Proportionalism : the American debate and its European roots / Bernard Hoose.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoose, Bernard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Catholic Church--Doctrines--History--20th century.

Catholic Church.

Christian ethics--Catholic authors.

Christian ethics.

Christian ethics--United States--History--20th century.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xii, 159 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

[Washington, D.C.] : Georgetown University Press, [1987]

Summary:

One of the most heated debates in recent times among Christian ethicians has been over what has come to be called "proportionalism." Opponents have argued that proportionalists are intent on relativizing theological norms and the concept of intrinsic evil. Proponents, on the other hand, argue that they are merely developing a traditional notion of proportion of reason. Bernard Hoose puts this debate in context by showing its roots in the writings of European moral theologians and its flowering in the writings of their American colleagues. He uncovers a number of confusions that have bedeviled the argument while revealing how important the issues are for establishing a coherent Christian ethics in the twentieth century.

Contents:

Chapter 1 How It Began 1

1. A Start but not a Start 1

2. A New Beginning Made Possible 5

(a) Problems for the Moral Theologians 5

(b) Attempts to Deal with the Problems 9

(c) New Ideas about the Magisterium 13

(d) New Thought on the Specificity of Christian Ethics 15

(e) New Thought on the Natural Law 17

Chapter 2 A New Beginning 27

Conclusions to Be Drawn 37

Chapter 3 The Moral Goodness Moral Rightness Distinction 41

1. Moral Rightness and Moral Goodness in the Early Contributions to the Debate 42

2. Moral Rightness and Goodness in Later European Works 45

3. American Proportionalists and the Rightness/Goodness Distinction 49

4. The Rightness/Goodness Distinction in the Antiproportionalism Camp in the United States 53

5. What Lies behind the Confusion? 57

6. Conclusions to Be Drawn 62

Chapter 4 The Teleology/Deontology Distinction 69

1. What Did the Philosophers Say? 69

2. Where Does Proportionalism Fit in? 75

(a) Consequentialism or Proportionalism? 76

(b) Calculating Proportion 81

(c) Are Deontological Norms Needed for Questions of Justice? 91

3. Teleology, Deontology and Theological Tradition 93

Chapter 5 The Direct/Indirect Distinction 101

1. Intrinsic Evil 106

2. The Importance of the Direct/Indirect Distinction for Some Opponents of Proportionalism 113

3. Some Counterarguments from the Proportionalist Camp 118

4. Disagreement within the Proportionalist Camp 121

Chapter 6 Conclusions to Be Drawn and Comments to Be Made 137.

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages 145-154.

ISBN:

0878404554

0878404546

OCLC:

15489142