Fundamental Moral Concepts in Catholic Social Teaching

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

What does it mean for us to say we are human beings with personal dignity and a social nature, living in an imperfect world affected by sin? This course is an introduction to Catholic moral theology through the lens of social ethics. It aims to familiarize students with the theological foundations of eight terms that recur throughout Catholic social teaching: dignity, social nature, natural law, freedom, sin, conscience, justice, and love. Special emphasis will be placed on how these concepts are interconnected in a moral framework. Students will compare and contrast these concepts with definitions from other texts, identifying and analyzing the use of diverse definitions in debates on structural injustice, lawful resistance, gender equality, the death penalty, etc., and charting paths for realistic dialogue based on an acknowledgment of common understandings, mutual enrichment, and objective differences.