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Applying the Dignity of Human Life
It is in the practical and concrete application of ethics and morals that we run in to trouble. For example, we may believe that we need to recognize the value of every human being, but how exactly to manifest this in our day to day activities is another matter altogether. How do we give value to the life of a pedophile, rapist, murderer, or specific people like Stalin, Mao, or Hitler? We must first recognize that we are having a problem reconciling the two opinions. What usually happens is that we can agree in the case of a general rule, i.e. that we are made in the image of God and that we need to respect human life. But when it comes to the specific, we have difficulties applying this rule. One needs first to clarify their belief in the original moral statement. Then we compare and rationally understand how this applies to the group or individual we feel compelled to exclude. This may need some soul searching and even a humble admittance that we too have the potential to become that which we most abhor. Let us look at the dignity of a human life. As we have advanced…
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Right and Reason: Book Review
Title: Right and Reason: Ethics in Theory and Practice, Second Edition Author: Fr. Austin Fagothey, S.J. Published: Charlotte, North Carolina: TAN Books, 2000 About the Author[1] Austin J. Fagothey (1901-1975) was born in San Francisco, California. He entered the Society of Jesus after graduating from St. Ignatius High School in 1917. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1931. Over his long teaching career, he taught English, Greek, theology and philosophy. He chaired the Philosophy Department for thirty years at Santa Clara University and served on its Board of Trustees from 1943-1973. The university awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1974. My Perspective Right and Reason was a required book for my Morality and Justice class that I am finishing up the last week of. Only selected chapters were required reading, but I read the book in its entirety and I am glad I did. It is recommended in the Preface that the reader has some basic understanding of the Aristotelian-Thomistic system. It uses the problem method. “This consists in introducing one of the major problems of ethics, explaining how it arose and…
