scholarly journals Niepodległość i co dalej?

2019 ◽  
pp. 183-194
Author(s):  
Maciej Bukowicki
Keyword(s):  

What’s the aim of well-working country? Independence in itself it’s not the aim. In-dependence is only beginning of the long way. Nation has to be built on a strong axio-logical base. After I had delved into works of John Paul II, I came to conclusion that this axiological base must be natural law. Limiting to minimum, I chose three the most major values – life, freedom and property. Thanks to them we can conclude the most important founding rules of the human world

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Rhonheimer

Giovanni Paolo II nel suo Magistero ha trattato ampiamente il tema della legge naturale, in particolare nell’Enciclica Veritatis Splendor, ove è possibile reperire una trattazione sulla definizione, l’essenza e le caratteristiche di essa secondo l’insegnamento di Tommaso d’Aquino. La legge naturale è una legge propria dell’uomo creato quale essere libero e razionale, la cui ragione, partecipe della ragione divina e ordinatrice, è capace di reperire in se stessa, in base alle inclinazioni naturali della persona umana, i principi primi e, in tal modo, svolgere funzione normativa e di discernimento sul bene e sul male. La legge naturale è la stessa ragione umana in quanto compie questo ruolo normativo nell’unità sostanziale di corpo e anima spirituale. Nella Veritatis Splendor la questione etica si esplica mediante una trattazione sull’oggetto dell’azione, dal quale dipende fondamentalmente la moralità dell’atto umano poiché nell’oggetto viene a trovarsi il fine immediato o proximus di una libera scelta della volontà guidata dalla ragione. Tale insegnamento trova applicazione nell’ambito dell’etica della vita nei tre grandi temi affrontati da Giovanni Paolo II nell’Enciclica Evangelium Vitae: il divieto assoluto di uccidere, che si specifica in particolare nella condanna di atti quali l’uccisione diretta di un innocente, l’aborto e l’eutanasia, deriva da una fondamentale violazione della giustizia, fondata sull’uguaglianza. La scelta deliberata della morte di un soggetto, intesa quale fine o mezzo, con la relativa strumentalizzazione della vita e della persona, è perciò sempre moralmente illecita. Così, Giovanni Paolo II ha presentato una dottrina coerente atta ad evidenziare il nesso fra legge naturale, oggetto morale degli atti umani ed etica della vita. Il divieto di uccidere è un principio primo ed universale della stessa legge naturale che, perseguendo il bene dell’uomo, viene, come diritto naturale, a costituire il fondamento della convivenza umana nella società. ---------- John Paul II broadly dealt with the topic of natural law in his Magisterial teaching, particularly in the Encyclical Veritatis Splendor, where it is possible to retrieve a treatment on the definition, the essence and the characteristics of it according to the teaching of Thomas Aquinas. Natural law is a law proper of man created as a free and rational being, whose reason, participating of the divine and ordaining reason, is able to retrieve in itself, according to the natural inclinations of the human person, the first principles and, in such way, to develop normative function and of discernment on the good and on the evil. The natural law is the human reason itself as it achieves this normative role in the substantial unity of body and spiritual soul. In Veritatis Splendor the ethical matter is expounded through a treatment on the object of the action, on which the morality of the human act fundamentally depends, since in the object it comes to be the immediate end itself or proximus of a free choice of the will driven by the reason. Such teaching finds application within the ethics of life in the three great themes faced by John Paul II in the Encyclical Evangelium Vitae: the absolute prohibition to kill, that is particularly specified in the condemnation of acts as the direct killing of an innocent, the abortion and the euthanasia, derives from a fundamental violation of the justice, founded upon the equality. The deliberate choice of the death of a subject, intended as end or mean, with the relative exploitation of the life and the person, is therefore always morally illicit. This way, John Paul II presented a coherent doctrine able to underline the connection between natural law, moral object of the human acts and ethics of life. The prohibition to kill is a first and universal principle of the natural law itself that, aiming at the good of man, it comes, as natural right, to constitute the base of the human cohabitation in the society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-46
Author(s):  
Irene Alexander

