The choice o readings or his collecion was suggesed by heir proven useulness in inroducing sudens o he oundaions o moral heology, especially or he purposes o group discussion. Each is inormaive, providing access o a wealh o knowledge, as ar as possible in non-echnical language, or a any rae careul o explain he echnical erms. Each is simulaing and challenging: heir auhors are hemselves engaged wih and by he quesions which hey rea, and hey bring o heir ask heir personal experience and convicion as well as proessional experise. will have been noiced ha here is some overlap in he maerial, and some hemes recur. This is ineviable in a work abou basics bu useul also in showing how he basics are inerconneced and inerdependen. All o he readings are previously published: Donal Harringon's Wha is Moraliy? (Columba Press 996); Hugh Connolly's Sin (Coninuum 2002); hose o Vincen MacNamara, Bill Cosgrave, Padraig Hogan and Elizabeh Rees have appeared in The Furrow; Linda Hogan's in Docrine and Lie; and Julie Clague's on he CAFOD websie. am graeul o he auhors, journal ediors, publishers and CAFOD or permission o publish he maerial in his volume. The volume was conceived as a companion o my own Moral Decision Making (Verias 2005) which isel embodies he conen o a course o inroducory lecures in moral heology. Each o he readings akes a major heme urher, enabling he suden o explore some paricular opics in more deph. "Jr' 4 ji «} ~ ~ ~' i ~ ~ \,, ~ ~ ~.,. ~,j FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY - Donal Harringon - The main concern o his chaper is o presen in ouline ive dieren bu iner-relaed ways o looking a moraliy. From Wha o How People dier in heir views on moral issues boh in he Church and in sociey generally oday. Such dierence may well be he mos sriking aspec o he conemporary' experience o moraliy, hough some would ind i conusing while ohers ind i enriching. Bu underneah he dieren views people have on paricular issues, here are dieren ideas as o wha moraliy isel is. These underlying dierences are releced in he language people use. One person says: ' you do wha you eel is righ, hen you are righ.' Anoher says: 'Young people don' know he Ten Commandmens anymore.' Ye anoher saysr All ha really maers is love.' Such dierences hemselves raise urher quesions. Should we do as we eel or as we are old? s here an objecive righ and wrong? s love enough? For he momen, hough, le us say wih he saemen ha people dier in heir ideas as o wha moraliy means. Frequenly hese ideas are more implici han explici. People may be quie clear in heir own minds as o heir views on he righs and wrongs o lying or violence or divorce or euhanasia. Bu heir dierences on such issues may conceal underlying - 26 MORAL THEOLOGY ~. ḷ, 27
j dierences abou he naure o moraliy and o which he individuals hemselves are no ully aware. n order o ge in ouch wih hese underlying ideas, we would need o sand back a lile rom he irmness o our convicions and he hea o debae. We would need o urn he spoligh rom wha we hink o how we hink. We migh hen ind ha here is a range o acors ha come ino play in moral discussions, such as eeling and principles and love and consequences. We migh ind ha our own personal syle or mehod o hinking represens a good balance o hese acors, or ha i emphasises some more han ohers, or even ha i concenraes on one o he neglec o ohers. Some may have already worked ou hese maers or hemselves. Many o us, however, will no have done so. Many o us have simply allen ino a paricular way o hinking. Tha syle o hinking may have come rom our parens or i may have come rom reacing agains our parens. may have come rom he culure or i may be couner-culural. Bu he poin is ha i is more like somehing ha has happened o us han somehing we have really sored ou or ourselves. As a resul we may be less ree han we suppose in our ehical hinking. The concern o his chaper is o make explici some o hese underlying ways o hinking abou moraliy. We will ideniy and ouline ive dieren ways o hinking abou moraliy. These are: Moraliy undersood as law; 2 Moraliy as inner convicion; 3 Moraliy as personal growh; 4 Moraliy as love; 5 Moraliy as social ransormaion. may well be ha he reader will hink o oher approaches, or will preer o pu hese ones dierenly, bu hese ive seem o be airly represenaive o he range o ways we see moraliy. While i will be easy o recognise all ive, we may be able o recognise only some o hem in a way we ourselves hink. All ive are righ in he sense ha each sands or some imporan aspec o moraliy. One migh, however, eel ha some presen a uller picure han ohers. Somebody once used he phrase: <he ruh looks dieren rom here.' The phrase suggess boh a sense ha here is somehing objecive and a sense ha here are dieren perspecives. There is somehing ha we call moraliy, bu i looks dieren rom dieren perspecives. is like looking ino a room hrough is dieren windows; each view is real and rue and sill i is only one view. Somewha similarly, each o hese ive ways o looking a moraliy is a valid view, bu only he ive ogeher yield a complee picure. Moraliy as Law The irs way o looking a moraliy is o see i in erms o law. This is probably he one ha will be mos amiliar o us, boh rom our experience o living in sociey and rom our experience in he Church. Bu i is also one ha is oen dismissed oo hasily because o he negaive connoaions i can have. n his view moraliy is somehing exernal, in he sense ha i is no somehing o our own creaion bu raher somehing ha imposes isel on us. is given o us, no made by us; somehing we discover and no somehing we creae. One hinks o he amous line in Sophocles' play Anigone where he eponymous heroine resiss he unjus laws o King Creon. 