Morality: The Catholic View [Paperback]

Servais O.P. Pinckaers (Author), Michael Sherwin (Translator), Alasdair MacIntyre (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2003

Fr. Servais Pinckaers’s work is well on its way to being accepted as the work on Catholic moral thinking for the coming generation of laymen and students. Pinckaers sharply distinguishes this view of morality from modern “moralities of obligation,” which regard the moral life primarily as obedience to rules that limit human freedom and curb human desires. Pinckaers sees moralities of obligation as the logical outcome of a new understanding of human freedom. Instead of regarding freedom as the capacity to engage in excellent acts of virtue (freedom for excellence), the modern view understands freedom as the radical ability to do good or evil indifferently (freedom of indifference). Pinckaers argues convincingly that this view of freedom and the morality of obligation that flows from it have impoverished the Catholic understanding of the moral life. This work offers the reader a compelling itinerary of moral development, rooted in the theology of St. Paul and the morality of the Gospels. Now, for a new generation of students, the book is made available in a quality paperbound version. In addition, under the direction of Fr. Michael Sherwin, a teacher’s edition of the work is to be published, which will greatly aid the teacher in high school or home school to help his or her students to gain the most from this seminal work. “As Alasdair MacIntyre notes in the preface, the work of Pinckaers attracted strong and fully justified notice in this country with the publication in English of his The Sources of Christian Ethics. As Pinckaers himself notes in the text, excellently translated by Michael Sherwin, the interest should in no way be limited to Roman Catholics. Morality recasts the earlier book in an argument that is both lower and upper case “catholic,” and is accessible to readers and teachers outside the limited circle of moral theologians and academic ethicists. Pinckaers contends that Christian morali

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Paperback: 141 pages
• Publisher: St. Augustines Press; 1st edition (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587315157
• ISBN-13: 978-1587315152
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A brief but lucid presentation, August 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Morality: Catholic View (Hardcover)

This tiny book is, apparently, a condensation of the author's more scholarly "The Sources of Christian Ethics". It is written at a level suitable for those with little or no philosophical background, though even the studied can benefit from his forthright discussion of some of the more difficult topics.

The book is divided into two parts : a survey of the sources of Christian ethics, and a proposal for renewing our moral thought by a return to the classical and mediaeval models. Thus he discusses the sources for ethical reflection in the Gospels and the other New Testament documents (notably the Sermon on the Mount), then relates how these ideas were grafted onto the Greek philosophical tradition by the mediaevel thinkers. He dwells at (comparative) length on the structure of ethics as it was conceived by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century; namely, morality is a search for human happiness and fulfillment. He then relates how this ancient ethical tradition was undermined in the late mediaeval period (it is William of Ockham who gets the lion's share of the blame), and how a new conception of Christian ethics as "ethics of obligation" came to dominate in the post-Reformation period. Finally, he discusses the impact of the Vatican II on Catholic moral reflection, in which he sees hope for a return to the ancient model.

The second part of the book is a reflection on how ethics might be reconceived in the image of Aquinas' ethics. In particular, he argues that our notion of freedom has to be fundamentally changed if we are to refound moral thought, for the dominant notion of freedom in modern times - what he calls 'freedom of indifference' - is at the root of the chaotic state of morality in western society. In opposition to the prevalent idea of freedom as the ability to choose without bias between contraries, he advocates 'freedom for excellence', which is the ability to act with excellence in whatever one chooses. His discussion of this issue is the best and clearest that I have encountered.
He goes on to a number of other topics, including the relationship of freedom and natural law, and the specifically Christian understanding of morals in relation to the Church and the work of the Holy Spirit.

I recommend this book to anyone who is discouraged with the present cacophonous state of moral discourse in terms of restrictions, rebellion, and rights; to students of intellectual history who want to better understand the nature of the break modernity has made with the Greeks and mediaevals; to those who are curious about the Catholic view of morality. Readers of Alasdair MacIntyre (who contributes the introduction to this book) and Josef Pieper should find much to enjoy.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity for Morality, December 21, 2004

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Oswald Sobrino (Traverse City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Morality: The Catholic View (Paperback)

Pinckaers very clearly and concisely shows that Christian morality is about fulfilling our longing for happiness, excellence, joy, and truth. The end is not merely to obey commandments but rather to obey commandments in order to be truly happy. The power to walk that path of obedience comes not from dry logic but from the gifts of the Holy Spirit that animate the virtues of a Christian. Most telling is Pinckaers' distinction between mere pleasure and joy as two radically different conceptions of happiness. Many of our life-changing moral decisions come down to the choice between transient, superficial pleasure that is illusory and ends in bitterness and even hatred, while true happiness is, in the words of Augustine, "joy born of the truth" (p. 77). Pinckaers describes the path of happiness that ends in lasting joy, not the path of mere pleasure ending in disappointment.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pursuit of Happiness, September 30, 2002

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wvano "wvano" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Morality: Catholic View (Hardcover)

This is an introductory text of unusual depth and breadth. Father Pinckaers' thesis is that since the 14th century moral philosophy and theology have posited human freedom as primary to human nature. From this premise have come a series of "moralities of obligation" in which freedom is seen as restricted by externally imposed moral rules. Almost by definition, such a model tends to disassociate happiness from morality.

According to Pinckaers, a better, more classical, and more Thomistic approach is to consider human freedom as part of human nature, rooted in and ineradicably woven among our yearnings for the good, the beautiful, and the true. Thus the best use of our freedom is virtue, which is not only compatible with happiness but in its highest form (i.e., love) is the source of joy.

Pinckaers' analysis of the fundamental flaw of modernist ethics is penetrating and, in my view, probably correct. The concept of human nature presented here is a high one, and may strike some as too exalted. But that's the point. Catholic morality looks to humanity as it was intended to be, and as it can be when redeemed by grace.