Natural Law and Perspectivism: A Case for Plural Definitions of Objective Morality

Todd A. Salzman; Michael G. Lawler

doi:10.1177/0021140016674275

Natural Law and Perspectivism: A Case for Plural Definitions of Objective Morality

Todd A. Salzman, Michael G. Lawler

Department of Theology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

This essay is about Catholic theological ethics and an explanation of competing answers to questions raised by Catholic ethicists. The core of the essay is a presentation of the cognitional theory of perspectivism as a counter to the concerns of relativism raised by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The essay considers the foundational theory of natural law and contrasts its 19th-century neo-Thomist understanding with Aquinas's own understanding of natural law as reason. As a concrete illustration of the theories of perspectivism and natural law, the essay considers the question of contraception and its competing Catholic answers.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	3-18
Number of pages	16
Journal	Irish Theological Quarterly
Volume	82
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0021140016674275
State	Published - Feb 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Religious studies

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