Ethics and Moral Decision-Making: Sources, Reasoning and Application
What you must understand
This domain examines how traditions reason morally. Core concepts: natural law, divine command, virtue ethics, conscience and its formation, casuistry and precedent, contextual and situation ethics, the common good, and the distinction between moral norms and pastoral practice. You should be able to trace an argument from source to conclusion and identify the method used.
Traps that appear in questions
- Confusing the method with the conclusion. Two traditions may reach the same verdict by different routes; show the route.
- Ignoring the hierarchy of norms. Some norms are held absolute, others prudential; conflating them misrepresents the tradition.
- Flattening conscience. Conscience is typically understood as needing formation, not as mere private feeling.
- Anachronism. Applying modern categories to an earlier debate without acknowledging the shift.
Rule of thumb
Use the source–method–norm–application chain: identify the source of authority, the reasoning method, the norm invoked, and how it applies to the case. Then ask whether the tradition permits exceptions.
Worked example
On a disputed medical decision, a strong answer names the scriptural and natural-law sources, the reasoning by double effect or proportionate reason, the norm protecting life, and the pastoral allowance for conscience - showing both the reasoning and its limits.