Aquinas, Feminism, and the Common Good

Title Page, Copyright Page

Aquinas, Feminism, and the Common Good Moral Traditions Series James F. Keenan, S.J., Editor Feminist Ethics and Natural Law: The End American Protestant Ethics and the of the Anathemas Legacy of H. Richard Niebuhr Cristina L. H. Traina William Werpehowski Aquinas and Empowerment: Classical The Global Face of Public Faith: Politics, Ethics for Ordinary Lives Human Rights, and Christian Ethics G. Simon Harak, S.J., Editor David Hollenbach, S.J. The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Heroes, Saints, and Ordinary Morality Lessons from the Shoah and Jewish Tradition Andrew Michael Flescher David R. Blumenthal Bridging the Sacred and the Secular: Introduction to Jewish and Catholic Selected Writings of John Courtney Murray Bioethics: A Comparative Analysis John Courtney Murray, S.J. Aaron L. Mackler J. Leon Hooper, S.J., Editor Jewish and Catholic Bioethics: An A Call to Fidelity: On the Moral Theology of Ecumenical Dialogue Charles E. Curran Edmund D. Pellegrino and Alan I. James J. Walter, Timothy E. O’Connell, Faden, Editors and Thomas A. Shannon, Editors John Paul II and the Legacy of Dignitatis The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Humanae Synthesis Hermı́nio Rico, S.J. Charles E. Curran Catholic Social Teaching, 1891–Present Josef Fuchs on Natural Law Charles E. Curran Mark Graham The Christian Case for Virtue Ethics Love, Human and Divine: The Heart of Joseph J. Kotva, Jr. Christian Ethics The Context of Casuistry Edward Collins Vacek, S.J. James F. Keenan, S.J., and Thomas A. Shannon, Editors Medicine and the Ethics of Care Diana Fritz Cates and Paul Lauritzen, Democracy on Purpose: Justice and the Editors Reality of God Franklin I. Gamwell The Origins of Moral Theology in the Ethics and Economics of Assisted United States: Three Different Approaches Reproduction Charles E. Curran Maura A. Ryan Shaping the Moral Life: An Approach to The Ethics of Aquinas Moral Theology Stephen J. Pope, Editor Klaus Demmer, M.S.C. The Evolution of Altruism and the Translated by Roberto Dell’Oro Ordering of Love James F. Keenan, S.J., Editor Stephen J. Pope Who Count as Persons? Human Identity The Fellowship of Life: Virtue Ethics and and the Ethics of Killing Orthodox Christianity John F. Kavanaugh, S.J. Joseph Woodill Aquinas, Feminism, and the Common Good Susanne M. DeCrane
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY PRESS/WASHINGTON, D.C. Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C.
2004 by Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2004 This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data DeCrane, Susanne M. (Susanne Marie), 1949– Aquinas, feminism, and the common good / Susanne M. DeCrane. p. cm. — (Moral traditions series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87840-349-3 (alk. paper) 1. Peace (Philosophy) 2. Common good. 3. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274. 4. Women—Medical care—United States. 5. Feminism—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title. II. Series. B105.P4D43 2004 230⬘.2⬘082—dc22 2003019457 If any among us in the human community are not equally welcomed at the center; if any among us is dying because they have been displaced from the community and denied its goods; if any among us has been subjugated by the community, enslaved by it or exploited, with their heritage stolen or their access to it closed off; if any of us have been thought to be less ‘‘human’’ than others, humiliated or ignored, then these are to be given some priority in our commitments to all. These are the ‘‘poor,’’ the disadvantaged or unprotected, theirs are the voices least likely to be heard, theirs is the pain least likely to be seen; theirs is the participation least likely to be allowed. A ‘‘preferential option for the poor’’ is, therefore, a recognition of, and a granting of strategic priority to, the just claims of those whom the human community has heretofore excluded, deprived, or unfairly burdened. —Margaret Farley, RSM This page intentionally left blank ...