28 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 29
Nor did hink ha your orders were so srong ha you, a moral man, could over-run he gods' unwrien and unailing laws. To speak o moraliy as law is o speak o i as being bigger han any o us. While sociey can make and change is laws, he moral law is dieren. is beyond our deerminaion and o i we mus submi. Because moraliy is undersood as coming rom ouside o us, i is oen associaed wih an auhoriy igure. Moraliy is seen o come rom our parens, or he parish pries, 0" he Pope. his aspec is srongly emphasised, i can appear ha a paricular acion is wrong or righ because his igure says so, raher han on he grounds o raional argumens. Some people who see moraliy his way, when asked why a paricular acion is wrong, canno give any reasons oher han 'because he Pope (or some oher auhoriy igure) says so'. The ruh, however, is ha no alone does moraliy come rom ouside o us, bu i also comes ouside such auhoriy igures. n oher words, moraliy is ounded on he naure o hings and no on any individual will; i is objecive. Wha moraliy undersood as law emphasises is ha here is a moral order o he universe and ha i is no wihin any human being's power o decide wha ha order is. A he same ime we can work i ou, hrough relecion and discussion. To help us work i ou, auhoriy igures inerpre his order o us or or us; bu hey do no creae i. Because his view o moraliy is so closely associaed in our minds wih auhoriy, our own role has oen been cas in erms o duy or obedience. is probably no exaggeraion o say ha, a generaion or wo ago, such words seemed o sum up wha or mos people moraliy was all abou. Obedience was he undamenal virue. One hinks o he words o Jesus: 'Do you hank he servan because he did wha was commanded? So you also, when you have done all ha was commanded o you, say "We are unworhy servans; we have only done wha was our duy": (Lk 7:9-0). We could easily slip ino caricaure when relecing on he language o auhoriy and obedience in morals, and so hese words o Jesus are saluary. O course, obedience may and oen does become blind bu in he presen conex wha he word enails primarily is he recogniion ha he moral order is somehing greaer han ourselves, no o our own making, and hereore demanding our proound respec. The words reward and punishmen are also very much a par o his way o looking a moraliy. They sand or he oucomes o moral behaviour. moraliy comes o me as a demand rom wihou, as law, and i he response called or is a sense o duy and an aiude o obedience, hen reward is wha ollows on such a response, punishmen on is opposie. The sancions hemselves may be anyhing rom a swee or a spanking or a child, o he eernal sancions we know as heaven and hell. Someimes i is el ha his language berays a selish moral aiude. The moraliy o Chrisians is compared wih ha o ohers who have no religious ailiaion. is said ha, or he laer, moraliy is purer because i is done or is own sake, whereas he religious moivaion may be ar rom ohercenred and more a maer o 'saving my sour. No doub his is someimes he case and i is anoher insance o how he view o moraliy as law may become disored. Moraliy as nner Convicion The erm 'inner convicion' no alone describes he second way o looking a moraliy, bu also capures he conras beween i and he irs way. Whereas in he irs way moraliy came rom wihou, here i arises rom wihin. This oo can be 30 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 3 _.. - - - - "~""... ~-
caricaured, as i moraliy were simply somehing we make up or ourselves as we go along. Raher, wha is mean is ha moraliy has been inernalised. is no simply an imposiion by some auhoriy, demanding our obedience, bu i is a requiremen arising rom an inner convicion. As a psychological experience, inner convicion comes laer in lie han obedience. A child can obey wihou knowing why; i is only laer ha we grow in he capaciy o hink or ourselves. Bu when we can hink ou righ and wrong or ourselves, hen we make he law our own. Now we can see or ourselves why he law commends his and orbids ha. is now an inner law, where values are personal convicions and no arbirary imposiions. n excepional cases we may even come o he convicion ha a paricular ormulaion o he