What does moral theology expect from philosophical ethics?

Abstract

The morality of the New Testament is different from the morality of the Old Testament. There is less specific guidance in the New Testament, and hence “more” human reason is needed to point to and justify particular (especially more specific) moral norms. Therefore, moral theology uses ethics to explain and justify moral norms. This is stated in no. 68 of the Encyclical Letter Fides et ratio. However, such ethics must meet certain basic requirements, e.g. compatibility with Revelation (not contradicting the truths contained therein). The problematics of the interdependence between moral theology and ethics have been addressed by many philosophers and moral theologians. Many textbooks on moral theology discuss the reference to philosophical ethics. Nevertheless, among the most representative authors for the discussion of the relationship between moral theology and ethics in the context of the debate over Karol Wojtyła’s habilitation dissertation are, on the part of philosophy, Kłósak, who was a professor at the Theological Faculty of the Jagiellonian University, where Wojtyła earned his habilitation degree; and Pinckaers, on the part of moral theology, who wrote a commentary on no. 68 of the Encyclical Fides et ratio, which was authored by John Paul II — Karol Wojtyła.