010103 SE Current Issues in Sexual Ethics (2020W)

Despite centuries of thinking, Catholic sexual ethics remained fairly uniform until very recent times. Its normative approach to "sexuality" followed the lines set by St. Augustine in the fifth century that emphasises the so-called three goods of marriage: permanence, fidelity, and offspring, in light of which both sources (of moral wisdom) were interpreted and acts/practices evaluated. This teaching reached its peak of systematisation at the beginning of the twentieth century and was codified in the 1917 Code of Canon Law in terms of primary (offspring) and secondary (mutual help and allaying of concupiscence) ends of marriage. The Second Vatican Council, however, shifted the tables by dispensing with the categorisation of ends of marriage and by giving meaning to procreation only within the broader mutual love of the spouses. Coupled with new scientific discoveries in the area of sexuality, changing mores (mainly in the so-called Western world), and the higher appreciation of the good of the human person, these shifts prompted theologians to start re-thinking Catholic sexual ethics and to investigate deeper implications of these developments. The "issues" that surfaced in that investigation (contraception, homosexuality, pre-marital relations, celibacy, marriage, alternative living forms, artificial reproductive technologies, sexual anthropology, etc.) and that will be investigated in this course, the positions taken, and theoretical advancements made were the result of their efforts. By taking stock of these post-conciliar developments, students will familiarise themselves with the current state of Catholic sexual ethics when it comes to both, applied ethics and fundamental issues, and be able to take and defend their own positions within many debates that still go on in this field.
In terms of methods, students are expected to participate in discussions, group work, and to hold an oral presentation during seminar meetings.