| In this dissertation I examine two movements that are critical of the traditional methodology of the neo-scholastic manuals and of certain contemporary papal pronouncements, especially in the area of sexual ethics. These two movements are proportionalism and feminist theology.; I describe the evolution of each of these critiques and argue that although some proportionalist theories have attempted to influence Catholic sexual ethics (e.g. contraception, masturbation, homosexuality), proportionalist theologians have failed to address important issues of gender, human sexuality and relationship. Nevertheless, their critiques of traditional "objective morality" and its understanding and description of the human act have been important to the development of Catholic feminist moral theology.; Catholic feminist theologians like Lisa Cahill, Margaret Farley, and Christine Gudorf have gone beyond proportionalism by drawing attention to important connections between gender, sexuality, and authority. All three of these theologians adopt certain aspects of proportionalist methodology but they tend to be more critical of the underlying structural sexism of the Catholic Church, and of how that sexism affects elements of moral theology such as natural law, embodiment, and love and justice.; I also analyze the impact that Pope John Paul II's encyclical letter Veritatis splendor (August 6, 1993) had on the contemporary conversations in moral theology. I suggest that although sexuality is not the explicit topic of the encyclical, the methodology embraced by the encyclical is clearly intended for moral issues in the area of sexuality and medicine. The inconsistency in the methodology the Church has applied to social vs. sexual ethics in the past several decades is striking. I look at the implications of this inconsistency and argue that it reinforces the public/private dichotomy that lies behind the Church's view of women (based on the doctrine of complementarity).; Defenders of traditional objective morality accuse proportionalists and feminist theologians of going too far in the direction of subjectivism and relativism. A nuanced analysis of proportionalism and feminist theology reveals that their intention is to find a balance between objectivism and subjectivism; between universalism and relativism--one that resonates with the reality of human moral experience. |
