Words of Wisdom: A Philosophical Dictionary for the Perennial Tradition

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narrative ethics: A recent approach to ethics that stresses moral insight gained from a person’s or a group’s historical experience, and in particular from the written articulation of that experience. nation or country (n.): A people or large-scale civil society, ordinarily one that has recognized geographical boundaries and is organized into a state (2), with governmental structures, as well as other types of institutions (educational , cultural, religious, economic , etc.). (Note: The present concepts are difficult to mark off with precision . There can be states without nations [e.g., Vatican City], and, arguably, nations without states [e.g., Kurdistan]; moreover, a single nation may be divided into more than one sovereign state [e.g., Korea].) Also: “national” (adj.), “nationalize” (v.), “nationally ” (adv.). nationalism (n.): In contrast to proper patriotism (which is a spe cies of the moral virtue of piety), an inordinate concern about the good of one’s own country, to the neglect of the good of other peoples and nations, and/or the neglect of one’s country’s responsibilities vis-à-vis global society. Also: “nationalistic” (adj.), “nationalistically ” (adv.). natural (adj.): Of or having to do with nature, in its various senses. (1) Existing in or characterizing the physical world as such, sometimes as opposed to the results of human creativity and production (contrast artificial). (2) Features of a being or power or act, etc., 181 N Carlson-03KO_Layout 1 11/7/11 1:44 PM Page 181 that are determined by its essence, as opposed to features that depend upon events in the internal or external environment (contrast conditional), or that derive from human decision and agreement (contrast conventional). (3) In accord with the end (1) of a being of nature—in particular, human nature—or the ends of its specific powers or acts (contrast unnatural (3)). (4) Within the power and activity range of beings of nature (including human nature) as such, as opposed to both what is other than nature (e.g., mathematical objects and relations) and what is beyond nature—i.e., God and created pure spirits, as well as the final end to which, by grace, human persons are called (contrast supernatural). Also: “naturally ” (adv.),“naturalness” (n.). natural family planning: Method, or a family of methods, of regulating conception that do not, for Catholic magisterial teaching, involve sexual acts performed in such a way, or in a context so altered , as to frustrate their natural ends (1)—as is judged to be the case in contraception. (Methods of natural family planning have dramatically improved over recent decades; they typically focus on monitoring biological indications of fertility [i.e., ovulation]. If conception is desired according to a couple’s family planning, sexual intercourse is undertaken accordingly ; if conception is not desired, the couple refrains from sexual intercourse during the fertile period.) natural inclinations: A special application of natural (3) to philosophical anthropology and ethics; according to the perennial tradition , the structure of basic goods, as well as the primary precepts of the natural (moral) law, can be articulated via reflection on these natural tendencies of human, personal life. (Aquinas groups such inclinations into three categories: a) those shared with all natural beings [e.g., the inclination to preserve one’s existence]; b) those shared with other animal species [e.g., the inclinations to reproductive activity and education of the young]; and c) those specifically human in nature [e.g., the inclinations to life in organized society, to knowledge of the truth—including the truth about God—and to reflective pursuit of the good]. Although our rational and personal nature relates specifically to inclinations at level c), it also penetrates and shapes our human inclinations at the other two levels.) naturalism (n.): (1) The general philosophical view that holds all 182 natural (moral) law Carlson-03KO_Layout 1 11/7/11 1:44 PM Page 182 of reality to be exhausted by the order of nature (1). (2) In ethical theory, one of a variety of positions holding that we can recognize moral truths through reflection on facts of nature, especially human nature. (The natural law accounts of Aquinas, and the tradition of integral Christian wisdom generally, would constitute forms of naturalism in this second sense.) naturalistic fallacy: Term used by certain modern ethical theorists (beginning with the early 20thcentury British philosopher G.E. Moore) to express the thesis that moral propositions cannot be reached by valid reasoning from propositions expressing...