moral law is wrong or inapplicable or in conlic wih moral value. This inner law goes by he name o conscience and hus conscience is a key word wihin his second perspecive on moraliy. Vaican 's documen The Church in he Modern World pu i ha' deep wihin our conscience we discover a law which we have no laid upon ourselves bu which we mus obey' (paragraph 6). This is he inner law, he law which has become par o a person, a person's own conscienious convicion. We come o he sage, or insance, when we no longer need anoher o ell us no o seal because we have come o see and eel is injusice or ourselves. Bu a his sage, he language o law and obedience, which is used in he quoaion rom Vaican, begins o appear inadequae because o is exernal ocus. To describe wha is mean by being moral or no being moral, words like inegriy and auheniciy are now more appropriae. values are inernalised and i convicion comes rom wihin, hen moraliy is a maer o being aihul o our inner voice or inner wisdom. This is wha is mean by speaking o a person o 32 MORAL THEOLOGY "', r i J. J inegriy, one who does no beray deeply held convicions on wha is el o be righ because o some empaion o gain or some pressure o he momen. Likewise, he language o reward and punishmen - as when i is said ha God rewards he good and punishes he wickedyields o somehing less exrinsic. moraliy comes rom wihin i hardly makes sense o hink in erms o an exernal auhoriy conerring reward or punishmen. nsead, reward and punishmen are seen as sel-besowed or sel-inliced. This is where we speak o he alernaives o inner peace versus inner disquie. The inner peace o a good conscience aends he knowledge ha have been rue o my principles. The reward is all he greaer i his inegriy has been achieved a some price, i i has cos some sacriice along he way. On he oher hand, an inner disquie accompanies he realisaion ha have ailed mysel by going agains wha know o be righ. eel guily, my conscience is pained. To he conscienious person, no exernally imposed punishmen could be more painul han his disappoinmen wih sel. Moraliy as Personal Growh Wih his hird way o looking a moraliy we achieve a very valuable expansion o our undersanding. Wha ses i o rom he irs wo ways is ha, whereas hey ocus mainly on our moral behaviour in isel, wha we do and wha we shun, now he ocus is shied ono ourselves. We move, in oher words, rom he acion being done o he person doing i. Our aenion shis o wha is happening he person as a resul o he acion. Take, or example, he elling o lies. We can speak in erms o a commandmen ha prohibis elling lies, and we can even inquire wha excepions here migh be o his command. n FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 33.,,,-.,-' - -.:~.-.'.:.-'.~ '~;:", '" ". ':.-,..-s:
~. erms o moraliy as inner convicnon, we can speak o a conscienious convicion as o he wrongulness o decei and he harmulness o deceiving. Bu his hird view o moraliy adds a urher perspecive by asking: wha happens he person? suggess ha he real ragedy in decei lies no in he inringemen o a law bu in a person's becoming dishones, or in a relaionship becoming alse hereby. n he moral radiion his way o seeing hings is represened by he language o virue and vice. While his language has los much o is richness oday (hink o phrases such as a person o 'easy virue' or 'he vice squad'), wihin he moral radiion i reers o a way o hinking abou moraliy ha emphasises he personal qualiies ha are he oucome o behaving consisenly in deerminae ways. Virues and vices are he good and bad disposiions or qualiies ha resul rom and he inspire our acions. repeaedly lie, become more o a deceiul person, and he more do so, he more am inclined by his vicious qualiy o behave hus on uure occasions. And he same is rue o he converse. Thomas Aquinas remarked ha i is very hard or people in he sae o grace o commi sin, because heir whole inclinaion goes agains i. Thus virues and vices migh be called moral habis. They are disposiions which arise ou o paerns o behaviour and which hen dispose he person o ac in cerain ways in he uure. is worh noing ha his way o hinking is o grea aniquiy, jus as is he language o law. While he Old Tesamen was seing orh wha we know as he Ten Commandmens, he Greek philosophers Plao and Arisole were ariculaing a view o moraliy in erms o virue. Their inluence is releced in he ac ha he grea hireenhcenury heologian Thomas Aquinas, in composing he moral secion o his compendium o heology. he Summa Theologiae, Ị chose virue raher han commandmen as his ramework - he heological virues o aih, hope and chariy and he cardinal virues o prudence, jusice, courage and emperance. is only in more recen cenuries ha he language o law has dominaed o he exen o almos eclipsing rom our horizon he language o virue. n shiing he oc~s back o wha is happening he person, we also move roma more saic o a more dynamic view o moraliy. The irs and second views end o be concerned in heir dieren ways wih he righs