The politics of moral theology: Historicizing neo-Thomist moral theology, with special reference to the work of Germain Grisez

Debates over the extent to which ethics can proceed independently of theological convictions characterize much contemporary discussion in moral theology. Some consider Christian ethics part of a common human morality and thus autonomous from theological convictions; others argue for only a "core" of common human morality. Despite differences, most contemporary moral theologians posit at least a core of common human morality which functions unconstrained by theological convictions.; This dissertation argues that this commitment to a common human morality is peculiarly modern and incompatible with several basic theological convictions. First, it embraces a notion of moral obligation independent of a theological understanding of human ends. Second, it presumes an individualistic theory of human action which provides a inadequate account of the unity of human life. Third, it is generated bereft of a politics, thus positing no conceptual space for a satisfactory ecclesiology.; In challenging this construal of moral theology, the dissertation first distinguishes this modern vision of moral theology from one shaped by Christian practices ordered toward a theological telos enfolding the whole human good. The modern vision is named the epistemological paradigm; the alternative is named the catechetical paradigm. Second, it shows how contemporary historians of moral theology take for granted many of the epistemological paradigm's assumptions in narrating the discipline's history. Third, it shows how an evolving understanding of the relation between the natural and the supernatural in the early modern period foreshadows neo-Thomism's adoption of the epistemological paradigm. Fourth, the dissertation analyzes the work of Germain Grisez, noting his indebtedness to neo-Thomism, and how his epistemological methodology shapes his analysis of the issue of contraception.; Modern moral theology's ready acceptance of a common human morality has eroded theological reflection on Christian life in modernity, especially on "political" life. An authentic theological understanding of the nature of Christian life proceeds from the concretely embodied political vision concretely embodied primarily in the life of the Christian church. This dissertation is intended as a prolegomena for the reconfiguring of the Christian life in theological categories, and a reappreciation of the inescapably political character of the Christian gospel.