010033 VO Advanced Course Theological Ethics II : Sexual Ethics (2021W)

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 emphasise 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 approaches developed and "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 tracking the historical development, fundamental operative concepts, and theological approaches to Catholic sexual ethics within various contexts in which it took shape and against the background of challenges to which it was responding, the students will be able to develop a nuanced understanding of this area of theological ethics as well as an appreciation of challenges it faces in the contemporary time. Against that background, they will be encouraged to develop their own critical position on how sexual ethics ought to respond to these challenges and what shape it should assume in the future.
In terms of methods, students are expected to follow lectures, study the assigned literature, and participate in discussions.