and wrongs o paricular acions. Bu i he ocus is on wha is happening he person, hen ha allows us o speak o change in he person, be i developmen or regression. This is he language o moral conversion. gives us access o he dynamics o challenge and change, o wha i is like or people o ry o change or he beer. Finally here are he oucomes o moraliy as undersood wihin his view. Previously we had spoken o reward and punishmen and o good or uneasy conscience. n his hird view we would speak o he conras o wholeness versus ragmenaion. The personal qualiies ha we call virues are many, such as ruhulness, courage, humiliy, non-violence, compassion. Each migh be seen as a parial realisaion o sel. So growh in virue is a many-sided challenge and as growh proceeds on dieren rons, albei unevenly, we are becoming whole, he ully-rounded persons ha God envisaged in our creaion. Conversely, when virue is mingled wih vice, o ha exen he hrus owards wholeness is rusraed and our moral being is becoming ragmened. Moraliy as Love For all ha we have reerred o already, here are sill vas areas o moraliy ha we have no ouched on. This is because he irs hree perspecives all concenrae on he moral agen as an 34 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKlNG AT MORALTY 35... _.>. '~" ;'~.";..:.:....' - ~." -.-
individual person. The remaining wo perspecives add o his considerably by seeing moraliy in erms o relaionship and by seeing he moral agen as undamenally social. This, o course, is a welcome correcive o individualisic endencies in moral hinking. n speaking o moraliy as love, we have in mind he idea ha we are primarily relaional beings. To explain his we migh hink o he analogy o he pieces in a chess game. Apar rom heir place on he board he pieces are incomprehensible, shorn o heir essenial meaning. Likewise, people are social. They exis in relaion o one anoher as do he pieces on he board. Apar rom he oher we are cu o rom essenial aspecs o wha we are. Even hermis have spoken o heir 'leaving' he world as a way o coming closer o he world. Conemporary philosophy higwighs he caegory o 'he oher'. This suggess ha he primary moral experience is an experience o oher persons. Or, o use an image popular in moral heology, he srucure o moral realiy is one o 'inviaion and response'. Because we inhabi he same space, each o us, simply by virue o our common humaniy, exers a call or inviaion o each oher. My presence beore you is implicily a call on you or your kindness and couresy, a call on your sense o airness and your sense o sympahy. Wihin his perspecive, being moral is a maer o being aihul o he ac o our inerrelaedness and o he demands o relaionship. is abou becoming alive o he ac, and being responsive o he demands ha i enails. is abou going beyond ourselves, ranscending our own egoism and egoisic horizons, and in he process realising our exisence as love _ realising ha wha we are and can be is simply 'love'. The alernaive o his is berayal. Berayal means any sance or ac or omission ha amouns o a denial o our common humaniy. Because moraliy is cas in erms o inerrelaedness, wha wrong-doing amouns o is basically a maer o berayal o ohers or anoher, raher han a privae maer. However, i should also be said ha in ailing ohers we are also ailing ourselves. n no responding o he demands o a relaionship we are also beraying ourselves and missing ou on our own sel-realisaion. When moraliy is seen as love, he oucomes o being moral migh be expressed in erms o communion versus isolaion. Whereas reward and punishmen reer o wha happens people as a consequence o heir acions, hese erms speak o wha happens o a relaionship. nsoar as people assen o he inviaion-response srucure o exisence, hey grow in communion; insoar as hey do no respond o he demands o relaionship, hey beray, and he oucome is isolaion. The words communion and isolaion give a deeper insigh ino he meaning o reward and punishmen. moraliy is abou responding in relaionship, hen communion is clearly he 'reward', hough reward is no longer a serviceable erm, as i suggess somehing exrinsically added, whereas communion is he inrinsic oucome o being aihul o each oher. Likewise, isolaion is punishmen in his inrinsic sense raher han an exernally imposed sancion. When we recall ha wihou relaionship here is no lourishing, we can appreciae how grea a punishmen i is. Moraliy as Social Transormaion The ih and inal way o looking a moraliy opens on o ye a urher horizon. coninues o see moraliy as a relaionship bu i goes beyond he small world o inerpersonal relaionships o he larger world ha is sociey. And jus as he view o moraliy as love was seen as a correcive o individualism in moraliy, so his broader view is o be welcomed or ranscending he endency o live wihin our own small circle wihou any grea adverence o he moral issues aecing sociey or he world as a 36 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 37 ~).,',.' _.... '..,........ ".,. "",,'...- :...'
