Moral Philosophy in the Catholic College

HE THOMI T A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORS: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS oF THE PROVINCE oF ST. JosEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington 17, D. C. VoL. XVI OCTOBER, 1953 No.4 l\fORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE CATHOLIC COLLEGE* FATHER DILLON: The subject we are going to discuss is the role of moral philosophy in the curriculum of the Catholic college. Because of the general nature of the problem, we are going to treat it by way of a dialogue where the various questions that arise can be considered in order. For the purpose of discussion I am going to maintain that a course in moral theology in a Catholic college eliminates the need of having a separate course in moral philosophy. Dr. *This article is based on a discussion held at a meeting of the North Central Regional Conference of the American Catholic Philosophical Association at the St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. The article follows substantially the discussion as it took place at the time; there has been some condensation of the matter presented, and some of the questions raised from the fiom have been combined or rephrased. The authors have left the article in dialogue form for two reasons: 1) the topic lends itself readily to this manner of presentation; £) the authors thought that others, in seeing this method tried out, might wish to make use of it at other conference meetings. 449 450 DAVID A. DILLON AND JOHN A. OESTERLE Oesterle will take the position that a course in moral philosophy should be given in a Catholic college along with a course in moral theology. We are taking these positions for the purpose of the discussion; actually we are in agreement on aU the fundamental points. We think, however, that in presenting the topic by the method of question and answer, we shall be able to bring out the general issue more fully and may dispose others to raise questions which they think should be faced. A word now about the problem itself. While we shall consider several questions in the course of the discussion, it should be kept in mind that most of what we shall say will come under two general headings. First, what is the nature of moral philosophy ? In discussing this question, we shall have to face an allied problem: what is the relation of moral philosophy to moral theology? Second, what :reason is there for a course in moral philosophy in the curriculum of a Catholic college? This question is raised with the assumption that Catholic colleges already have a course in moral theology. I should add here that we are discussing the ideal situation, that :i.s, a curriculum in which adequate provision and time could be made for both moral theology and moral philosophy. Whether such a plan obtains in fact in particular circumstances or not will not alter the solution of the problem in any case. In order that in the course of the discussion we may both be quite dear on what we mean by moral philosophy and moral theology, I think that we can do no better than begin with definitions. What do you mean, Professor Oesterle, by moral philosophy? Dr. Oesterle: By moral philosophy, I mean that science which considers human actions as ordered to each other and to an end. This is how St. Thomas :refers to moral philosophy at the beginning of his commentary on Aristotle's Ethics.1 I think that we should notice at once that moral philosophy is broader than ethics. Moral philosophy can be divided into three parts, a division, no doubt, familiar to all. The first part 1 1 Ethic., c. 1, lect. 1, nn. ~-ll. MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE CATHOLIC COLLEGE 451 of moral philosophy, ethics, considers the actions of the individual human being as ordered to an end. The second part, originally called economics, considers the human actions of many as ordered to the end of family life. The third part, called politics, considers the human actions of many as ordered to the end of civil or political life. Let us notice that this division follows from the definition of moral philosophy as...