For today’s class....
 

• “ethics” (or "morality") = that discipline which tries to figure out what's good or bad, what's right or wrong through a critical examination of the reasons underlying practices and beliefs.

• Christian ethics tries to do this from a theological perspective involving the God revealed by Jesus Christ.  That is, Christian ethics tries to do this from within the Christian worldview (where a worldview consists of  beliefs and assumptions about how the world fits together and what the nature of ultimate reality is, what humans are, where we came from, where we go after death and so on). Namely, Christian ethics tries to figure out what to do in light of religious claims about what there ultimately is—namely, who and what God is,  what God stands for, what kinds of behavior God values or prohibits, what purpose or goal God intends for human beings, etc.  Christians claim that Jesus Christ is the primary revelation of all these things:  namely, of who and what God is, what God stands for, what kinds of behavior God values or prohibits, what the purpose of human life is, etc..

• Catholic Christian ethics determines what's good or bad, right or wrong in light of what God wants as revealed by Jesus Christ in the New Testament and as interpreted with the help of the teaching office of the Catholic Church.  That is, Catholic Christian ethics tries to figure out what's good or bad, right or wrong from within a Christian worldview interpreted through the help of the teaching office of the Catholic Church.

For Friday's class....
 

• consequentialism = the moral theory that affirms that what makes an action good is good consequences.  An action is good if it produces good consequences or results.  Therefore, one should always try to do “the greatest good for the greatest number.”  The ends justify (= make right) the means (= why you do something justifies how you do it, OR a good reason ‘why’ can legitimate any ‘how’).

• absolutism = the opposite of consequentialism.  For this reason, absolutism is sometimes referred to as ‘nonconsequentialism.’   Absolutism holds that more than just consequences matter in the moral evaluation of a particular deed because certain things are absolutely right or wrong regardless of consequences.  This perspective holds that the ends do not justify the means.  That is, results or consequences—even good ones—don’t necessarily make an action morally right.  Maybe there are certain actions which one can NEVER morally do (for example, maybe murder is always wrong, regardless of consequences).