Customer Reviews

Morality: The Catholic View

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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.

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.

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.

Servais Pinckaers Morality: The Catholic View.

This is a brief, clear and thoroughly accessible book. Pinckaers exposition of Catholic moral teaching is broken up by a number of tables and charts that expand, illuminate or summarize the points that his points.

Pinckaers divides the work between an historical exegesis and a meditation on the nature of Christian morality.

According to Pinckaers, Catholic moral teaching is not a mere code of prescriptions and prohibitions; Catholic morality is a response, he says, to the aspirations of the human heart for truth and goodness, and seeks to educate men for growth. (p. 1.) Morality today is considered the domain of moral obligations, whereas it was historically viewed as the area in which the question of happiness and perfection were answered. (Id.) Pinckaers points to the Sermon on the Mount as illustrating an exhortation to excellence, rather than a code of conduct. Likewise, Paul exhorted Christians in the second part of Romans to a way of life that would conform to their new life in Christ. Pinckaers calls this kind of moral exhortation "paraclesis" from the Greek work "parakaleo" ("I exhort") from which the term Paraclete, signifying the Holy Spirit, derives. Pinckaers points to the other exhortations as an invitation for Christians to live up to a model of perfect Christian behavior rather than simply following a set of rules.

The theme of exhortation toward virtuous living continued as a feature of Christian moral thinking. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, subordinated moral obligations to the virtues. (p. 32.) However, over time, particular during modernity, the focus of morality became the calculus of obligation. Aquinas' contributions, such as the treatise on happiness, were forgotten. According to Pinckaers: "Because of its focus on obligations, moral theology has detached itself from everything that goes beyond legal imperatives; from the search for perfection, which is henceforth reserved to an elite; from the interior mystical movement of the heart so closely linked to love; and from spirituality in general." (p. 40.) Fortunately, after the Second Vatican Council, the hope is to reclaim the original sense of moral theology as exhortative and to move away from treating morality as merely a set of obligations.

The second part of Pinckaers' book opens with the distinction between "moralities of excellence" and "moralities of obligation." This distinction grows out the difference between the "freedom for excellence" and the "freedom of indifference." "Freedom for excellence" takes the position that there is an objective good that can be discerned through reason and the will, the discernment of which motivates the will to make a choice. The movement of the will toward this objective good is "freedom for excellence" because the will seeks the good, which is its own perfection. The "freedom of indifference" posits that there is no objective good in the world, rather the will simply chooses between things that are indifferent as between themselves. The exercise of the capacity to choose is what is meant by "free choice." Pinckaers lays the divergence of views at the feet of William of Ockham and the Nominalists during the 14th Century, in that it was the Nominalists who made indifferent and arbitrary "choice" the sine qua non by which human actions were understood.

The freedom for excellence necessitates a morality of happiness. Insofar as choice is necessarily directed toward the good, or the perfection of oneself, such a view necessarily and directly takes up the issue of what is good. The freedom of indifference leads to a morality of obligation, says Pinckaers, because insofar as there is no good in nature to be discerned by reason, there is only arbitrary choice by the will, and that choice becomes paramount in the form of "obligation." Nature is thus drained by the proponents of the philosophy of the freedom of indifference of any intrinsic goodness.

Pinckaers also points out an interesting feature of the morality of happiness, namely that "joy" is a virtue in such a system. People who are seeking excellence may not feel particularly "happy" about their pursuit of excellence, but they can feel joy, e.g., an athlete seeking excellence may hurt in training, but there may be joy in being the best, or merely better.

Pinckaers also takes up the theology of the Holy Spirit and its relationship to morality. Aquinas concludes his analysis of law with consideration of the "Evangelical law." In Christian theology, the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of believers and gives them the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and love. From the consideration of the morality of excellence, we know that love is that which motivates human choice. The Holy Spirit is therefore the Paraclete - the Exhorter - driving believers to become better. Pinckaers returns to a consideration of the Sermon on the Mount by pointing out that the Sermon is not a set of new obligations; rather it is an exhortation to become perfect, an exhortation that can only be accomplished by love and not by a sense of duty.

Pinckaers concludes with an analysis of "Natural Law and Freedom." Natural law, according to Pinckaers, "does not primarily function by constraint but by attraction." (p. 94.) The five inclinations that natural law provides are (1) the natural inclination toward the good; (2) the natural inclination to preserve one's being; (3) the natural inclination to marry; (4) the natural inclination to know the truth; and (5) the natural inclination to life in society.

Pinckaers has many interesting and worthwhile things to say in each area. For example, he points out that the first principle of morality - that good is to be done and evil avoided - is not primarily about obligation, rather it "expresses the attraction of the good, which it extends by enjoining us to search for the true good and avoid the really evil." In other words, the first principle of morality is not the first principle by edict, rather it is the first principle because it is the basis of our very nature, i.e., we love the good and we hate evil.

Love is directly caused by the presence of the good. Something is good insofar as it is loved. Because good things are particularly good when they are loved for themselves, love is a better love when the thing loved is loved for itself. This inclination leads to the love of friendship and benevolence. The object of such love, according to Pinckaers, is another's excellence, their virtue, which then leads directly to morality. Pinckaers writes:

"The inclination toward the good is expressed in the Ten Commandments through the two commandments to love God and neighbor that express the entire law. This inclination lays the foundation for the rights and duties that the other inclinations delineate. In short the inclination toward the good gives each person the right and instills in him the duty to search for the good and reject and combat what is evil. By activating in concrete actions the general desire for justice and friendship, the virtues develop our inclination toward the good. Love of the good, being simultaneously universal and specific, provides charity its natural foundation."

Ultimately, love and exhortation causes moral development.

Pinckaers view of morality makes sense. It is definitely not the moral view of modernity, which seems to think that people will be naturally good, while teaching them that the only good is in their choice itself and, perhaps, in restraining themselves from other people. Morality as it is conceived today certainly does not teach that one kind of life is more excellent, much less better, than another, lest the advocate of such a distinction be accused of engaging in discrimination. Then, when people don't act morally, society responds by attempting to pen up their choices with regulation after regulation.

The modern approach to morality seems to be an exercise in self-contradiction. It may be time to give this ancient moral approach another go.

Scholarly and credible. Be ready to spend some time with this book, and have a dictionary handy if you are not familar with the philosophy and theology of morality.

The book is in very good condition and I received in a very timely manner.