Bretzke, James T. Moral Debates in Contemporary Catholic Thought: Paradigms, Principles, and Prudence

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

How do we navigate a morally complex world? How do we know how to do the right thing, especially when so many voices are clamoring for our attention, telling us that they have the full truth of just what the “right thing” is, and what it requires of us? James T. Bretzke, S.J., one of most lucid interpreters of the Catholic tradition writing today, helps students morally analyze a wide range of controversial and contested issues in society today through the use of principles, paradigms, and the cardinal virtue of prudence.

After introducing the approach of principled prudence, drawing on Thomas Aquinas, Catholic Social Teaching, and other sources, Bretzke engages a range of moral considerations in the following chapters: the death penalty, abortion, gender, immigration and border security, welfare, economics, and faithful citizenship.

In the concluding chapter, Bretzke surveys our current political landscape, and its attendant culture wars, and suggests a possible path forward drawing on the central moral concept of the common good…

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