Defending Probabilism: The Moral Theology of Juan Caramuel

Chapter 2. Advocating Probabilism: Caramuel’s Early Writings and the Proof-Texts They Provided for His Critics

chapter฀two Advocating฀Probabilism Caramuel’s฀Early฀Writings฀and฀the฀Proof-Texts฀ They฀Provided฀for฀His฀Critics In฀the฀Apologema,฀Caramuel฀explains฀his฀early฀literary฀involve-฀ ment฀in฀the฀discussion฀of฀probable฀opinion฀by฀referring฀to฀his฀experiences ฀at฀Louvain,฀when฀Libert฀Froidmont฀attempted฀to฀promote฀certain฀ theses:฀“The฀use฀of฀probabilities฀is฀new.฀He฀who฀leaves฀behind฀the฀safe฀path฀ and฀relies฀on฀probable฀opinion฀must฀be฀condemned฀before฀God.฀Opinions฀that฀ are฀said฀to฀be฀or฀are฀probable฀for฀us฀will฀not฀be฀probable฀for฀God.”1 ฀Noting฀ that฀upright฀and฀learned฀men฀opposed฀Froidmont,฀Caramuel฀adds:฀“I฀opposed ฀him฀in฀the฀Theologia฀Regularis,฀which฀I฀published฀in฀Brussels฀in฀1639฀ .฀.฀.฀and฀more฀copiously฀and฀more฀strongly฀in฀the฀second฀and฀the฀third฀ editions฀of฀the฀same฀work.”2 ฀With฀this,฀Caramuel฀began฀his฀long฀literary฀ campaign฀in฀defense฀of฀probable฀opinion.฀ ฀ In฀ the฀ beginning,฀ Caramuel฀ could฀ treat฀ probabilism฀ as฀ a฀ common฀ moral฀method,฀opposed฀only฀by฀a฀few฀unnamed฀adversaries.฀In฀the฀Benedicti ฀Regulam,฀he฀observes:฀“There฀is฀a฀common฀resolution฀of฀all฀the฀doctors ,฀which฀asserts฀that฀those฀who฀act฀in฀accordance฀with฀probable฀opinion฀ cannot฀be฀judged฀rash฀and฀imprudent.”3฀ Later฀in฀the฀same฀text,฀he฀claims฀ that฀Antonino฀Diana฀describes฀this฀conclusion฀as฀the฀“common฀opinion฀ of฀the฀theologians.”4 ฀Yet฀even฀at฀this฀stage,฀Caramuel฀acknowledges฀that฀ his฀position฀has฀some฀opponents:฀an฀anonymous฀prelate,฀for฀example,฀and฀ an฀unnamed฀pious฀critic฀(Froidmont).5 ฀It฀is฀fair฀to฀say฀that฀even฀his฀earliest ฀discussions฀of฀probabilism฀possess฀a฀certain฀argumentative฀tinge.฀The฀ polemical฀character฀of฀the฀debate,฀however,฀grew฀more฀serious฀over฀time฀ 26 as฀more฀and฀more฀criticisms฀of฀probabilism฀(and฀of฀Caramuel฀himself)฀ reached฀the฀public฀ear.฀Paradoxically,฀in฀facing฀Prospero฀Fagnani฀and฀his฀ other฀critics,฀Caramuel฀had฀to฀clarify฀as฀well฀as฀draw฀upon฀his฀own฀early฀ arguments.฀ ฀ Given฀Caramuel’s฀ongoing฀fascination฀with฀probabilism,฀only฀a฀theologian ฀who฀has฀read฀his฀entire฀corpus฀could฀reasonably฀offer฀to฀summarize฀ his฀early฀treatments฀of฀the฀subject.฀This฀chapter’s฀discussion฀has฀a฀much฀ less฀ambitious฀agenda.฀Two฀of฀Caramuel’s฀early฀works฀were฀particularly฀ significant฀in฀shaping฀the฀debate฀over฀probabilism,฀not฀only฀because฀he฀ drew฀upon฀them฀himself฀in฀later฀works฀but฀also฀because฀other฀authors฀ responded฀to฀them.