What is missing? Each of us is in a tradition (or traditions). Each of us is a

member of (many) cultures and practices. What ethical / cultural practices (beliefs, rules,

principles) should I follow? - feeling isn’t enough. Why? - tradition isn’t enough. Why? - agreement isn’t enough, Why?

What is the relevance/importance of history, place, culture?

Relation of reason, passion, tradition, culture, social dimension

Why is it important to know/be ethical? To study ethics? What values are central? (Are there any general/universal

principles?) Beneficence? Impartiality? Autonomy? Pluralism?

Does ethics make a difference? relation to other beliefs (science, art, religion)

Who/what counts? Why? Other factors

Human nature as social beings The diversity of the social The place of dialogue Character / virtue

We need a full account of ethics as true and objective Questions seeking explanation

How/when do I carry out my ethical beliefs? Is there any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer?

Should others be ethical? (vs artistic taste, scientific knowledge)

How do I explain difference/diversity? Is difference/diversity in practice important? (What does it mean to say that ethics is “true”?)

Responding to post modern approaches Still rationalist; still foundationalist (in critique) If on a par, sceptical We can know reality

footprints Standard of truth not just correspondence

Quasi coherence and a ground There is a purpose to sentimental education We look for explanations of our feelings

Why are babies worth more than bugs? Solidarity must be ‘reasonable’

Moral education (Practical ethics) and moral theory (moral

philosophy) we need to distinguish ‘moral ideas’ (morality) from ‘ideas

about morality’ (moral science) -- between “the art of living” and “the science of ethics”

sceptical of the actual [psychological] influence that ideas about morality have on ethical behaviour

Is moral science necessary to moral action? guidelines already present in institutions and dominant ideas

that exist in the world the moral life must grow from within

Is there any point to theory and the analysis of ethical life? to understand moral life, what lies behind it, and what is

involved in it bad theories produce bad observations, and bad

observations produce dangerous actions

What does such a moral theory involve? pursuing such questions as: the nature of human freedom,

the nature of the will, the source of ethical obligation, the character of dominant ideas, and the ‘principle of value,’ and more.

Jacques Maritain

Jacques Maritain Natural Law: reflections on theory and practice (ed. with

Introductions and notes, by William Sweet), South Bend, IN: St Augustine's Press [distributed by University of Chicago Press], 2001; Second printing, corrected, 2003.

Man and the State, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1951.

La loi naturelle ou loi non écrite: texte inédit, établi par Georges Brazzola. Fribourg, Suisse: Éditions universitaires, 1986. [Lectures on Natural Law. Tr. William Sweet. In The Collected Works of Jacques Maritain, Vol. VI, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, (forthcoming).]

follows Thomas Aquinas (1224-74); foundationalist,

rationalist Vs modernity – “our knowledge of the basic principles of

morality as deduced by conceptual and rational knowledge” is fundamentally mistaken

not because reason is defective, or a product of a particular culture

not the function of reason to provide foundational principles Modernism confuses moral knowledge and moral philosophy

Moral philosophy is a practical science; builds on moral knowledge

We know "through science" and "through inclination“

(connaturality) obtained "through looking at and consulting what we are and

the inner bents and propensities of our own being” (RR 22) Synderesis - not conceptual knowledge or reasoning

But also not affective/sentimental; an innate disposition "the judgements in which Natural Law is made manifest to

practical Reason do not proceed from any conceptual, discursive, rational exercise of reason; they proceed from that connaturality or congeniality through which what is consonant with the essential inclinations of human nature is grasped by the intellect as good; what is dissonant, as bad."

We know the first principle "Good is to be done and sought

after, and evil is to be avoided" Questions

Morality varies throughout humanity and history Is this ‘knowledge’ rational? What exactly do we know? (moral facts? Principles?) Is this knowledge reliable?

What is involved in morality? Basic cultural/moral beliefs (framework beliefs,

triggered) Non-basic cultural/moral beliefs

Historical Social Require practices and discourse Rooted in dealings with the world; institutions Learning moral culture/discourse vs reducible to it Open ended; allow growth and development