Following the Second Vatican Council, Benedict Ashley, OP, witnessed the redirection of moral theology from a classically oriented tradition to an empirically conditioned historicism. The result was moral confusion and intellectual controversy within the Church. Rather than subjectivity, relationality, and language of historical mindedness, Ashley preferred a theological method that favors a focus on Scripture, the Magisterium, natural science, and a carefully nuanced consideration of subjectivity and objectivity. In addition to essays on a wide range of topics, such as natural law, conscience, autonomy, infallibility, and medical ethics, the volume contains an intellectual biography of Fr. Ashley by Matthew McWhorter and commentaries by contemporary scholars Rev. Cajetan Cuddy, OP, Matthew Minerd, and Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, OP.

5.5" x 8.25"

vi + 333 Pages

Index

ISBN 978-0-935372-73-1 (paperback)