The Perspective of the Acting Person: Essays in the Renewal of Thomistic Moral Philosophy

375 Pages·2008·1.92 MB·English

by  Martin Rhonheimer

The Perspective of
the Acting Person
Martin Rhonheimer
The Perspective of
the Acting Person
Essays in the Renewal of
Thomistic Moral Philosophy
Edited with an introduction by
William F. Murphy Jr.
Te Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2008
Te Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
Te paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
∞
Library of Congress Catalo ging-in-Publication Data
Rhonheimer, Martin, 1950–
Te Perspective of the acting person : essays in the renewal of
thomistic moral philosophy / by Martin Rhonheimer ; edited with an
introduction by William F. Murphy, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8132-1511-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Tomas, Aquinas,
Saint, 1225?–1274. 2. Ethics, Medieval. I. Murphy, William F.
II. Title.
BJ255.T5R46 2007
171'.2—dc22
2007015719
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
Introduction: by William F. Murphy Jr. xiii
1. Is Christian Morality Reasonable? On the Diference
between Secular and Christian Humanism 1
2. Norm-Ethics, Moral Rationality, and the Virtues:
What’s Wrong with Consequentialism? 18
3. “Intrinsically Evil Acts” and the Moral Viewpoint:
Clarifying a Central Teaching of Veritatis Splendor 37
4. Intentional Actions and the Meaning of Object:
A Reply to Richard McCormick 68
5. Practical Reason and the “Naturally Rational”:
On the Doctrine of the Natural Law as a Principle of
Praxis in Tomas Aquinas 95
6. Te Moral Signifcance of Pre-Rational Nature in Aquinas:
A Reply to Jean Porter (and Stanley Hauerwas) 129
7. Te Cognitive Structure of the Natural Law and the
Truth of Subjectivity 158
8. Te Perspective of the Acting Person and the Nature
of Practical Reason: Te “Object of the Human Act” in
Tomistic Anthropology of Action 195
vi contents
9. P ractical Reason and the Truth of Subjectivity:
Te Self-Experience of the Moral Subject at the
Roots of Metaphysics and Anthropology 250
10. R eview of Jean Porter’s Nature as Reason:
A Tomistic Teory of the Natural Law 283
Bibliography 307
Martin Rhonheimer’s Publications 317
Index 325
Acknowledgments
“Is Christian Morality Reasonable? On the Diference between Secular and
Christian Humanism” originally appeared in Annales Teologici 15, no. 2
(2001): 529–49, and is reprinted by permission.
“‘Intrinsically Evil Acts’ and the Moral Viewpoint: Clarifying a Central Teach-
ing of Veritatis Splendor” originally appeared in Te Tomist 58, no. 1 (1994):
1–39, and is reprinted by permission.
“Intentional Actions and the Meaning of Object: A Reply to Richard McCor-
mick” originally appeared in Te Tomist 59, no. 2 (1995): 279–311, and is re-
printed by permission.
“Practical Reason and the ‘Naturally Rational’: On the Doctrine of the Natu-
ral Law as a Principle of Praxis in Tomas Aquinas” was originally published
as “Praktische Vernunf und das ‘von Natur aus Vernünfige.’ Zur Lehre von
der Lex naturalis als Prinzip der Praxis bei Tomas von Aquin,” Teologie
und Philosophie 75 (2000): 493–522. It was translated by Gerald Malsbary.
“Te Moral Signifcance of Pre-Rational Nature in Aquinas: A Reply to Jean
Porter (and Stanley Hauerwas)” was originally published in Te American
Journal of Jurisprudence 48 (2003): 253–80, and is reprinted by permission.
“Te Cognitive Structure of the Natural Law and the Truth of Subjectivity”
originally appeared in Te Tomist 67, no. 1 (2003): 1–44, and is reprinted by
permission.
“Te Perspective of the Acting Person and the Nature of Practical Reason:
Te ‘Object of the Human Act’ in Tomistic Anthropology of Action” was
originally published in Nova et Vetera 2, no. 2 (2004): 461–516, and is reprint-
ed by permission. It was translated from the Italian by Joseph T. Papa.
“Practical Reason and the Truth of Subjectivity: Te Self-Experience of the
Moral Subject at the Roots of Metaphysics and Anthropology” was translated
vii
viii acknowled gments
Gerald Malsbary from the Italian manuscript “Ragione practica e verità della
soggettività: l’autoesperienza del soggeto morale alle radici della metafsica e
dell’anthropologia.”
Te review of Jean Porter’s Nature as Reason: A Tomistic Teory of Natural
Law was originally published in Studies in Christian Ethics 19, no. 3 (2006),
and is reprinted by permission of SAGE publications.
Abbreviations
All works are cited according to the Marietti edition (Turin); the only excep-
tion is the Commentary on the Sentences, which is cited according to the edi-
tion used in the Index Tomisticus: S. Tomae Aquinatis Opera Omnia, vol. 1,
ed. Roberto Busa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1980).
In Sent. In Quattuor Libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi (Commentary on
the Sentences)
ST I Summa Theologiae, Prima pars
ST I-II Summa Theologiae, Prima secundae
ST II-II Summa Theologiae, Secunda secundae
ST III Summa Theologiae, Tertia pars
In Ethic. In Decem libros Ethicorum Aristotelis ad Nicomachum expositio
(In I Ethic.—Commentary on the First Book of Aristotle’s
Nicomachean Ethics)
In de Anima In Aristotelis librum de Anima commentarium
Super Ioannem Super Evangelium S. Ioannis Lectura
Ad Rom. Super Epistolam S. Pauli ad Romanos Lectura
Super Psalmos In psalmos Davidis expositio
In duo Praecepta In duo praecepta caritatis et in decem legis praecepta expositio
(Opuscula Theologica, vol. II)
In Post. Anal. In Aristotelis libros Posteriorum Analyticorum expositio
De Malo Quaestiones disputatae de Malo
De Anima Quaestiones disputatae de Anima
De Veritate Quaestiones disputatae de Veritate
ix