Category: Morals

The First Vatican Council pronounced that the pope, in or out of council, would be protected by God with the gift of infallibility whenever he should define a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. Matters of Faith can only involve religious propositions and the matter of those propositions are true or false judgments. A moral definition would involve a proposition that is right or wrong, rather than true or false. The difference between the two involves the end being sought. A doctrinal pronouncement defines a religious truth, which is the object of the intellect. A moral pronouncement defines a good, which is the object of the will. One could say that Faith engages intellectual belief, morals engage voluntary action.

A moral act is a human act performed with knowledge and free will. Every consciously deliberate action is a moral act, and each one is either morally good or morally evil. If it leads us to our final end, eternal salvation, it is a morally good act. If it takes us away from salvation, it is a morally evil act, a sin. Morals, therefore, pertain to human conduct.

Articles in this section treat of a wide variety of issues that, immediately, proximately, or remotely, deal with the morality of human acts, whether individually or as a society.

Torture Is Never Justified

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Phil Lawler has what may be considered by some traditional-minded Catholics a “controversial” article on Catholic Culture website on this current issue of the CIA’s use of torture to get information from terrorists or suspected terrorists. Prescinding from the issue … Continue reading →

Why Liberalism Targets the Family

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In his most important book, The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an architect of the false philosophy of liberalism and thus a kind of godfather of the Revolution that has been unfolding since the philosophy first found political expression in France … Continue reading →