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Chapter oNe Bioethics and the Pursuit of Beatitude According to a widely used textbook in the tradition of secular bioethics , the field of bioethics has a recent provenance. The textbook traces the founding of the field to an influential article authored by Dan Callahan in 1974 entitled “Bioethics as a Discipline.”1 As contemporary histories of bioethics often do, however, the text fails to acknowledge the long tradition of bioethical reflection in the history of the Catholic Church, from the early condemnation of abortion in the Didache, written in the first century , to the recent papal pronouncement on euthanasia in Evangelium vitae, written during the twentieth. Rooted both in faith and in reason, Catholic bioethics is a rich tradition informed by scriptural exegesis, by theological reflection, and by philosophical argument, a tradition that counts St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Alphonsus Ligouri among its most distinguished contributors. Today, Catholic bioethics has become a distinctive and mature field of inquiry—there are now several scholarly journals devoted primarily to Catholic bioethics, including the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly and the Linacre Quarterly, that strive to apply the principles of Christian morality to the profound and deeply human questions regarding the meaning of life, its beginning, its continuation, and its end, that are raised by the life sciences.2 In this chapter, where I summarize the foundational principles of Catholic moral theology, we begin with an overview of the Catholic moral vision that places bioethics within the context of each individual’s pursuit of beatitude. It is a moral vision that strives to remain faithful to 1. Nancy S. Jecker, Albert R. Jonsen, and Robert A. Pearlman, Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and Practice, 2nd ed. (Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2007), 3, citing Daniel Callahan, “Bioethics as a Discipline,” Stud Hastings Cent 1 (1973): 66–73. 2. For a history of recent developments in Catholic bioethics, see Charles E. Curran, “The Catholic Moral Tradition in Bioethics,” in The Story of Bioethics, ed. Jennifer K. Walter and Eran P. Klein, 113–130 (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2003). 7 8 Bioethics and the Pursuit of Beatitude the moral life described by the Lord Jesus Christ in His Sermon on the Mount. Since the pursuit of beatitude is governed by the actions that shape our moral character, we then move to a moral analysis of human action that answers several questions: What is a human act? How do we judge the morality of human acts? How do we distinguish good acts from evil ones? Then I will discuss the moral principles that are used to make sound moral judgments according to right judgment, not only in bioethics but also in every sphere of human activity. At the same time, I discuss four dimensions of moral agency and society—the governing role of the virtues, the power of prayer, the experience of suffering, and the teaching charism of the Church—that can and often do shape our actions. Finally , I turn to the principle of double effect, a principle that will help us to act well when we are confronted with choosing acts that have both good and evil effects. The Pursuit of Beatitude Bioethics and the Catholic Moral Vision On August 6, 1993, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Blessed John Paul II signed Veritatis splendor, his moral encyclical addressed to the bishops of the Catholic Church.3 It remains an eloquent articulation and defense of the Catholic moral vision. In this encyclical, which calls for a renewal in Catholic moral theology, the pope reminds the Church and the world of three constitutive elements of Christian morality. First, Blessed John Paul II teaches that the Catholic moral vision begins with and ends in the person of Jesus Christ.4 Since Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the decisive answer to every human being ’s questions, his religious and moral questions in particular, is given 3. John Paul II, Veritatis splendor, Encyclical Letter addressed by the Supreme Pontiff Pope John Paul II to all the Bishops of the Catholic Church Regarding Certain Fundamental Questions of the Church’s Moral Teaching (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana , 1993). A concise summary of the moral vision presented in this encyclical can be found in Servais Pinckaers, O.P., “An Encyclical for the Future: Veritatis splendor,” in Veritatis Splendor and the Renewal of Moral Theology, ed. J. Augustine DiNoia, O.P., and Romanus Cessario, O.P., 11–71 (Huntington, Ind.: Our...

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