Ethics midterm

THL 270 FA26 Midterm Exam. Theological Ethics: applying moral principles with Amy Hein.

Spirituality

A relationship with the good/ultimate value

Christian Spirituality

relationship with God as ultimate meaning/value

Morality

a response to the good/ultimate value

Christian Morality

response to and pursuit of relationship with God as the good/ultimate value

Catholic anthropology

Intellect: power to perceive/respond to metaphysical truths

Sensory: power to perceive/respond to physical truths

Appetite: power to desire

Vegetative: power responsible for basic biological life (nutrition, growth, reproduction)

Locomotive: power to move the physical body

Ethics of being

“what sort of person should I become”

Ethics of Doing

“what sort of actions should I perform”

“Schema” of Christian life (five parts)

God is love

God loves us

We love God (or not—faith)

We are transformed (conversion)

We respond in/through/with love (morality)

Virtues

Direct powers towards good.

-identified based on reason and human nature

four cardinal virtues

Prudence: practical wisdom

Justice: giving others what they are due

Temperance: moderation in our desires and emotions

Fortitude: firmness of spirit, steadiness of will in doing good

three theological virtues

Faith: the virtue by which we believe in God

Hope: the virtue by which we desire the kingdom of God and trust in salvation

Charity: love of God and others

Wesleyan Quadrilateral

sources of theological ethics

Reason: power of the mind to think, understand and form judgements by a process of logic

Experience: the human capacity to encounter the surrounding world consciously, to observe it, be affected by it, and learn from it

Scripture

Tradition

Right and wrong

determined through pure reason

deontology

morality is about absolute obligation

Categorical imperatives

absolute moral obligations derived from pure reason

two formulas of deontology

Formula of the universal law: acts are morally correct if they would be correct for all people

Formula of the end in itself: we should not use people solely for our benefit with no consideration of their interests

utilitarianism

the good = happiness

happiness = pleasure

Act or Rule utilitarianism

process of identifying pleasures/pains, ranking them, and calculating acts in terms of consequences

Act: every act must be calculated

Rule: apply rules of thumb that generally maximize utility

Scripture: four critical tasks

1. Exegesis: critical interpretation of the text to determine its meaning in in its original context

2. Hermeneutics: interpretation to establish the meaning of the text for today

3. method: seeks to determine the use of scripture within the various levels of moral reflection

4. theological: relate scripture to other sources

scripture: revealed morality

prescriptive function.. offering authoritative guidance action

scripture: revealed reality

illuminates the values and goals(ideals) that are to be pursued in shaping a praiseworth moral life

goals of conscience formation

right thinking and correct seeing

five shorthand claims

according to theology the human person is a subject, in corporeality, made in the image of god, in relationship, a historical being, and unique but equal.

sacred

social

creaturely

spiritual

rational and free

conscience definition

a practical judgement that I must do this rather than that

primacy of conscience

no one should be forced to act contrary to their conscience, we must follow a genuine judgement of conscience(even against church teaching)

culpability and responsibility

culpability: moral blameworthiness for choosing in knowledge and with freedom, to be unloving or selfish

*being responsible for a wrong action does not automatically mean we are morally culpable for it. Culpability demands knowledge and freedom.

ignorance(two types)

definition: lack of knowledge or information

invincible ignorance- could not have freely striven to know better = responsible (striving to do the best you could with what you had)

vincible ignorance: could have or should have freely stiven to know better(culpable)

apostolic succession

apostles were the first authorized teachers

bishops are ordained as apostolic successors

they are collectively given full teaching authority (magisterium)

three levels of church teaching

Dogma: divine revelation taught as such (infallible)

Authoritative doctrine: specific moral teachings that apply dogmas to general circumstances(normative but fallible)

Prudential Judgements: concrete application of dogma/doctrine to situation or policy

(in)fallibility

Fallible: capable of being wrong or making mistakes

Infallible: definitive/irreformable

Natural law: definition

what is right for humans, based on human nature, according to reason.

Natural law: two order

Order of reason: emphasis on role of human reason. Nature is evolving and not a finished product, the natural order is not taken as the moral order.

Order of nature: Makers manual/blueprint model. Recognizes the givenness of human nature, body structures and functions matter, human nature is reduced to biology as one currently understands it.

Two paradigms to natural law

The physicalist approach: morally right actions are those which were done in accord with the natural end of each faculty

the personalist approach: an action is morally right if it is beneficial to the person adequately considered

freedom

the power or right to act, think, or speak as one wants without hindrance or restraint

Negative freedom

freedom from

absence of constraints, you physically stop me from doing something

positive freedom

freedom for. Freedom for flourishing that empowers action, I can’t do something because there are constraints

sin: definition

A failure to bother or to love, refusing to live out the gift of divine love

types of sin

original: all people have/inherit an innate tendency to sin

Actual(moral): failure (to bother) to love. Rupture our relationship with god.

venial: actions that do not embody the whole of our lives in such a radical way as to turn us away from God. Harm, but do not rupture our relationship with God.

social: the unjust structures, distorted consciousness, and collective actions and inaction that facilitate injustice and and dehumanization.

Church (definition)

The body of Christ in History. It’s fole is to communicate the Lord’s message and continue his eternal mission

catholic social teaching

the Catholic hierarchys formal body of doctrinal teaching on social and political questions

justice according to aquinas

renders to each one their due

CST 7 themes

Life and dignity of the human person

call to family, community, and participation

rights and responsibilities

the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

Solidarity

Care for God's Creation

common good

sum total of conditions that allow people to flourish

state(purpose of)

states exist to ensure these rights and duties/the common good

subsidiarity

governing bodies should intercine at the lowest level possible and the highest level necessary to protect/promote the common good

rights and responsibilities(positive and negative)

negative: right not to be/responsibility not to

positive: right to/responsibility to help realize