3. Natural Law: Its Central Meaning and Character
Excursus 1: St. Thomas and Ulpian’s Definition of Natural Law
Excursus 2: St. Thomas’s Teaching on Natural Law in the Summa Contra Gentes
Natural Law, Vatican Council II, and Pope John Paul II
1. Natural Law and Vatican Council II
2. Natural Law in the Teaching of Pope John Paul II
Natural Law in the Thought of Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and Joseph Boyle
1. The First Principle of Practical Reasoning and Its General Specifications
2. The First Principle of Morality and the Ideal of ‘Integral Human Fulfillment’
3. The Specifications of the First Principle of Morality: The Modes of Responsibility
4. From Modes of Responsibility to Specific Moral Norms
5. Moral Priorities, Religion, and God
6. A Summary of the Natural Law Teaching of Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle
7. An Assessment of the Thought of Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle on Natural Law
Natural Law in the Thought of Martin Rhonheimer
1. Areas of Agreement Between Rhonheimer and Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle
2. Areas of Disagreement Between Rhonheimer and Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle
A. Two Levels of Practical Reason: The Perceptive-Practical and the Descriptive-Reflexive
B. The Relationship Between Natural Law and Virtue
C. The Movement From the First or Common Principles of Natural Law to the ‘Proximate’ or ‘Immediate’ Conclusions
Conclusion
Notes for Chapter Three
Introduction
1. The Revisionist Rejection of Moral Absolutes
A. Clarifying the Terminology
B. Arguments to Support the Revisionists’ Denial of Moral Absolutes
I. The ‘Preference’ Principle or Principle of ‘Proportionate Good’
II. The Nature of a Human Act as a Totality
III. The Historicity of Human Existence
2. A Critique of Revisionist Denial of Moral Absolutes
I. The ‘Preference’ Principle or Principle of ‘Proportionate Good’
II. The Nature of a Human Act as a Whole or Totality
III. The Historicity of Human Existence and Moral Absolutes
3. A Defense of the Truth of Moral Absolutes
Notes for Chapter Four
APPENDIX I TO CHAPTER FOUR St. Thomas and Moral Absolutes
Notes for Appendix I to Chapter Four
APPENDIX II TO CHAPTER FOUR Pope John Paul II and Moral Absolutes
1. The Moral Specification of Human Acts
2. The Criteria for Assessing the Moral Goodness or Badness of Human Acts
3. Moral Absolutes Protect the Inviolable Dignity of Human Persons and Point the Way Toward Fulfillment in Christ
4. The Incoherence of Ethical Theories Denying the Existence of Intrinsically Evil Acts and Absolute Moral Norms
5. The Infallibility of the Teaching Found in Veritatis Splendor
CHAPTER FIVE Sin and the Moral Life
1. The Core Meaning of Sin
A. The Biblical Understanding of Sin
B. The Understanding of Sin in the Catholic Theological Tradition
2. The Distinction Between Mortal and Venial Sin
A. Biblical and Magisterial Sources for This Distinction
B. The Classical Theological Understanding of This Distinction
C. Fundamental Option Theories and the Distinction Between Mortal and Venial Sin
D. Fundamental Commitments, the Christian Way of Life, and Mortal Sin
3. The Role of Sin in Our Moral Lives: The Way of Sin to Death
Notes for Chapter Five
CHAPTER SIX Christian Faith and Our Moral Life
1. The Existential Context of Our Moral Life
2. Jesus, the Foundation of the Christian Moral Life
3. Our Baptismal Commitment and Personal Vocation
4. Christian Love, the Principle of Our Life in Christ
5. The Beatitudes, Specifying the Requirements of Christian Love
6. The Question of Specific Christian Moral Norms
7. The Practicality of the Christian Moral Life
Conclusion
Notes for Chapter Six
CHAPTER SEVEN The Church as Moral Teacher
1. Teaching and Pastoral Authority Within the Church
2. Specific Moral Norms Infallibly Taught by the Magisterium
3. What Response Should Be Given to Moral Teachings of the Magisterium Proposed Authoritatively But Not Infallibly?
Notes for Chapter Seven
CHAPTER EIGHT Christian Moral Life and John Paul II’s Encyclical Veritatis Splendor
Detailed Exposition of Pope John Paul II’s Teaching
The Introduction and an Overview of the Document
Chapter One: Christ and the Answer to the Question