The Catholic moral tradition struggles to find its own place within pluralistic, secular society. Adding to this difficulty, many people simply struggle to see the relevance of the Catholic tradition to their own experiences, or have even been hurt by that tradition. Finally, people often encounter moral theology simply as a set of rules or judgments about particular issues, detached from the deeper ideas that make those rules and judgements meaningful to human existence.
Taking a historical view that asks the question, “what does it mean to ‘do ethics’?”, this course aims to reconnect the tradition with the concerns that motivated its development. We will look at how certain key developments speak to particular moments in our history, and explore how the story of the Catholic moral tradition is also our own. In doing students will learn to see themselves as both inheritors of the tradition, and as active participants in its life.
Week 1
The Catholic moral tradition as tradition
This session begins the course by helping students distinguish between ethics and metaethics, before drawing from Alasdair MacIntyre to discuss what it means to view the Catholic moral tradition as a tradition.
Week 2
Thomas Aquinas: moral theology as formation
This session discusses the thought of a figure who would come to be incredibly influential in the modern Catholic moral tradition: Thomas Aquinas. It introduces his concept of the natural law, before exploring how his view of the moral life is embodied in his pedagogy, and the spirituality which flows from it.
Week 3
Neo-Thomism: moral theology as a bulwark against modernity
This session focuses on Pope Leo XIII’s recovery of Thomas Aquinas in response to the challenges of modernity. It explores how Leo’s encyclical, Aeterni Patris reimagines Thomas as a universal authority against the shifting power and fragmentary intellectual context of the modern era.
Week 4
Vatican II: moral theology as a voice in this age
This session explores the crisis of Neo-Thomism in the Twentieth Century, and the way the discipline of moral theology was shaped by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council which responded to the unique challenges of the post-war context.
Week 5
John Paul II: moral theology as a contested field
This session explores the subsequent methodological and ecclesiological crises in moral theology as the Church attempted to work out the legacy of Vatican II. It looks to how John Paul II responded to these crises, focusing in particular on his encyclical Veritatis Splendor, before reflecting briefly on the position of this response in an ongoing process of interpretation of the Council that continues today.
‘A Disquieting Suggestion’ and ‘Prologue to the Third Edition’ from After Virtue (Alisdair MacIntyre)
Questions for reflection
1. To which moral tradition(s) do you belong? What is your relationship to them?
2. What have been your experiences around doing ethics?
3. Do you agree with MacIntyre (and this lecture!)that ethics in society today is fragmented?
4. What does it mean to you to ‘do ethics’?
Reading and questions (please see file below)
Reading and questions (please see file below)
Reading and questions (please see file below)
We would really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to provide us with feedback on your experience with our course. Please complete an evaluation form here:
Evaluation form - Moral Theology · ChurchSuite Forms
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Dr Nicolete Burbach is the Social and Environmental Justice Lead at the London Jesuit Centre. Her PhD thesis looked at Pope Francis’ hermeneutics of uncertainty, and her research focuses on resourcing Pope Francis to think through issues of alienation and disagreement, with a particular focus on navigating the difficulties around trans inclusion in the Church. Previously, she has taught modules on postmodern theology and Catholic Social Teaching, both at Durham University.
