Many of the subjects discussed on this blog touch upon moral issues?and disagreements about moral issues. I thought that some people might be interested in a new book published by Notre Dame Press on the topic, edited by longtime Commonweal contributor, Larry Cunningham. I have an essay in there too. Here?s the blurb, which explains why we all did this:
Both as cardinal and as Pope Benedict XVI, one of Josef Ratzinger?s consistent concerns has been the foundational moral imperatives of the natural law. In 2004, then Cardinal Ratzinger requested that the University of Notre Dame study the complex issues embedded in discussions about ?natural rights? and ?natural law? in the context of Catholic thinking. To that end, Alasdair MacIntyre provided a substantive essay on the foundational problem of moral disagreements concerning natural law, and eight scholars were invited to respond to MacIntyre?s essay, either by addressing his work directly or by amplifying his argument along other yet similar paths. The contributors to this volume are theologians, philosophers, civil and canon lawyers, and political scientists, who reflect on these issues from different disciplinary perspectives. Once the contributors? essays were completed, MacIntyre responded with a closing essay.
I also want to point out that the Catholic University of America and Ave Maria University also were asked to address these questions?I know that they ran conferences on the topic, but I am not sure whether they have been published yet.