whole. also ranscends he endency o ribalism, he aiude ha sees moral obligaion exending only o our own - he aiude Jesus had in mind when he said: 'For i you love hose who love you, wha reward do you have? Do no even he ax collecors do he same?' (M 5:46). So moral obligaion, like he ripples in he waer, keeps reaching ouwards. There is nobody who is no our neighbour; all humaniy in some real way calls or our response. The word ha sands or his perspecive is 'jusice' - a word ha has come dramaically o he cenre o moral consciousness in conemporary sociey. This is no o say ha jusice had hihero been negleced; raher i has emerged wih new meaning. The classical deiniion was ha jusice is he consan deerminaion o give o every person wha is due o ha person. However, i is air o say ha we have ended o hink abou his largely wih reerence o one-o-one relaionships. Wha is new abou oday's sense o jusice is is sense o responsibiliy, no jus o he individual oher, bu also or he 'whole sae o aairs'. This is capured by he now widely used erm 'social jusice'. n his ih way o looking a moraliy, being moral is abou being personally aeced by suering and injusice and being moivaed o do wha one can in response. is abou a sense o solidariy wih vicims, all who lose ou or are discriminaed agains or suer, be hey as near as nex door or ar across he globe. And responding is no jus a maer o providing immediae aid; i also involves asking why he wrongs are happening and quesioning he way hings are srucured in sociey. The opposie o such solidariy is individualism. The pressure o compeiion encourages he individualisic menaliy ha i is everyone or himsel or hersel. When his menaliy pervades, jusice is reduced o keeping wihin he law, and any sense o solidariy is numbed by he pressure o ge on and o succeed. is no ha geing on and succeeding are anyhing bu good, bu ha somehing serious is wrong when heir pressure is such as o numb he sense o solidariy, or even o raionalise i away in phrases such as 'a rising ide lis all boas' and 'i's heir own aul i hey're poor'. The possible oucomes o moraliy on his view could be described in erms o social peace versus division. When here is a lively sense o solidariy here is he possibiliy o ransorming sociey ino a place where he humaniy o each is cherished and where nobody's suering is oleraed. n he Chrisian radiion his is wha is known as peace. To quoe again rom The Church in he Modern World (paragraph 78): 'Peace is more han he absence o war... A irm deerminaion o respec he digniy o oher persons and oher peoples, along wih he deliberae pracice o raernal love, are absoluely necessary or he achievemen o peace: Whereas i he individualisic ehic prevails, o ha exen he divisions ha are already here are only deepened and, as he saying goes, he rich ge richer and he poor ge poorer. Finally, a urher dimension o his view o moraliy should be acknowledged. is ha, as he concep o jusice has broadened in recen imes in he way described, i has also come o embrace he issue o humaniy's relaionship o he environmen and o proclaim his o be a moral quesion o immense proporions. n some real sense, our 'solidariy' is o be wih all o creaion. We are o undersand all creaion as one grea communiy or parnership o being and we, he conscious or relecive level in he whole o creaion, are called o learn respec and o repen abuse. 38 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 39 \:,. A _' A _,,.,- ~,~. ~~".~..." w_ >.: _"
Moraliy as Law Duy, Obedience Moraliy as nner Convicion Conscience, negriy Moraliy as Personal Growh Virue, Conversion Moraliy as Love Faihulness, Response Reward versus Punishmen ---------- ------ ----- nner Peace versus Disquie Wholeness versus Fragmenaion Communicaion versus solaion Moraliy as Social Transormaion Jusice, Solidariy Social Peace versus Division ----.-~----~-----------~-- ---. negraing he Five Approaches As we said a he sar, we have each o us our own way o seeing moraliy and his ive-old schemaisaion may help o make explici or each o us he way we have been seeing hings. Bu i i ranspires ha one o hese ways has aken precedence in our hinking, he quesion arises as o how we can ake accoun o, and incorporae, he oher our. For a sar i migh be remarked ha he ive are no so selconained as o have no relaionship o each oher. There are cerain poins o conac and we could even regard each o he ive as seeing he same ruh hrough a dieren 'window', so ha we can ranslae rom one o anoher. For example, where he law says 'hou shal no kill', he language o personal growh would speak o he call o become a non-violen person. Again, i is no so much ha 'inner peace' and 'communion', or 'duy' and 'inegriy', are dieren realiies, as ha hey are dieren ways o alking abou a single realiy. i~ So we can say ha all ive perspecives are righ. Each oers some indispensable ruh abou and insigh ino moraliy, ye each on is own is incomplee. Each possesses a piece o he ruh so ha, on is own, i is boh valuable and parial. Even as we moved rom one o he nex, we saw new horizons on moraliy opening up, challenging us o achieve a comprehensive viewpoin. Each o us is sill eniled o our preerence, in he sense o being araced o eiher law or inner convicion or personal growh or love or social ransormaion as he moi o our moral sensibiliy.bu we are also obliged o ake accoun o he oher our and o inegrae hem ino our perspecive. Failure o inegrae one wih he res leaves us wih an impoverished and possibly disored perspecive. This ailure accouns or many aberraions in moral heory and pracice. For insance, wha is 'legalism' bu a ocus on he irs approach which neglecs he oher our? Surely moral law is an ariculaion o wha jusice in sociey is all abou, o wha love means, o he direcion in which personal growh is o be pursued, o how inner convicion is o be ormed. our appreciaion o moral.law is no inormed and inspired by hese urher perspecives, hen i becomes jus law absorbed in isel, missing he wood or he rees - so ha people are burdened wih demands ha make no sense because here is no meaningul reerence rame. Likewise, wha is 'subjecivism' bu an adopion o he second approach ha ignores he res? nner convicion is a valid base rom which o alk abou moraliy, bu subjecivism in is perjoraive sense means an emphasis on 'ollowing my conscience' ha is oblivious o he ruh ha conscience isel is nohing oher han he capaciy o appreciae he underlying meaning o moral law, o he dynamics o moral growh, and o he complex demands o love and jusice... ~<; v.,.'",. - 40 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 4
moraliy as personal growh is aken on is own, i may be reduced o a search or personal ulilmen ha has lile reerence o ohers. Wha he moral law reveals is ha personal growh is a maer o love and jusice, and wihou his undersanding we may be le wih a much impoverished idea o growh as pursui o ulilmen in a very sel-cenred sense. n relaion o he ourh approach aken on is own, we migh reer o he erm 'siuaion ehics'. This sands or he heory which holds ha moraliy has only one absolue, namely, o do he loving hing. Aer ha, i depends on he siuaion wha he loving hing may be. Here love comes o mean nohing because i can mean anyhing. lacks any o he deiniion i would have i i were o be inerpreed in he ligh o he oher ways o seeing moraliy. Lasly,commimen o jusice is disored i seen in isolaion. mus be subjec o he demands o love and inegriy i i is no o jusiy he use o any means in achieving is ends. One hinks o he uiliarian heory o 'he greaes good o he greaes number', whereby he individual migh be sacriiced or he sake o he greaer good. The desirabiliy o wha is sriven aer does no give a care blanche o achieve i by any means. All he same, such absoluising o a single perspecive is undersandable. Those who ask where he Ten Commandmens have gone may eel ha he only way o preserve he sense o righ and wrong in sociey is o keep insising on he need or law. Bu ohers eel equally srongly ha we need o celebrae and cherish inner convicions because or oo long people have been slave o moral auhoriy, unable o hink or hemselves, crippled by guil. Ohers again say ha all his is uile heorising and is aking our aenion away rom he real issues o injusice and violence in he world. We can readily see he legiimacy o each concern, bu we can also noe he blindspo in each. Ulimaely he absoluising o j anyone approach disors our whole undersanding o moraliy. each approach could appreciae he insigh conained in he oher perspecives, a uller ruh would become available. is worh applying all his o he 'generaion gap' as i aecs moraliy and moral consciousness. The generaions ormed prior o Vaican were ormed very much along he lines o moraliy as law, while i is largely he younger generaions ha oas he language o reedom and conscience. The word 'largely' is used because here are many older people who have experienced he release o escaping rom he painul consrains o law-become-legalism. we lisen o he older generaion we oen hear, besides genuine admiraion or he young, a bemoaning o 'he youh' and heir (supposed) loss o moral sandards, o heir being capives o subjecivism and relaivism. There is much ruh in his, especially in hinking o i as a capiviy. Bu here is also he shining ruh ha i is among he young ha commimen o he ih perspecive, ha o social solidariy and ransormaion, is mos vibran. Among young people, sexual moraliy is nowhere as black-and-whie as among heir parens; bu hey can be very absolue and unyielding in heir moral principles concerning injusice, war and ecological desrucion. Seen in his ligh, moraliy seen as law is alive and well, jus ha i has o be looked or somewhere else han hihero. The Five Approaches and Chrisian Moraliy Up o his poin, reerence o God or o religion has been incidenal, as we have been concenraing on moraliy in isel and on he dieren ways in which i can be undersood. Bu i we now urn our aenion o religion and moraliy, he quesion arises: does one or oher o hese perspecives do beer jusice han he ohers o he meaning o Chrisian moraliy? each were imagined o be a kind o key, is here 42 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 43 '- :6';~~~'~7.' ~~.~"
