Living the Truth: A Theory of Action

Description

How is moral theology related to pastoral theology? In this first English translation of Living the Truth, Klaus Demmer answers this question by offering a complete theory of action. Its crucial element is truthfulness, which Demmer claims is a basic attitude that must be translated concretely into our individual decisions. Demmer demonstrates that the demand for truthfulness offers a critical corrective to the usual praxis whereby ethical norms are formulated. This has significant consequences for every area of ethical directives, including questions about celibacy and partnerships. Demmer moves away from the act-centered morality that dominates the neo-Scholastic manuals of moral theology. His concern is to show how our actions embody and carry out a more original anthropological project. Not only does this anthropological project condition our insights into goods and values, it provides the criteria by which our actions are judged morally. This book will be welcomed by all who are looking for ethical norms, and by all whose task it is to formulate such norms. Contents Foreword Introduction CHAPTER ONE I: The Existential–Historical Form of Thought II: The Theological–Anthropological Form of Thought III: God’s Action and Human Action CHAPTER TWO I: Person and Personality II: Standing Firm in the Truth III: Moral Theology—A School of Truthfulness CHAPTER THREE I: Truthfulness as the Basic Attitude of the Ethical Personality II: Untruthfulness as a Source of Personal Disintegration III: The Principal Features of a Metaphysics of Ethical Action Conclusion Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Z