An Expository Look at the Development of the Thomist
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A tale of two theories: An expository look at the development of the Thomist and the New Natural Law theories and the debates between the two groups from the end of the Second Vatican Council through the release of Veritatis Splendor Author: Eric Cadin Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104989 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2012 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. A Tale of Two Theories An expository look at the development of the Thomist and the New Natural Law theories and the debates between the two groups from the end of the Second Vatican Council through the release of Veritatis Splendor A Proposal for a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the S.T.L. Degree from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry By: Eric Cadin Co-Mentor: Stephen Pope Co-Mentor: Dominic Doyle May 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1: A NEW BEGINNING .................................................................................................... 7 NATURAL LAW OUTLINED ....................................................................................................................... 8 THOMIST—THOMISM CONTINUED ................................................................................................... 13 NNL—A NEW NATURAL LAW ................................................................................................................ 20 ST THOMAS FOR ALL ................................................................................................................................. 25 CHAPTER 2: POST HUMANAE VITAE ...................................................................................... 27 A WIDER MORAL UNIVERSE .................................................................................................................. 27 THOMIST—AN ONTOLOGY OF MORALS ......................................................................................... 30 NNL—WHAT ARE HUMAN GOODS? ................................................................................................... 33 THOMIST—A THOMISTIC TURN ........................................................................................................... 36 NNL—TRUTH PERDURES ........................................................................................................................ 40 NNL—NEW NATURAL LAW DEFENDED ......................................................................................... 42 VARIED PATHS .............................................................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER 3: DEBATE ....................................................................................................................... 49 THOMIST—BASIC PRINCIPLES .............................................................................................................. 49 NNL—BASIC PRINCIPLES ......................................................................................................................... 53 THOMIST—BASIC PRINCIPLES .............................................................................................................. 57 NNL—THE WAY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST .............................................................................. 60 THOMIST— “IS”-“OUGHT” ...................................................................................................................... 63 NNL— “IS”-“OUGHT” ................................................................................................................................. 66 CHAPTER 4: CONTENTION ........................................................................................................... 69 1987 NNL—LAW AND INCLINATIONS .......................................................................................... 70 THOMIST—A CRITIQUE ............................................................................................................ 73 NNL—A CRITIQUE ....................................................................................................................... 77 1990S THOMIST—MINIMALISM .......................................................................................................... 79 NNL--MINIMALISM ....................................................................................................................... 79 THOMISTS—MINIMALISM ........................................................................................................ 85 CHAPTER 5: ROMA LOCUTA EST. CAUSA FINITA EST. .................................................... 90 VERITATIS SPLENDOR .............................................................................................................................. 90 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................ 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................................ 97 INTRODUCTION Even as early as the pre-Socratics, that is, those forebears of thought and philosophy, questions regarding nature and natural law filled the conversations of these people. Questions of justice, rights, and law occupied philosophical and dramatic works. Antigone, for example, culminates in the conflict between a man-made edict and the “unwritten and immovable laws of the gods.”1 As Plato arrived and drew from the inspiration and writing of the Stoics, among others, he formulated a full and rich system of natural law. “Plato’s claim to be the first philosopher to set up an objective standard of right and wrong independently of the individual conscience is a serious one.”2 From this ancient beginning, formulations and opinions with respect to natural law have surfaced, risen to prominence, and given way to new understandings and appropriations. Contemporary discussions of natural law are, in a way, no different than the millennia-long debates regarding morality and nature. Within a Christian context, however, the Catholic theologian has the benefit, if not the authentic hermeneutic, to view these question through the lens of faith. It does not require a kind of fideism, that is, a necessity of Christian faith; rather, the Christian reality and the truth of faith informs reason so that, even amid confusion, the light of the truth might shine forth and through. In this context, all natural law theories and ideas are not created equal. This project aims, therefore, to trace the development and the promulgation of the arguments for natural law as represented by two distinct theories: traditional Thomism and the New Natural Law. Each theory represents an effort to transmit transmit the truth as well as to honor the grace-filled wisdom that the Church’s Magisterium offers. The timeframe of the investigation will be bracketed by two magisterial documents. The document Optatam Totius (Decree on Priestly Training), proclaimed by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council, provides the starting point with its exhortation 1 Sophocles, Antigone, 454. 2 Michael B. Crowe, The Changing Profile of Natural Law, (Hague, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 1977), 17. 1 that “special care must be given to the perfecting of moral theology.”3 The narrative of two theories continues through the magisterial treatise on moral theology written by Pope John Paul II in 1993, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of the Truth). Moral theology underwent great transformation during the post-Conciliar period as the casuistry of the previous centuries faded into history. Various personalities and schools of thought arose in a prolonged and dedicated attempt to renew and to perfect moral theology. Among these varied efforts, Thomism and New Natural Law appear as two mainstream interpretations of natural law and consequently Catholic moral theology. Of particular interest is the way in which the adherents to two theories actively engage each other through their books and articles. Such a dialectic draws out the specification of each theory, while also illuminating the struggle among faithful Catholics to articulate and to defend the moral truths of the Church with respect to natural law. The focus of the thesis will be expository rather than evaluative. In this way, it serves to lay out the development and maturation of each theory with respect to the other and with respect to the standing of natural law in Catholic moral theology. The particular nuances of individual proponents will emerge not so much to situate each individual theologian or philosopher; rather, they will contribute to a richer picture of the theories more generally. The primary contributors to the Thomist position will be Henry B. Veatch, Ralph McInerny, Russell Hittinger, and Steven A. Long. Those of particular interest in examining the development of the New Natural Law are: Germain Grisez, Joseph M. Boyle, John Finnis, William E. May, and Robert P. George. The thesis will follow, generally, an alternating pattern of exploring the arguments of each theory, as expounded by a particular proponent, in each theory’s historical progression. Every nuance of the particular theories cannot be covered;