Part I: Fundamental Ethics Questions.

1. The categories “historicity” and “solidarity with the world” are determinant in Gaudium
et Spes (1965). How did they influence in moral theology? How did Humanae Vitae
(1968) impact this change?

2. Veritatis Splendor (1993) is a milestone in Catholic moral teaching. Why this encyclical
was an answer to the different discussions of post-conciliar theological ethics? What
problems does this encyclical present to moral theology in a pluralistic society?

3. The position of the Church about usury is paradigmatic of how Catholic tradition could
change and shows that this tradition is in development. How would you justify this
statement?

4. Albert Jonsen and Stephen Toulmin, in The Abuse of Casuistry (1987), recovered this
tradition of moral reasoning as a way of discussing bioethical issues. What challenges
did casuistry attempt to answer? What were the “moral systems” that are born from it?
Why did it go into decline?

5. Conscience is one of the pillars of the Church’s moral tradition. Present the positions of
St. Paul, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Gaudium et Spes (1965),
Veritatis Splendor (1993), and Amoris Laetitia (2016). According to Richard Gula in
Reason Informed by Faith. Foundations of Catholic Morality (1989); what are the three
senses of conscience?

6. How do the principles of toleration, cooperation with evil, and double effect relate to
proportionalism?

7. The natural law is constitutive of the moral tradition of the Church. What are the
different models of natural law throughout history?

8. Optatium Totius, 16 (1965) called for a renewal of moral theology “nourished by Holy
Scripture.” Present an essay describing how was the situation of moral theology before,
the possibilities that this renewal creates for moral theology, the difference between
“revealed morality” and “revealed reality,” and how does the magisterium currently
understand the relation between the Bible and Moral.

9. Alasdair MacIntyre, in After Virtue (1981), was essential in the recovery of the notion of
virtue in contemporary ethical discussion. What did he want to do with his intellectual
project? How does he deal with virtue? Why is it a good theoretical framework for
Catholic morality?