one which unlocks more o wha Chrisian moraliy is all abou? Or i each were seen as a language or speaking abou moraliy, are some beer able han ohers o ariculae he ull dimensions o Chrisian moraliy? We migh begin answering his quesion by noing ha all ive can be ound represened in he Bible. The language o law is ound hroughou he Bible, in he Old Tesamen paricularly. Many would hink immediaely o he Ten Commandmens. moraliy is approached in erms o inner convicion, we migh hink o he biblical heme o he 'hear' as he source o moral decisions, or o jesus' emphasis on he Signiicance o he inenion behind he acion. When i comes o he language o personal growh, Paul's hree grea virues o aih, hope and chariy come o mind. Moraliy as love is amiliar hrough all he pages o he Gospels. And when one hinks o moraliy as social ransormaion, he concern o he prophes or righ relaionships in sociey, as well as jesus' love or he poor, come o mind. All ive are here in he pages o scripure, bu i is perhaps air o say ha he language o law is he one ha has preoccupied us. The endency has been o view biblical moraliy hrough he lens o law. However, his is no so much because law is he dominan biblical perspecive, as ha i is wha has dominaed our approach o he Bible. And even hough he language o law igures very prominenly hroughou he Bible, i can be argued boh ha i is no he crucial perspecive in he Bible and ha, as a key, i is limied in wha i can unlock o he riches o biblical and Chrisian moraliy. ndeed, i we conine ourselves o his approach we will quickly run ino paradox. There is he paradox ha o love simply in obedience o a commandmen is no really o love. There is he paradox ha Chrisians mus be obedien as 'slaves J o Chris' even hough he same Chris has se hem ree (Gal 5). Such paradoxes do no make he language o law invalid; hey jus reveal is limiaions. When Paul speaks o 'he law o he Spiri o lie in Chris jesus' (Rom 8:2), and when Thomas Aquinas speaks o he 'New Law' which is 'chiely he grace isel o he Holy Spiri' (Summa Theologiae, -, 06, ), i is clear ha he idea o law canno conain wha hey are alking abou unless is meaning be ransormed. They indicae o us ha he language o law is inadequae or unlocking he deep meaning o Chrisian moraliy. We migh go on o sugges ha he language o he second and hird ways o looking a moraliy are incomplee also. For one hing, hey are oo much ocused on he individual, whereas he Bible is more properly ocused on he salvaion o a people. They also concenrae on wha he person is doing, whereas he Bible concenraes on he acion o God as primary All his leads us o he ourh and ih perspecives, wih heir language o inviaion-response and o social ransormaion. These are perhaps he mos promising approaches o he Bible. The covenan ha lies a he hear o boh esamens is presened as God's inviaion calling on our response. And responding as a people o God's inviaion is seen as he way owards righ relaionships hroughou sociey. Five Approaches: Three Syles The inal concern o his chaper will be o commen on he ive approaches as hey have maniesed hemselves in recen hisory o moral heology. We would sugges ha, when viewed in his hisorical conex, hey can be disilled down o hree groups, represening wha migh be called on 'objecive', a 'subjecive' and a 'social' syle o moral relecion, and ha hese appear as successive emphases in he recen hisory. 44 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 45
