Josef Fuchs on natural law / Mark E. Graham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Graham, Mark E.

Series:

Moral traditions series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fuchs, Josef, 1912-2005.

Fuchs, Josef.

Natural law--Philosophy.

Natural law.

Christian ethics.

Philosophy.

Law.

Physical Description:

xvi, 276 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press, [2002]

Summary:

Josef Fuchs, S.J., a "theologian's theologian," is one of the Catholic Church's most distinguished moral philosophers, known for his openness to conscience and moral truth. Appointed by Pope John XXIII to the Pontifical Commission on Population, Family, and Birth, Fuchs ultimately found himself disappointed in his three years of service and spent the next thirty years exploring a broad array of issues pivotal to a reconstruction of Roman Catholic natural law theory. Mark Graham presents the first full-length and definitive critique of Fuchs's theology. Beginning historically by looking at Fuchs's early writings and beliefs, including his defense of natural law during the "situation ethics" debates of the 1950s and 1960s, the concept of personal salvation, and the status of "nature" and "human nature," Graham moves to the intellectual conversion that inspired Fuchs to reconsider his concepts following the disillusionment of his commission appointment. From there, Graham engages in a sustained critique of Fuchs's natural law theory, addressing both the strengths and the weaknesses to be found there, and suggesting possible avenues of development that would make a positive contribution to the ongoing quest to rehabilitate the Roman Catholic natural law theory that continues to dominate the landscape of moral theology today.

Contents:

Part I The Preconversion Period (1941-66) 5

1 Natural Law and the Confrontation with Situation Ethics 7

Situation Ethics and Roman Catholic Moral Theology 8

Fuchs's Natural Law Theory and the Conflict With Situationism 13

2 A Fuller Account of Natural Law 36

Natural Law and the Structure of Moral Norms 36

Moral Epistemology and the Magisterium's Competency to Interpret Natural Law 44

Natural Law and the Role of the Individual Moral Agent 55

Natural Law and the Supernatural Destiny of the Human Person 65

3 The Intellectual Conversion: The Pontifical Commission on Population, Family, and Birth, 1963-66 83

Birth Control: The State of the Question 84

The Pontifical Birth Control Commission 87

The Beginnings of Change: Natural Law in the Commission Documents 95

Part II The Postconversion Period (1966-Present) 111

4 Theological Anthropology and Natural Law 116

Reconstructing Natural Law: Karl Rahner's Transcendental Thomism and the Emergence of the Acting Subject 117

What Is the Human Being? Human Nature and Personhood 124

An Assessment of Fuchs's Theological Anthropology: Contributions and Criticisms 133

5 The Core of Fuchs's Mature Natural Law Theory: Recta Ratio as the Proximate Norm of Morality 148

Natural Law and Recta Ratio 148

The Magisterium and Recta Ratio 158

Contributions and Criticisms 182

6 Natural Law, Christian Faith, and Moral Norms 203

Christian Morality and Natural Law 206

Natural Law and the Validity of Moral Norms 217

Exceptionless Moral Norms? 223

Conclusion: Fuchs and the Future of Roman Catholic Natural Law Theory 242.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-267) and index.

ISBN:

0878403825

OCLC:

49226196