An Introduction to Catholic Ethics

This book is well organized and well written. It is one of three that I bought to prepare a short course in our parish. The ethical questions are well handled. I'd recommend it as a basis for any beginning course on this subject.

For years the old Catholic joke went something like this: more promising Church careers were wrecked on the shoals of teaching moral theology than anywhere else. In truth, the teaching of Catholic moral theology is deceptively easy and maddeningly complex: easy in that the Church since New Testament days has codified in various ways the evils of life to be avoided; complex because, like all systems of law and behavior, even an inspired Church cannot legislate for every possible existential incidence. Moreover, the mission of forgiveness of sin must share the spotlight with the mission to cultivate a virtuous life, or "to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." The challenge, then, for a Catholic educator is both a definition of a moral life and the exposition of a compelling reason to live one in the Catholic tradition. Longtin and Peach have put forward an introductory text that "sets the table" for a more specific discussion of Catholic moral teaching and current research, discussion, and controversy. Despite frequent reference to the Catechetism of the Catholic Church and other magisterial teachings, the reader should not expect an overview of these sources as much as a context for them. This work is notable for two sections that compose nearly the entire first half of the text. The first is a review of major non-Christian ethical systems, with strengths and limitations, including Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics," Kant's "categorical imperative," and an overview of the multiple branches of Utilitarianism. In addition, the authors include here a discussion of "rights theory" as conceived by John Locke and others. This overview is useful in making the case that the need for an ethical life is not simply a preoccupation of organized religion, while at the same time illustrating that each system can only take an individual so far in the development of character. Drawing from Aristotle's teleological approach, the authors argue convincingly that the missing component of non-Christian systems is a sense of man as an eternal creature, destined for an eternity with God. It is here that we find the insertion of four modern day individuals whose drive for divine actualization takes them beyond Aristotle's contentment with the golden mean, so to speak--Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Ignatius of Loyola and Pedro Arrupe. These were not sinless people, but they were individuals of character whose motivation cannot be explained by reason alone. Having laid this foundation, the text attends to the more domesticated questions of the Catholic moral tradition, addressing useful issues such as the nature of sin, the uses of Scripture in moral theology, Tradition and Magisterium, conscience, and virtue formation. As orthodox educators the authors manifest respect for Catholic methodology and conclusions; the selection of sources here draws from the Catechism, the documents of Vatican II, the instructions of recent popes, notably John Paul II, and t

Andrew Peach and Lucien Longtin, SJ provide a succinct but rich overview of Catholic ethics for high school students. The language is accessible yet rooted in the scholarship of secular philosophy (Aristotle, Kant, Mill) and Christian morality (Magisterium, Natural Law, Scripture). Many of the examples take their cue from cultural phenomena and invite student reflection on their own experience with ethics. The only improvements I would like to see in the text would be a more in depth explanation of contemporary ethical applications and there is a section on lives of moral exemplars (Pedro Arrupe, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day) that seems out of place and could be used to enhance an already accessible resource for high school students. The book is a rare find for secondary classrooms since much of the current literature is either intellectually limited (i.e., parish books with poor theology) or too abstract (i.e., academic theology without concrete applications). Overall, a great starting point for the curriculum of ethics courses!