Objecive -> Moraliy as Law Subjecive > -> > Moraliy as nner Convicion Moraliy as Personal Growh Moraliy as Love Social -> Moraliy as Social Transormaion The syle o moral heology up o he middle o he wenieh cenury was very objecive, very much a moraliy in erms o law. By objecive is mean an approach o moraliy ha concenraes on he acion ha is done or omied. works ou wheher a given line o acion is righ or wrong and i does his by considering, no so much he consequences o he ac, bu he principles and values ha should guide moral behaviour, and he conormiy, or lack o i, o he paricular acion o such principles or values. This syle allows or he consideraion o possible excepions o he rule and he jusiicaion, i any, or such excepions. also includes consideraion o acors such as ear or ignorance, which may diminish he person's reedom and responsibiliy. Bu wha is noable is he breviy o he discussion o such acors, no more han a ew pages in mos exs, which eecively consiued no more han a oonoe. (Wha his means is ha he more subjecive aspecs o moraliy lose ou in he concenraion on he objecive.) n he years leading up o Vaican, here emerged a new emphasis on moraliy rom a subjecive or personalis perspecive, ha is, wih he ocus on he person acing and no jus on he ac being done. Originally his was inspired by he renewed scripural scholarship o he previous decades. Tha scholarship brough ou he cenraliy in he Bible o hemes such as conversion, discipleship and love. While a he hear o he Gospels, hese were srangely subdued and oen absen in moral heology; in eec moral heology was oen no more han moral philosophy. Books appeared in he 950swih iles such as The Primacy o Chariy in he Moral Li, The Maser Calls and, bes known, Bernard Hiring's The Law o Chris. Haring's oreword announced ha moral heology was o be ocused on Chris and ha i could no be viewed solely rom he poin o view o law. The word personalis well describes his enrichmen o moral heology. Wihou any depreciaion o objeciviy in morals, i brings he person o cenre sage. considers moraliy as a personal calling; i relecs on wha ha calling is and on wha i enails. We can readily see how he perspecives on moraliy as inner convicion and as personal growh correspond wih his. Seeing moraliy as love also belongs here, in ha he personal calling ha is a he hear o Chrisian moraliy is undamenally a call o love. n more recen years here has been aking place a urher developmen in moral heology, which migh be described as a move rom he personal o he social. O course, o see moraliy as love is already o see i as social, bu his is social only in a modiied sense. This is because, despie he personalis enrichmen o a hihero objecivis moral heology, much o he hrus was sill in erms o an individual person making a moral decision and on he demands o inerpersonal relaionships. Much o he ocus has now shied rom he decision and acion o he person deciding, bu he rame was sill largely individualis. The shi o he social in moral heology has o do wih is experiencing he ruis o he 'liberaion heology' ha swep ino wesern hinking rom Lain America in he 970s. Here, heology sars wih relecing on he inequaliies and injusices in sociey. This conrass wih he previous syle, which 46 MORAL THEOLOGY - - FVE W AYSOF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 47
discussed mainly he righs and wrongs o an individual's acions. corresponds o he shi ha begins in our ourh way o looking a moraliy (moraliy as love) and which emerges ully in he perspecive ha sees moraliy in erms o jusice and social ransormaion. Wih his scheme o objecive-personalis-social in mind, we can ask how dieren people in he Church hink abou moraliy oday. We can ask: how do members o Chris's aihul acually hink abou and hink hrough heir Chrisian moraliy? How do moral heologians hink abou moraliy? How do Church leaders hink abou moraliy? Take moral heologians irs. is quie surprising how many exbooks presening hemselves as inroducions o moral heology, many o hem regarded as 'sae o he ar' works, conain lile or no reerence o he hemes o jusice and social ransormaion. These are le o 'applied' moral heology. n heir mehodology moral heologians are sill very much involved in he ransiion rom an objecive o a personalis way o seeing moraliy. This may explain why hemes such as reedom, conscience and auhoriy are such major preoccupaions in heir wriings. he discipline o moral heology is sill hus engaged in he debae on he relaionship beween objecive and subjecive moraliy, Church eaching abou moraliy appears even less aenive o subjecive or personalis aspecs. This would seem o be because o is concern o proec an objec moral order agains he perceived hrea o relaivism. However, i mus be said ha many Church documens are much more alive o moraliy in he socio-poliical mode, as is winessed by a now cenury-long radiion o social eaching. Wha hen o he individual disciple? How does he or she hink abou moraliy? There is hardly a single answer. Some hink very much in he language o conscience and eel grea } ension in relaion o he moraliy o law and auhoriy. Ohers are irmly rooed in he language o law. Ohers again ind hemselves uncomorably beween he wo. Ohers sill have been aken up by he cries or jusice in he world and see moraliy very much hrough he prism o his passion. A he end o his chaper he quesion ha is le or each o us is: where do you sand yoursel? 48 MORAL THEOLOGY FVE WAYS OF LOOKNG AT MORALTY 49