Morality and the Human Goods: An Introduction to Natural Law Ethics
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.48 (534 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0878408851 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 168 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-08-15 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
. Alfonso Gómez-Lobo is Ryan Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy at Georgetown University
A concise and accessible introduction to natural law ethics, this book introduces readers to the mainstream tradition of Western moral philosophy. Building on philosophers from Plato through Aquinas to John Finnis, Alfonso Gómez-Lobo links morality to the protection of basic human goodslife, family, friendship, work and play, the experience of beauty, knowledge, and integrityelements essential to a flourishing, happy human life. Shifting to a case study approach, Gómez-Lobo applies these principles to a discussion of abortion and euthanasia. He then puts forth a general principle for practical rationality: one should pursue what is good and avoid what is bad. The human goods form the basis for moral norms that provide a standard by which actions can be evaluated: do they support or harm the human goods? He a
"a readable and insightful conversation into the starting point and basic structure of moral philosophy."Catholic Studies"An excellent introduction to the approach in moral philosophy."National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly
"The Ideal of Human Flourishing" according to James H. Toner. Prof. Gomez-Lobo writes clear, concise, and cogent prose, and illustrates his arguments with a number of telling examples. Prof. Gomez-Lobo's approach to ethics is that of a moral philosopher, not that of a moral theologian, so he deals strictly in reason, not in Revelation. He does not include religion as a basic human good (a judgment I would dispute), but explores (and advocates) the viewpoint that the natural law/human goods approach to ethics is "accessible to anyone and therefore is binding on everyone without distinction" (p. 129). He points out, however, that his approach does not . R. Albin said Clear but Superficial. This is a primer on natural law ethics. Inspired by Aristotle and developed by Aquinas, this was for centuries the predominant European approach to ethics, in large part because it carried the imprimateur of the Catholic Church. This book is written clearly and organized well. The natural law approach is interesting and has been supported by some impressive thinkers. This book, unfortunately, slides by some of the real problems with this approach and is consequently not very convincing. A basic approach here is to think or converse about what constitutes appropriate goals (basic goods) for. Concise New Natural Law Gomez-Lobo does a good job of bringing together neatly and systematically the basic lines of thought of the new natural law theory developed by John Finnis and Germain Grisez. It is crisp and concise. However because it lacks a discussion of the dialectical defense of the precepts, this book needs to be read with John Finnis' Fundamentals of Ethics for those who want to better appreciate the force of the claims of natural law theory, in particular claims that certain precepts are self-evident; or else one can leave with the wrong impression that the said evident precepts are mere assertion