Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics from a Scotistic Perspective

Abstract

The article engages with Joseph Selling’s most recent publication Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics in which he invites theological ethicists to re-think the post-Tridentine development of theological ethics by noting its methodological deficiencies, misrepresentation of sources, and an insufficient interest in the most fundamental question: What is it that we are trying to achieve in our moral lives in the first place? In order to re-orient the discipline, Selling proposes a new reading of Thomas Aquinas’ Treatise on Human Acts (ST I-II, 1-21), but the present author argues that this might not be enough, given the debate within the discipline on how Aquinas’ text ought to be interpreted. Hence, the author proposes an alternative route to ‘reframing Catholic theological ethics’ via the works of John Duns Scotus and explores his ethical ideas that might be pertinent for such a project. The main focus of the article is a reflection on Scotus’ ‘case study’ of marriage and bigamy in the Old Testament that justifies drawing a parallel between his work and Selling’s attempt to reframe Catholic theological ethics.

Keywords

• John Duns Scotus
• theological ethics
• marriage and bigamy
• Thomas Aquinas
• recta ratio