"Special care must be given to the perfecting of moral theology.
Its scientific exposition, nourished more on the teaching of the
Bible, should shed light on the loftiness of the calling of the
faithful in Christ and the obligation of bearing fruit in charity
for the life of the world" (Optatam totius, n.16).
Eudaimonia – Right Action that Leads to Well-being
In Aristotle’s, Nicomachean Ethics, what
has come to be labeled eudaimonistic ethics entails right actions
that lead to human flourishing or the greater well-being of each
human person’s unique self-understanding. If you extend the notion
of well-being from its narrowest point to its broadest scope, then,
even social ethics can be deduced from that intellectual starting
point. Later on, Saint Augustine adapted the original Greek concept
into beatitudo. Subsequently, St. Thomas Aquinas transformed
Augustine’s notion of beatitudo into ultimate well-being or
happiness as the direct perception of God (i.e., the Beatific
vision) or complete blessedness. This general ethical theory
encompasses any conception of morality that puts human happiness and
the fulfilled life of the individual moral agent as the center of
ethical concern. Plato, too, articulated what could be called a form
of reverse eudaimonia—since people cannot be happy doing evil, they
must do good—happiness cannot be found in conduct at odds with the
human person. The human soul has three parts: (1) reason and
judgment; (2) spirit, courage, and pride; and (3) appetites and
desires.
Understanding Any Ethic of Happiness
Morality is based on desire, not obligation in
stark distinction with the work of philosophers such as Immanuel
Kant. Happiness (or eudaimonia) is not equivalent to pleasure or the
absence of pain, which would be hedonism, nor is it getting what
you want. Instead, because happiness is achieving the good life,
any ethic of happiness is a normative ethic that yields objective
standards of what constitutes human flourishing (or moral
excellence), norms by which an action can be judged as right or
wrong.
The individual agent seeks his/her own good—a life
of fulfillment and human flourishing.
Three basic assumptions: (1) All people want to
live well; (2) Living well depends upon the choices that we make;
and (3) Intelligent choices require thought and reasoning.
There are also three basic human inclinations: (1)
Biological—food, shelter, health and so on; (2)
psychological—emotional and cognitive satisfaction, as well as the
freedom to exercise some choice; (3) Social—desire for healthy
interpersonal relationships of love and friendship; mutual (or
contractual) agreements rooted in the concept of justice,
participation in the polis (or social community). Therefore,
proponents of this ethical theory believe that there is a
deep-seated, shared view of what constitutes the good life.
Virtues are habitual actions that contribute to
the good life and safeguard it. Basic inclinations that concern
moral virtue are: (1) satisfaction of appetites---temperance; (2)
Action despite fears or risks---courage; (3) seeking close personal
relationships—love; (4) seeking honor and/or personal
recognition—dignity.
Todd A. Salzman, ed. Method and Catholic Moral
Theology: The Ongoing Reconstruction. Omaha, NE: Creighton
University Press, 1999
.____________. What Are They Saying about Roman
Catholic Ethical Method? Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003.
Servais Pinckaers, OP. Trans. by Sr. Mary Thomas
Noble. The Sources of Christian Ethics. Washington, DC:
Catholic University of America Press, 1995
._________________. "The Place of Philosophy in
Moral Theology." L’Osservatore Romano. June 16, 1999, p. 14.
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