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The Thomistic Conception Of Natural Law: Does It Commit The Naturalistic Fallacy?, Maria M. Owen

Senior Honors Theses

Does Thomistic Natural Law theory commit the naturalistic fallacy?  Ralph McInerny seems to think that Thomistic Natural Law, as Thomas Aquinas himself articulates it, escapes any potentially defeating criticism derived from the Naturalistic fallacy as described most notably by G. E. Moore and David Hume, which states that morality is not derivable from any natural property.  The naturalistic fallacy, if successful in its purpose, deals a fatal blow to the school of moral philosophy that strives to adhere to traditional Thomism.  In response to the criticism rooted in the Naturalistic fallacy, scholars like John Finnis insist that Thomistic Natural Law …

The Ontological Foundations For Natural Law Theory And Contemporary Ethical Naturalism, Bernard Mauser

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation explores some objections to natural law theory- many of which are also leveled against contemporary naturalism. Despite the way the natural law tradition has fallen into disrepute in much of the American academy, this dissertation defends a classical Thomistic approach to natural law from some modern and contemporary criticisms. It begins with a brief explanation of the theory of natural law that will be defended from these contemporary objections. Chapter three examines G.E. Moore and David Hume's classical problems posed to natural law, along with some contemporary defenders of Moore's position. These arguments are purported to undermine using …

Christian Realism And Augustinian (?) Liberalism, Peter Iver Kaufman

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Surely there is enough kindling lying about in the Bible and in subsequent moral theology to fire up love for neighbors and compassion for countless “friends” in foreign parts--and in crisis. And, surely, the momentum of love’s labor for the just redistribution of resources, fueled by activists’ appeals for solidarity, should be sustained by stressing that we are creatures made for affection, not for aggression. Yet experience, plus the history of the Christian traditions, taught Reinhold Niebuhr, who memorably reminded Christian realists, how often love was “defeated,” how a “strategy of brotherhood . . . degenerates from mutuality to a …

Reader And Writer: Lewis And Tolkien "On Fairy-Stories", Elizabeth Coon

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

Although J.R.R. Tolkien’s reputation in recent years has benefited immensely from Peter Jackson’s film productions of The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis still far outreaches him in terms of public awareness and popularity, specifically within the Christian world. Most are surprised to learn that Tolkien played a major role in Lewis’ conversion, rather than vice versa, and that their famous friendship did not continue indefinitely, but began to fade with the publication of Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. The differences in their philosophies of storytelling unsurprisingly reveals the philosophy of their relationship. In “On Fairy-Stories,” Tolkien demands …

God And Time: Relative Timelessness Reconsidered, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Trinity In Theology And Philosophy: Why Jerusalem Should Work With Athens, Alan G. Padgett

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ethics Across The Curriculum, Or, On Being Bilingual, Lois Eveleth

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Both philosophical ethical systems and religious ethics are eminently desirable in higher education today. And, like two languages, and despite the differences, they can and should complement each other. In an increasingly secular milieu, our graduates will have to be "bilingual."

Moral Enquiry In A Pluralist Society: From Contention To Conversation, Philip Matthews

Theses

Over the last five hundred years, several conceptually incommensurable theories of ethics have been promulgated. For some moral philosophers, this incommensurability is a matter of deep concern because, in complex cases, there is no tradition-independent method for resolving moral conflict. More recently, a new discipline of applied or practical ethics has emerged. Practical ethics attempts to fill the void between rival moral theories by appealing, first, to the role of reason from an impartial observer perspective and, second, to decision making protocols based on moral principles. This ―first generation‖ attempt at codifying practical ethics failed to bridge the incommensurability gap …

The Uniqueness Of Persons In The Life And Thought Of Karol Wojtyła/Pope John Paul Ii, With Emphasis On His Indebtedness To Max Scheler, Peter J. Colosi

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

The uniqueness of persons is explored philosophically in the writings of Max Scheler and Pope John Paul II.

