on moral evil and moral absolutes. (Cross-referenced to STHO 6112 )