Defense Date
11-7-2019
Graduation Date
Fall 12-20-2019
Availability
Immediate Access
Submission Type
dissertation
Degree Name
PhD
Department
Health Care Ethics
School
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Committee Chair
Gerard Magill
Committee Member
Joris Gielen
Committee Member
Peter Osuji
Keywords
Ethics, Moral, Double Effect, Cooperation, Health Care, Natural Law, Moral Object, Catholic
Abstract
Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Veritatis Splendor is the first and only magisterial document that systematically articulates a moral methodology for Catholic moral theology. This dissertation makes explicit the methodological connection between Vatican teaching and the United States Bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The thesis of the dissertation explains the systematic connection between Natural Law, the Moral Object of the Act, and the Principle of Double Effect and by extension the ethical Principle of Cooperation. Second, the thesis applies this complex moral method of official teaching to health care ethics.
Following the introduction, chapter two discusses the moral method of Natural Law and the Moral Object. Chapter 3 relates this explanation to the Principle of Double Effect. The subsequent chapters apply this moral method of official Catholic teaching to Catholic health care ethics, focusing on several emerging topics to emphasize the relevance of the theoretical approach. Chapter 4 discusses Health Care Ethics Consultations, especially engaging the Principle of Cooperation (enlightened by the Principle of Double Effect) with regard to prohibited health care services in Catholic health care. Chapter 5 considers the use of the Principle of Double Effect to justify bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies for BRCA mutation carriers and the uses of contraception for victims of sexual assault. Chapter 6 discusses the use of sex reassignment therapies for gender dysphoria and the use of contraceptive methods for non-contraceptive benefits.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Stephens, T. (2019). Natural Law, the Object of the Act, and Double Effect: Moral Methodology for Catholic Health Care Ethics (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1856