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EXISTENTIAL ETHICS: A THOMISTIC APPRAISAL GENERAL problem that calls £or discussion, and hopefully will be treated in the deliberations of the Second Vatican Council, is that of the relationship of moral theology to recent innovations in philosophy. Several papal directives and encyclicals have already discussed moral problems and attempted to rectify errors of the " new theology " associated with these innovations, pointing out in the process more fruitful ways toward a renewal of moral theology.1 Such problems, while not merely of academic interest-affecting as they do the moral life o£ all Christians-are nonetheless of major concern to those who teach moral theology in universities and seminaries. A representative teaching in this category which merits examination is that known in German-speaking countries as Existentialethik and coming to be known here as " existential ethics." 2 Its importance derives not only from its subject matter but also from the fact that it is cited as a fruitful application o£ modern knowledge to the development of theological science. In this article we propose to explain this development and evaluate it from the viewpoint o£ the teacher of moral doctrine. The seminary professor, and to a lesser extent the professor in a Catholic university, is torn between two extremes. On the one hand, he is committed to transmitting the theological tradition of the Church to those he teaches, a task difficult in 1 For a brief survey, see the preceding article in this volume, "Thomism and the Council," by A. D. Lee, 0. P., particularly p. 490. "The title is suggested in a paper by Karl Raimer, S. J., "Ueber die Frage einer formalen Existentialethik," Schriften zur Theologie, Vol. 2 (3. Auf!.), (Einsiedeln/ Koln: 1958), pp. 227-246. It is also known as "individual ethics," and in some earlier writings as "situational ethics." See J. Fuchs, Situation und Entscheidung, Grundfragen christlicher Situationsethik (Frankfurt: 1952) , pp. 69-92. 498 494 WILLIAM A. WALLACE itself because of the large amount of material to be covered and the relatively short time available. On the other hand, he must be alert to recent developments in his science, and attempt to assimilate these to the tradition he passes on to his students. Such assimilation of new knowledge, however desirable it may be, is not so simple and straightforward as might appear. Innovations in theology frequently call into question theories on which the existing tradition is based. While such questioning is an acceptable procedure in the profane sciences, it is not always so favorably regarded in sacred science. New doctrines, by their very novelty, are open to the charge of unorthodoxy with all the dissatisfaction this implies and the recrimination it often entails. If theological advance is usually attended by controversy, recent proposals relating to existential ethics are no exception. By some they are welcomed as brilliant and beneficial insights that vitalize a moral theology which has long been dated, living in isolation from contemporary problems.3 By others they are regarded as an obfuscation of traditional doctrine that could destroy the foundations of moral theology, and lead to a subjective type of morality which the Catholic Church has been combating for centuries.4 Such evaluations are undoubtedly extreme, but they underscore the controversial aspect of the new development, and the difficulty this poses for analyzing its teachable content. To facilitate the latter task, we shall first outline the main elements of existential ethics, and then single out for criticism several points that seem to us at variance with the Thomistic theology which constitutes the mainstay of the Church's traditional doctrine. With this we shall be in a position to make some observations about its value and importance as a moral doctrine to be taught in seminaries and universities. 8 See, for example, Franz Biickle, " Bestrebungen in der lVIoraltheologie," in Fragen d~R" Theologie heute (Einsiedeln: 1957), pp. 443-444. • For an early critique, see M. Labourdette, 0. P., Foi catholique et 'PfObleme& modernes, (Tournai: 1953). EXISTENTIAL ETHICS: A THOMIST APPRAISAL 495 FuNDAMENTALs OF ExisTENTIAL ETHics The briefest statement of the new doctrine is contained in an essay by Father Karl Rahner entitled Gefahren im heutigen Katholizismus.5 There the author is arguing against an ethical teaching known...

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