฀These฀were฀the฀tracts฀on฀probable฀opinion฀from฀the฀ In฀Divi฀Benedicti฀Regulam฀(1640)฀and฀the฀first฀edition฀of฀the฀Theologia฀ Moralis฀Fundamentalis฀(1652).6 ฀One฀could฀reasonably฀argue฀that฀these฀have฀ been฀(and฀continue฀to฀be)฀Caramuel’s฀most฀influential฀writings฀on฀probabilism .฀Accordingly,฀they฀provide฀a฀helpful฀introduction฀to฀his฀views฀concerning ฀the฀nature฀of฀probable฀opinion,฀his฀argument฀that฀acceptance฀of฀ its฀sufficiency฀is฀actually฀“more฀probable”฀than฀the฀contrary฀position,฀his฀ emphasis฀upon฀the฀practical฀value฀of฀“more฀benign”฀opinions,฀and฀his฀response ฀to฀Froidmont’s฀objections฀against฀probabilism.฀However,฀review฀of฀ these฀texts฀will฀also฀reveal฀how฀Caramuel’s฀statements฀were฀vulnerable฀to฀ distortion฀or฀misunderstanding.฀As฀we฀shall฀see,฀these฀early฀volumes฀not฀ only฀affected฀the฀seventeenth-century฀debates฀but฀also฀exercised฀a฀disproportionate ฀influence฀upon฀Caramuel’s฀subsequent฀reputation,฀including฀ his฀theological฀reputation฀today.฀ ฀ Finally,฀the฀conclusion฀to฀this฀chapter฀will฀consider฀the฀modifications฀ that฀Caramuel฀made฀to฀Fundamentum฀11฀(i.e.,฀his฀discussion฀of฀probable ฀opinion)฀in฀the฀later฀editions฀of฀the฀Theologia฀Moralis฀Fundamentalis.฀ These฀arguments฀clarify฀certain฀points฀that฀receive฀less฀attention฀in฀the฀ Apologema฀and฀illustrate฀the฀development฀of฀Caramuel’s฀basic฀theory.฀In฀ addition,฀since฀the฀Dialexis฀explicitly฀presumes฀that฀the฀reader฀is฀already฀ familiar฀with฀Fundamentum฀11,฀its฀arguments฀serve฀as฀the฀background฀for฀ Caramuel’s฀discussion฀of฀noncertitude.7฀ Consideration฀of฀these฀preliminary ฀texts฀and฀positions฀thus฀provides฀a฀helpful฀introduction฀to฀Caramuel ’s฀mature฀analyses฀in฀the฀Apologema฀and฀the฀Dialexis.฀ ฀ Advocating฀Probabilism:฀Caramuel’s฀Early฀Writings฀ 27 The฀Nature฀and฀Types฀of฀Probabilitas Given฀that฀the฀Benedicti฀Regulam฀is฀a฀commentary฀upon฀religious฀rules฀ of฀life,฀it฀is฀not฀surprising฀that฀probabilism฀appears฀within฀these฀texts฀ as฀a฀principle฀for฀interpreting฀law,฀ and฀that฀its฀practical฀applications฀receive ฀greater฀emphasis฀than฀its฀philosophical฀foundations.8 ฀Significantly,฀ Caramuel฀introduces฀the฀discussion฀by฀referring฀to฀the฀limited฀character฀ of฀human฀knowledge,฀a฀circumstance฀that฀necessitates฀our฀reliance฀upon฀ probable฀opinions.฀“We฀are฀not฀angels,฀but฀human฀beings,”฀he฀succinctly฀ explains.9 ฀Thus฀the฀treatment฀of฀this฀topic฀merits฀inclusion฀within฀his฀ explanation฀of฀the฀“most฀solid฀and฀certain...