Moral Theology After Humanae Vitae: Fundamental Issues in Moral Theory and Sexual Ethics Book

Acknowledgments 7

Abbreviations 8

Introduction 9

Part 1

1 The Cultural Background 17

Secularization and the Church's Teaching on Morality 17

Secularization and Sexuality 19

Cultural Background to the Contemporary Moral Crisis 23

The Technological Mentality and Bioethics 28

The Political Context 35

2 Some Fundamental Considerations 41

Human Nature 41

Natural Law 50

Preliminary Remarks on Conscience 59

Conclusion 64

3 The Crisis in Moral Theology 66

The Philosophical Context 67

Implications of Philosophical Developments 69

The Crisis of Authority 71

The Encyclical Veritatis Splendor 79

Intrinsically Wrong Acts 80

Fundamental Option 85

The Recovery of the Passions in Moral Theology 86

The Recovery of Virtue 91

4 Towards a Renewal of Moral Theology 97

Moral Development and its Preconditions 100

Virtus enim est spontaneus ... assensus 103

The Nature of Moral Knowledge 107

The Public Responsibility of Moral Theologians 118

Epilogue 122

Concluding Remarks on Conscience 124

Part 2

5 New Attitudes to Human Sexuality 129

The Kosnik Report 129

Sexual Desire 133

Love and Procreation 140

Ambiguous and Negative Attitudes to Sexuality 142

Appendix: The Threefold 'End' of Marriage 147

6 The Passion of Love 150

Human Passions and Divine Love 150

The Passions and Morality 161

The Moral Dimensions of Love Itself 164

Love and Marriage 170

Excursus on Deus Caritas Est 175

7 The Virtue of Chastity Revisited 179

Fortitude 180

Temperance 183

Chastity 185

Two Modes of Chastity 187

Chastity and Sensual Enjoyment 188

Nature and Grace 189

8 The Theological Vision of Humanae Vitae 192

Epilogue 200

Bibliography 203

Index 215