Core Curriculum Designation Proposal
Theological Understanding: Theological Explorations
TRS 141, “Christian Ethics”
SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal Form
1. Name of Proposer: Tom Poundstone
2. Email address:
3. Department/Program of Proposer: Theology & Religious Studies
4. Name of Department/Program housing the course: Theology & Religious Studies
5. Name(s) of Program Director/Department Chair: Michael Barram
6. Course Acronym, Number and Title: TRS 141, “Christian Ethics”
7. Semester(s) in which course will be offered: Fall 2013
8. How often is this course taught? Typically every fall
9. Course Prerequisites (if any): TRS 097, “The Bible & Its Interpretation”
10. Unit Value of Course: 1 course credit
11. Proper Audience for the course (delete those that don’t apply): Freshmen Sophomores Juniors Seniors
12. The Learning Goals for which the course is being submitted: Theological Understanding: Theological Explorations
Narrative
In TRS 141, the subfield of theology under consideration is fundamental moral theology, the disciplined examination of the moral life. In particular, the focus of the course is on the reformulation and teaching of Christian ethics in the Roman Catholic tradition in light of Vatican II. The course examines the debates and tensions which this transition has brought about, constantly listening to the primary voices coming from the rival theories.
As a class in fundamental moral theology, as distinct from special or applied ethics, the primary focus will be on the fundamental questions of moral theology and the methods of analysis used. It will consider questions such as what difference Jesus makes to moral theology, the role of scripture, virtues, the fundamental option, love, proportionalism, the conscience, dissent from Church teaching, and the relation of morality to civil law. Concrete issues in moral theology will be referred to indirectly to show the implications of the foundational concerns of moral theology. At the end of the course, topics such as contraception, homosexuality, condom distribution in reference to the containment of AIDS, and needle exchange for intravenous drug addiction are considered as test cases for Roman Catholic moral theology. This course will also attempt to integrate the insights of Christian ethics through a discussion of film and drama.
Students will be required to spend significant amounts of time reading both primary sources and secondary texts, which will be the focus of lectures and discussions in the class. (For specifics topics and readings, see the syllabus below.) The class format is a mixture of lecture, questions, and discussion. Students are expected to be dialogue partners in the learning process, and they need to be prepared to raise questions in response to the reading, engage in respectful dialogue and debate with their classmates, and be prepared to respond to questions posed in class. Students are frequently called upon to summarize the content of an article or chapter. Thus, for this and many reasons careful reading of assigned materials is essential for success in this course.
Student learning is assessed through multiple means throughout the course. On a daily basis, students are required to submit focused written reflections on the reading. As such, students are daily given a chance to think and write critically about classic and contemporary moral problems; moral concepts such as right/wrong conduct and good/bad character; and ideals such as justice, happiness, dignity, rights, and equality.
More important for assessment, two midterm examinations and a final examination will be administered. The format of the exams will be a mixture of various types of questions: true-false, identification, short-answer, and especially essays, all designed to assess mastery of the material covered. The exams are comprehensive, incorporating both large concepts and themes and the small details which are integral to true comprehension and crucial for building and assessing theories. The final exam is cumulative.
Also a final paper is required in which the student is asked to integrate and apply the themes of the course to a particular topic in Christian ethics. Often this is a focused assignment asking students to apply the insights gained from the course to the film Crimes and Misdemeanors.
SYLLABUS
Theology & Religious Studies 141
Christian Ethics
Course Description
This course will introduce students to the disciplined study of ethics in the Roman Catholic tradition. The course’s focus will be on the reformulation of Catholic ethics in the spirit of Vatican II, and it will examine the debates and tensions which this transition has brought about. As a class in fundamental moral theology, as distinct from special or applied ethics, the primary focus will be on the fundamental questions of moral theology and the methods of analysis used. It will consider questions such as what difference Jesus makes to moral theology, the role of scripture, virtues, the fundamental option, love, proportionalism, the conscience, dissent from Church teaching, and the relation of morality to civil law. Concrete issues in moral theology will be referred to indirectly to show the implications of the foundational concerns of moral theology. At the end of the course, topics such as contraception, homosexuality, condom distribution in reference to the containment of AIDS, needle exchange for intravenous drug addiction, capital punishment. and embryo experimentation will be considered as test cases for Roman Catholic moral theology. This course will also attempt to integrate the insights of Christian ethics through a discussion of film and drama.
Learning Outcomes for the Core Curriculum Theological Understanding Learning Goal:
At the end of this course students will …
a. Demonstrate an understanding of one or more aspects of Christian tradition and/or another religious tradition or traditions, acquired through focused study in a sub-field of theology or religious studies;
b. Demonstrate an ability to explore religious questions from a believer’s point of reference and from the critical perspective of the academy.