Introduction: Comparative Ethics And The Crucible Of War, G. Scott Davis

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Michael Howard takes the title of his recent essay, The Invention of Peace, from the nineteenth-century jurist and historian of comparative law Henry Maine, who wrote that "war appears to be as old as mankind, but peace is a modem invention."' We moderns tend to assume that the great wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were aberrant eruptions marring the peaceful status quo, but the opposite better describes the long view. Outside the Garden of Eden, human communities have always been involved in political conflict and that conflict has regularly escalated to the use of lethal force, both …

Ecstatic Morality And Sexual Politics: A Catholic And Antitotalitarian Theory Of The Body, Graham James Mcaleer

Religion

This first book-length treatment of Thomas Aquinas’s theory of the body presents a Catholic understanding of the body and its implications for social and political philosophy. Making a fundamental contribution to antitotalitarian theory, McAleer argues that a sexual politics reliant upon Aquinas’s theory of the body is better (because less violent) than other commonly available theories. He contrasts this theory with those of four other groups of thinkers: the continental tradition represented by Kant, Schopenhauer, Merleau-Ponty, Nancy, Levinas, and Deleuze; feminism, in the work of Donna Haraway; an alternative Catholic theory to be found in Karl Rahner; and the “Radical …

[Book Review Of] Issues For A Catholic Bioethic, Edited By Luke Gormally, John Hartley

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

[Book Review Of] Catholic Bioethics And The Gift Of Human Life, By William E. May, Paul F. Deladurantaye

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

[Book Review Of] Euthanasia, Ethics And Public Policy: An Argument Against Legalisation, By John Keown, William E. May, Michael J. Mcgivney

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Strange New World In The Church: A Review Essay Of 'With The Grain Of The Universe' By Stanley Hauerwas, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Hauerwas's refusal to translate the argument displayed in With the Grain of the Universe (his recent Gifford Lectures) into language that "anyone" can understand is itself part of the argument. Consequently, readers will not understand what Hauerwas is up to until they have attained fluency in the peculiar language that has epitomized three decades of Hauerwas's scholarship. Such fluency is not easily gained. Nevertheless, in this review essay, I situate Hauerwas's baffling language against the backdrop of his corpus to show at least this much: With the Grain of the Universe transforms natural theology into "witness." In the end, my …

The Way Of Suicide, Assisted Suicide And Euthanasia, Or Evangelium Vitae's Way Of Mercy And Compassion?, Brigid Vout

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

[Book Review Of] A Primer For Health Care Ethics: Essays For A Pluralistic Society, 2nd Ed., Edited By Kevin O'Rourke, O.P., James Keating

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Prevention Of Infirm Or Monstrous Births, Michael T. Walton, Robert M. Fineman

Quidditas

From ancient times, humans have tried to improve reproductive outcome, that is, to give birth to healthy, beautiful babies. Both folk traditions and medical theories offered hope that inform or monstrous births could be avoided. While most efforts were ineffectual by modern standards, some may have been beneficial. It was not until well into the twentieth century that clearly demonstrable therapies were developed to improve birth outcomes. However, those therapies were almost as limited as the ancient techniques, in light of the possibilities of genetic therapy in the twenty-first century. In the following essay, we will look at the history …

Fides Et Ratio: The Perpetual Journey Of Faith And Reason, Elora J. Weringer

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

A Creaturely Ethic: Veritatis Splendor And Human Nature, J. F. Owens

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

In Vitro Fertilization: Truth And Consequences, Mark Yavarone

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Human Cloning And Donum Vitae, Alexander J. Lozano

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

[Book Review Of] The Way Of The Lord Jesus, Volume Iii: Difficult Moral Questions, By Germain Grisez, David Albert Jones

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Ectopic Pregnancy: Current Treatment Options, Deja Vu Humanae Vitae, John E. Foran

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Interview With Richard Eldridge, W. Desmond, Richard Thomas Eldridge

Philosophy Faculty Works

Desmond: Talking to Richard on the way over, I proposed that our discussion would focus on the theme of autonomy and embeddedness or relatedness. This is a recurrent concern in all of Richard’s writing. I thought it would be a good idea to look at this issue of autonomy and embeddedness in a variety of different forms, in relation to different philosophers that have influenced the work of Richard, but also in a variety of different domains such as ethics, aesthetics or literature, romanticism. In the latter the question of the interplay between art and religion also comes up as …

Thinking Morally, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

The Way of the Lord Jesus, Vol. 3: Difficult Moral Questions. By Germain Grisez. Franciscan Press (217-228-5670). 927 pages. $35.

Here is a uniquely valuable work, practical and direct, written in plain English by a mature scholar who wears his immense learning lightly. The "difficult moral questions" it treats are two hundred in number, each with an Analysis and a Reply. (And there are two narrative Appendices.)

[Book Review Of] Theologies Of The Body: Human And Christian, By Benedict Ashley, O.P., Patrick Lee

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Fourth Biennial Meeting Of The North American Fichte Society, Michael Vater

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

An Analysis And Critique Of Immanuel Kant’S “Critique Of All Theology Based Upon Speculative Principles Of Reason, Michael S. Jones

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

A Vision Of Family, Linacre Quarterly

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.