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Grounds and preparations for the main thesis of "Veritatis Splendor"

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Finnis J.

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

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2015

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vol. 51

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issue 2

7-26

EN

Having set out in some detail the central teaching of the encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” – on exceptional moral norms – this paper outlines some of the preparatory work done by the International Theological Commission in a document which, though adopted with virtual unanimity by the Commission, remains unpublished because it so closely preceded the encyclical. In a third section, the paper recalls relevant teachings of Vatican II and of the Holy See that the ITC document recalled in support of its thesis. The fourth section of the paper offers some further reflections on the encyclical, its foundations and its significance.

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The splendor of truth and intrinsically immoral acts I: A philosophical defense of the rejection of proportionalism and consequentialism in "Veritatis Splendor"

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Seifert J.

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

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2015

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vol. 51

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issue 2

27-67

EN

The present article is the first part of a paper that was delivered, in an abbreviated form, as keynote address, December 16, at the Conference “Ethics of Moral Absolutes Twenty years after 'Veritatis Splendor', Warsaw 16th–17th December 2013. Containing the word truth in its name, the Encyclical insists that human freedom is based on the foundation of truth. Therefore, even though the judgment of conscience represents the highest subjective norm for moral actions, our first obligation is that our conscience itself conform to the truth and base itself on its knowledge. Even in the case in which an erring conscience obliges or frees us to commit what we deem to be good or permitted, this is only true in virtue of the sincerity and authenticity of a person searching the truth as foundation of the voice of conscience. In other words, conscience receives its extraordinary ultimate subjective moral authority only – even if it is based on error – from the truth which it always must intend as ground of its verdict. In the following, I will try to show by purely philosophical reflections that these fundamental tenets of "Veritatis Splendor" are not merely based on the Holy Scripture and Church teaching, but can also be shown to be true by philosophical reason.

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The splendour of truth and intrinsically immoral acts II: A philosophical defense of the rejection of proportionalism and consequentialism in "Veritatis Splendor"

100%

Seifert J.

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

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2015

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vol. 51

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issue 3

7-37

EN

The basic message of "Veritatis Splendor" is neither a legalism nor a mere set of ethical absolutes, not even a specifically and exclusively Christian ethic. Rather, the “absoluteness” of the moral calls and the obligatory unconditional rejection of acts that are in themselves evil, lives in the heart of morality as such and especially of Christian morality. How can one understand otherwise the words, where the absolute God reveals himself as the final addressee of any inner-worldly action when he says: “you have done unto me what you have done to the least of my brothers,” and: “what you not have done to the least of my brothers, that you have not done unto me”? What words might reveal more deeply the inner unity between the fundamental option and the specific interpersonal action, as well as the absolute character of the moral Act that is directed to fellow human beings? What words could insist more on the glory of human dignity, but also on the splendour of truth, and the holiness of God that radiate from these words? Perhaps this is the deepest sense of the word of Saint Gregory of Nyssa: "gloria Dei vivens homo est" – "The glory of God is the living human person."

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1 Finnis J.

Grounds and preparations for the main thesis of "Veritatis Splendor"

The splendor of truth and intrinsically immoral acts I: A philosophical defense of the rejection of proportionalism and consequentialism in "Veritatis Splendor"

The splendour of truth and intrinsically immoral acts II: A philosophical defense of the rejection of proportionalism and consequentialism in "Veritatis Splendor"