Learning Outcomes for the major or minor in Theology & Religious Studies:
Major Content: At the end of this course students will…
a. Demonstrate an understanding of the Christian theological tradition through an exploration of specific topics in theology and the Bible;
b. Demonstrate an understanding of how Christian thought and/or practice has developed in a specific historical period;
c. Demonstrate an understanding of the implications of the Catholic concept of the fundamental dignity of the human person.
Major Skills: At the end of this course students will…
a. Demonstrate an ability to employ contemporary theories and methods of theology and/or religious studies in analyzing religious beliefs, texts, and/or practices;
b. Demonstrate an ability to explain, analyze, and evaluate multiple informed perspectives in contemporary debates about theological and ethical issues;
c. Demonstrate an ability to evaluate the interplay between religion and social, cultural, and/or political phenomena.
Readings and Topic Schedule
1. Introduction
2. DEFINING ETHICS AND MORALITY
Gula, chapter 1, "The Nature of Moral Theology," pp. 6-9
Cicero, On Duties
David Brooks, “The Moral Diet,” The New York Times, June 7, 2012
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles 3, 122
Erich Fromm, Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1947): p. 17.
Wayne Meeks, The Origins of Christian Morality (Yale, 1993): pp. 3-5.
Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, third edition (Oxford, 1989): p. 23, fn. 16.
Charles E. Curran, “A Constructive Theory of Conscience and Decision Making,” The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis (Georgetown, 1999): pp. 181f.
Robert Coles, “The Disparity Between Intellect and Character,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 22, 1995
Tom Poundstone, “Unpacking a Few Definitions of Ethics”
3. THE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF MORALITY
Gula, chapter 2, “The Task of the Moralist,” Reason Informed by Faith
James Rest, “The Major Components of Morality”, from William M. Kurtines and Jacob L. Gewirtz, eds., Morality, Moral Behavior, and Moral Development (Wiley, 1984): pp. 24-36.
“The Parable of the Good Samaritan,” Luke 10:25-37
The Doctor, DVD (available on reserve in the library)
Cast List: The Doctor
4. Deontology and Rule Utilitarianism
Hugo Bedau, “A Tragic Choice: Jim and the Natives in the Jungle,” FBK The Key Reporter 61 (Winter 1995-1996): pp. 1-6.
Thomas Nagel, “The Limits of Objectivity,” in The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, volume I, 1980 (University of Utah Press, 1980): p. 126.
Poundstone, “Deontology and Rule Utilitarianism”
Poundstone, “Rawls”
Pounstone, “Natives in the Jungle, Terrorists, and the Categorical Imperative: Examining the Two Dominant Theories in Contemporary Ethics”
5. CHRISTIAN ETHICS
Charles E. Curran, “What is Distinctive and Unique about Christian Ethics and Christian Morality?” Toward an American Catholic Moral Theology (Notre Dame, 1987): pp. 58, 61-64.
Timothy E. O'Connell, Principles for a Catholic Morality, first edition (Seabury, 1976): pp. 30-41, 199, 206-208, especially pp. 40f.
Poundstone, “Adding the Word ‘Christian’ before the Word ‘Ethics’”
6. THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN ROMAN CATHOLIC MORAL THEOLOGY
Gula, chapter 3, “The Context of Contemporary Moral Theology” and the end of his chapter two
Table of contents from Henry Davis’ Moral and Pastoral Theology (1938)
Thomas Slater, A Manual of Moral Theology for English-Speaking Countries, sixth edition (London: Burns Oates, 1928): preface
John C. Ford and Gerald Kelly, Contemporary Moral Theology, volume one (Westminster: Newman Press, 1958): pp. 96-103 (referred to by Gula, p. 27, fn. 3)
Richard McCormick, “Moral Theology from 1940 to 1989: An Overview,” Corrective Vision: Explorations in Moral Theology (Sheed and Ward, 1994): pp. 2-5.
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace, (1983): paragraphs 5-26, especially 8-12.
James F. Keenan, “Moral Theology Today,” Priests and People (October 1994): pp. 372-376.
David J. Poundstone, “The Frame of the Question” Peace Diary
Encyclopedia of Catholicism: manualists, moral manuals, moral theology
7. Virtue
Gilbert C. Meilaender, The Theory and Practice of Virtue (Notre Dame, 1984): pp. 9-11, 13-15.
William Spohn, “Virtues, Practices, and Discipleship,” Go and Do Likewise: Jesus and Ethics (Continuum, 1999): pp. 27-49.
Paul Wadell, “Virtues and the Quest for Happiness,” Happiness and the Christian Moral Life (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008): pp. 47-56.
8. TBA
9. First Mid-Term Examination
10. Scripture and Ethics
Gula, chapters 12, “Scripture in Moral Theology”
Excerpts from Exodus, Matthew, Luke, Paul, etc.
William C. Spohn, What Are They Saying about Scripture and Ethics? (Paulist, 1984): pp. 3-17.