Despite sincere attempts to interpret Evangelium vitae and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs) of Catholic Health Care on direct versus indirect abortion, Catholic moral theologians docile to the magisterium and to Pope John Paul II’s teaching remain divided on how the ERDs should be interpreted based on the meaning of the word “direct.” The traditional natural law theory holds that the moral object in an indirect abortion involves not only that the abortion is unintended by the subject but also indirectly caused. The second and more novel interpretation referred to as the New Natural Law (NNL) theory is that an indirect abortion refers only to abortions which the acting person does not intend, whether or not he immediately causes them. Because the novel view bases its entire revision of the moral object by considering only “the perspective of the acting person”, a key text in Veritatis splendor no. 78, they argue that they are being faithful to Pope John Paul II’s teaching in Veritatis splendor ( VS) no. 78. In this article I argue that their reasoning is based on a fundamental misreading of Veritatis splendor and that the Pope himself would reject their view, even though they quote him, because their interpretation contradicts the fundamental moral principles that Pope John Paul II himself lays out within the very same chapter of Veritatis splendor. Furthermore, when the foundations of the broader NNL theory are brought to light, it becomes clear that the fundamental mistake at the root of this disputed question is that the NNL theory interprets the magisterial documents of Pope John Paul II through their own philosophical method—a method of moral analysis not shared by Pope John Paul II or the magisterium. When this interpretive error is brought to light, and Pope John Paul II is read on his own terms, it is clear that a direct abortion involves any attack on the unborn child that the acting person immediately and physically causes. Summary: The disputed question in Catholic health care concerning what constitutes a direct and indirect abortion can be resolved by examining the foundational differences of both the New Natural Law theory with the traditional natural law theory. Once these differences are brought to light, it is clear that the NNL has reinterpreted the meaning of the word “direct” based on a meaning that the magisterium has never accepted as a licit one for defining intrinsically evil acts. Furthermore, NNL thinkers misread Pope John Paul in Veritatis splendor 78 by applying their own novel methodology to the text. When this interpretive error is brought to light, it is clear that a direct abortion involves any attack on the unborn child that the acting person immediately and physically causes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-105
Author(s):  
Irene Alexander ◽  

This article seeks to demonstrate that the perverted faculty argument is at the foundation of magisterial teaching in sexual ethics. Yet new natural law (NNL) theorists have consistently condemned this argument for decades despite their claim that they support the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. This situation is incongruous. Current scholarship indicates that NNL theorists do not accept the rationale for magisterial teaching in sexual ethics because, despite their opposition to proportionalism, they still hold in common its most critical error—an error that Pope St. John Paul II was at pains to condemn in Veritatis splendor


2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Todd A. Salzman ◽  
Michael G. Lawler

This essay is about Catholic theological ethics and an explanation of competing answers to questions raised by Catholic ethicists. The core of the essay is a presentation of the cognitional theory of perspectivism as a counter to the concerns of relativism raised by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The essay considers the foundational theory of natural law and contrasts its 19th-century neo-Thomist understanding with Aquinas’s own understanding of natural law as reason. As a concrete illustration of the theories of perspectivism and natural law, the essay considers the question of contraception and its competing Catholic answers.


Author(s):  
Jon Stewart

After a brief introduction to the life and work of the Greek dramatist Sophocles, Chapter 5 interprets Oedipus the King as a critical story of the human search for knowledge. Oedipus is known for his intelligence as is exemplified by his ability to defeat the Sphinx by figuring out the answer to its riddle. The tragedy also portrays the idea of natural law as an extension of the world of nature. In the play natural law is portrayed in terms of the laws prohibiting patricide and incest, which are regarded not just as violations of the human world but rather of nature itself. This picture is set against the threat of relativism and subjectivism that was starting to arise in Greek culture. The story also illuminates the Greek concept of fate, to which Oedipus falls victim, although he at every step tries to avoid it. This raises difficult questions about human responsibility, culpability, and free will. Sophocles’ tragedy is read as a criticism of the Greek scientific revolution and the Socratic spirit which puts value on learning new things based on reason instead of relying on the ancient customs and religious traditions.


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