Moral Theology - Class 4

Our conscience is at the heart and soul of our moral life, and moral norms tend to make us stop and think. Non Christians may come to the same beliefs, but only Christian belief includes the heart and soul. Moral norms are like abbreviated stories and our instinct is to ask, “What is the rest of the story”. Telling the truth is basically telling a story about things you understand. We were asked to rank in order of seriousness a long list of lies. Most of the class believed that lying to your spouse about cheating would be one of the worst, while lying to protect another’s feelings would be one of the least. Nevertheless, it was agreed that all lying is wrong.

The abbreviated stories found in moral norm includes the three parts found in most stories; what, why, and who. The ‘what’ usually relates to the action, as in telling a truth or an untruth. The ‘why’ usually relates to the intent, as in the reason for the truth or untruth. The ‘who’ usually relates to the circumstances, as in when, where, or how the truth or untruth was told. For instance: in the sentence “I do not lie”, the action is the telling of an untruth, the intent is to deceive, and the circumstances are to tell the story that follows.

The reason we have moral norms is that we use them to transmit accumulated moral wisdom. They speak both to character and action, and they inform our consciences. We use them to sharpen our moral perception, mark the outer ethical boundaries of what is acceptable, and to point to a minimum treatment people deserve given their humanity. I Kant’s approach to ethics would not have taken circumstances into account; where as Thomas Aquinas would always consider the circumstances. For instance, is it a crime to steal food when you are hungry? Some would argue that a crime was committed by those who failed to show charity.

During the last world war, a small town in Europe was hiding Jews from what they considered to be unjust arrest and detainment. As they met in passing on a street one of them might say, “I have two old testaments at my house and I don't need two. Would you be willing to take one?” If the other had room he might say. “Yes, please bring it around to my house later today.” Using something described as mental reservation, when asked by officials, “Are you hiding any Jewish people?” The owner of the house could ‘truthfully’ say, “They are not here”, meaning not where I am standing.

Norms, as you might imagine, come in many varieties. Formal norms collapse the story into a short line that focuses chiefly on character. The mini narratives are about our relationship with God; an example would be Love. Synthetic norms collapse the story into a short line that indirectly focuses on character. These mini narratives are about wrong actions; an example would be not to deceive. Material norms collapse the story into a short line that focuses on what is helpful, they are antecedent to action indicating an objective value or disvalue; an example would be to communicate accurately.

We discussed the interaction of natural law, divine law, and human law. Imagine three circles that are in turn contained almost entirely inside a forth circle, called eternal law. Inside the fourth circle portions of the human law and divine law circles overlap in a small area. Where the two overlap we find just laws. It also turns out that the human law and divine law circles each have a small area that falls outside of the natural law circle. Where human law falls outside natural law we find unjust laws, and where divine law falls outside natural law we find belief.

Natural law is not simply black and white, good or bad, right or wrong; it’s more like art than arithmetic. It’s more about asking how to do the right thing than simply following rules. It’s not the law of nature (physics), but the law of right reason, and it’s not discovered in an external authority but in our hearts. Human law is created by a parent or a government as a precept of practical reason. It’s promulgated by the legitimate authority for the common good.

A just law promotes the common good because it is what is good for persons and groups inclusively. Speculative reason is more like arithmetic than art. John is a teacher and teachers are smart, so what can we deduce about john's intelligence? Practical reason is more like art than arithmetic. Mom, can I sleep over at my friend’s house tonight?

There is also something called a moral impossibility. For instance, the Sacrament of Confession is called a noble task even though confession itself can be difficult for some. For Catholics, the Sacrament of Confession is prescribed at last once a year. However, if a woman lives in a rural area and the only Priest around is her son, she might find this to be morally impossible. Saint Thomas Aquinas would not have a problem with this, while I Kant would.

Using the circles above we visualized how eternal law contains the other three laws; natural law which is universal, divine law which is revealed, and human law which is created. Eternal law is God’s plan for creation, divine law is God’s will for us, natural law is universal, and human law is us trying to do God’s will. Where human law and divine law overlap we are in alignment with God’s will. Where human law is not overlapped with divine law we are held to a higher standard, and where divine law falls outside of natural law we require belief.

There are three levels of norms. Universal precepts are easy to remember, because they are always binding, always true, and always abstract. Middle axioms are typically correct but quite often the circumstances vary. Concrete norms apply to each and every decision because they apply to all situations, are changeable, and are often fallible. There are also two models for norms.

Physicalism believes that moral norms are grounded in the perceived structure of nature which expresses itself in the various faculties of the human person, each of which exists for a definable purpose. For instance, respiration sustains life, sight helps us make sense of our surroundings, thinking provides us with reason and the ability to seek the truth, speech (and listening) allow us to share the truth (or to communicate, comprehend, and coordinate actions). A physicallist would say, “don't act in a way that contradicts one of these laws”. This model gets messy with different views or understanding, and it doesn’t give us an answer.

Personalism builds on the moral principle of totality which holds that an adequate account of the human person looks at the person in totality. Although the human being is creative, capable of practical reason and thinking about practical action, the relationships that sustain them are the most important and fundamental dimensions of the human person. For instance, we are part of the material world and inter-relational with other persons. We are interdependent social beings, each with a personal history, equal but unique, who are called to know and worship God. A personalist would say, “We should act in a way that fosters relationships. This model sustains, balances, and respects the fact that God brought us into the world, not just to survive but also to flourish.

Thomas Aquinas says that we find natural law within practical reason, but he also pays attention to emotion and imagination. He goes back to the heart when he says, “Don’t look for the natural law by looking around in the world, let the world in and see what it draws out”. We should respond by encountering God in the world, seeing Jesus in our neighbor, and recognizing the humanity of a stranger. In other words it is informative of conscience while not determining our conscience.