Dirty Hands, Supreme Emergencies, and Catholic Moral Theology

Bibliographic Data

ID14760481
AuthorsEvan Sandsmark (corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume49
Issue4
Pages739-767
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religious Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0384-9694 • E-ISSN: 1467-9795
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jore.12371
OpenAlexW4210731172
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited17

Is it ever permissible to commit an intrinsically evil act in order to avert catastrophe? Consequentialists say yes, denying the very concept of intrinsic evil, since the action that leads to the best consequences is by definition right. Moral absolutism, in contrast, insists that it is never permissible to commit an action that is inherently evil, regardless of the consequences. However, there is a middle position, occupied by “dirty hands” theorists, who claim that actions can be both necessary and immoral. I argue that Catholic moral theology, although generally associated with moral absolutism, can and should make conceptual space for the idea of dirty hands, both because it saves the Church from committing itself to what seem to be moral absurdities and because the phenomenon of dirty hands captures a genuine dimension of our moral experience in a fallen world

Absolute monarchy · Action (physics · Commit · Economics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Moral order · Order (exchange · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Augustinian Studies and Theology · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Theology and Philosophy of Evil · War, Ethics, and Justification

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