Charles E. Curran, “Sources of Moral Theology,” The Catholic Moral Tradition Today: A Synthesis (Georgetown, 1999): pp. 47-52.
Lisa Sowle Cahill, “The Bible and Christian Moral Practices,” from Cahill and Childress, eds., Christian Ethics: Problems and Perspectives (Pilgrim Press, 2006): pp. 3-5.
11. the Distinctiveness of Christian Ethics
Gula, chapter 4, “Faith and Morality”
Richard A. McCormick, “Does Religious Faith Add to Ethical Perception?”
Richard McCormick, “Surrogacy: A Catholic Perspective” Corrective Vision: Explorations in Moral Theology (Sheed and Ward, 1994): pp. 208-209.
Richard A. McCormick, “Does Christianity Make a Difference?” Christian Bioethics (1995), volume 1, pp. 97-101.
Poundstone, “Corrective Vision”
12. MORALITY & THE THEATRE I
J.B.Priestley, An Inspector Calls
THE DAILY REFLECTION PAPER FOR THIS CLASS SHOULD BE AT LEAST TWO FULL PAGES IN LENGTH AND TURNED IN AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS. COUNTS AS THREE DAILY ASSIGNMENTS. NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS ACCEPTED. IF YOU NEED TO BE ABSENT, E-MAIL YOUR REFLECTIONS TO ME SO THAT THEY ARE TIME STAMPED BY THE END OF THE CLASS PERIOD:
13. The Human Person
Ethics Committee of the American Fertility Society, “Ethical Considerations of the New Reproductive Technologies,” Fertility and Sterility, vol. 53, no. 6, sup. 2 (June 1990): p. 1S.
Joseph Selling, “The Human Person,” in Bernard Hoose, ed., Christian Ethics: An Introduction (Liturgical Press, 1998): pp. 95-109.
Kevin T. Kelly, “The Dignity of the Human Person: A Common Starting Point,” New Directions in Moral Theology (Geoffrey Chapman, 1992): pp. 27-60.
Marie Vianney Bilgrien, “The Voice of Women in Moral Theology,” America, December 16, 1995, pp. 13-20.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 14. THE Fundamental Option and the concept of sin
Gula, chapters 6 and 8, “Freedom and Knowledge” and “Kinds of Sin”
Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, 65-70
Josef Fuchs, “Good Acts and Good Persons”
Bernard Häring, “Fundamental Option Against God and the Good,” Free and Faithful in Christ, volume one, pp. 211-218.
Encyclopedia of Catholicism: anonymous Christianity, fundamental option, sin, mortal sin, & venial sin.
“Jake and Pïnar”
15. SOCIAL SIN
Gula, chapter 7, “A Sense of Sin”
Mark O'Keefe, What Are They Saying About Social Sin?, pp. 12-25, 58-75.
The Gospel of Matthew 25:31-46; I John 4:20f.
16. Natural Law
Gula, chapters 15 and 16, “The Natural Law in Tradition” and “The Natural Law Today”
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, question 154, article 12
Bruno Schüller, “Can Moral Theology Ignore Natural Law?” Theology Digest 15 (Summer 1967): pp. 94-99
Charles E. Curran, “Natural Law,” Directions in Fundamental Moral Theology (Notre Dame, 1985): pp. 119ff.
John T. Noonan, “Contraception as Unnatural,” Contraception, enlarged edition (Harvard, 1986): pp. 238-246.
17. MORAL NORMS/PROPORTIONALISM
Gula, chapters 18 and 19, “The Morality of Human Action” and “Moral Norms”
Richard A. McCormick, “Veritatis Splendor and Moral Theology,” America 169 (October 30, 1993): pp. 8-11
Heribert Jone, “Lying,” Moral Theology, third edition (Newman Press, 1946): pp. 260-262.
Henry Davis, “Eighth Commandment,” Moral and Pastoral Theology (1938): pp. 410-416.
Edwin Healy, Medical Ethics (Loyola University Press, 1956): various pages
Poundstone, “The Principle of Double Effect”
Encyclopedia of Catholicism: proportionalism
18. MORAL NORMS/PROPORTIONALISM (CONTINUED)
19. SECOND Mid-Term Examination
20. CONSCIENCE
Gula, chapters 9 and 10, “Conscience” and “The Formation of Conscience”
Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes #16
Paul Wadell, “Dong What the Good Requires: Conscience and Prudence in the Moral Life,” Happiness and the Christian Moral Life (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008): pp. 165-195.
Sidney Callahan, In Good Conscience: Reason and Emotion in Moral Decision Making (Harper, 1991): p. 152.
Romans 14:20-23
Encyclopedia of Catholicism: conscience
Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegone Days (Viking, 1985).
21. HUMANAE VITAE AND ITS RECEPTION
Poundstone, “Background Material to Humanae Vitae”
Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae