The perspective of the acting person: essays in the renewal of thomistic moral philosophy

Introduction

Introduction Over the past few decades, Swiss philosopher Martin Rhonheimer has developed an impressive body of work ranging from the most fundamental questions of ethical theory to more applied areas including political philosophy , sexual ethics, and biomedical ethics. His work provides one of the leading contemporary examples of the ongoing fecundity of the AristotelianThomistic moral tradition when placed in dialogue with present-day alternatives , and in response to current questions. Since these works have been published primarily in German, Italian, and Spanish, however, relatively few English readers have grasped either the contours or the significance of Rhonheimer ’s work. Moreover, his corpus continues to grow rapidly, with several major books now available in German, Italian, and Spanish, along with several dozen substantial articles. Not surprisingly, over the last several years, these works have begun to appear in English translations. Because these initial translations have been parts of a larger whole, one that continues to develop , however, and because they have often been occasioned by particular questions, there remains a pressing need for a volume in English that presents his thought, especially that in fundamental ethics, in a more comprehensive and up-to-date manner. The present introductory essay is intended to facilitate interaction with the essays by providing (i) a brief personal and intellectual biography, (ii) a sketch of the development of Rhonheimer’s thought in fundamental ethics, (iii) a brief overview of his three major works, and (iv) an introduction to some of the key themes addressed in the essays here included. By doing so in some depth, this introductory essay seeks to provide a broad introduction to Rhonheimer’s work in fundamental ethics. xiii A Short Personal and Intellectual Biography The following biographical remarks are intended to facilitate understanding of Martin Rhonheimer’s work in philosophical ethics.1 He was born in 1950 in Zurich, Switzerland, and grew up in a family of converts, surrounded by both Jewish and Protestant members of his extended family. From the age of thirteen to twenty, he studied at a boarding school run by the Benedictines . Here, during his high school years, his love for philosophy was nurtured through a full two-year program of Thomistic philosophy. He then studied history, philosophy, and political science and did his Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Zurich. For six years he was an assistant to Professor Hermann Lübbe, who is one of the more prominent contemporary German philosophers. Therefore, although he has distinguished himself in recent decades through his work in what we might call fundamental ethics (i.e., action, virtue, and natural law theories), his primary interest remains political philosophy, including the history and theory of liberalism, questions regarding constitutional democracy and the common good, and those concerning the secular state, religious freedom, and pluralism. Rhonheimer was ordained a Catholic priest in 1983, and he is incardinated in the personal prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. He is currently professor of ethics and political philosophy at the School of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. In addition, he spends several months per year in Fribourg, Switzerland, doing pastoral work with university students. Rhonheimer is a member of the editorial boards of The American Journal of Jurisprudence and the Fordham Series in Moral Philosophy and Moral Theology, a member of the scientific board of Acta Philosophica , and a corresponding academician to the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Development of Rhonheimer’s Thought in Fundamental Ethics Rhonheimer built upon his early acquaintance with Thomism through his later ecclesiastical studies in philosophy and theology in Rome. Both before and especially after his 1983 ordination to the priesthood, he focused his efforts on the ethics of Aristotle and Aquinas. As indicated above, this has 1. The following information was obtained from correspondence with Fr. Rhonheimer, and from his personal Web page, http://www.pusc.it/html/php/rhonheimer/. xiv introduction led to the publication of various books, one of which has been translated into English.2 His reading of Aquinas draws upon not only primary texts but also a wide range of primarily twentieth-century interpreters; indeed, his grasp of primary and secondary literature is perhaps unrivaled, especially by Englishspeaking moralists. The first decisive influence upon his work in Thomistic ethics was a series of writings by Servais Pinckaers, O.P., from which Rhonheimer learned (i) the importance of the end or...