Lecture Series on “Natural Law” – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105): The Hebrew Bible and Natural Law
Lecture Series on "Natural Law" - "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105): The Hebrew Bible and Natural Law
10
Dec
The Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy will hold a Public Lecture titled “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105): The Hebrew Bible and Natural Law, on the 12th November 2020.
Covid-19 impacts our life and world dramatically. Scientists claim, that this situation might have been caused – among other factors – by a wrong treatment of nature by humans. Did nature put its brakes on to correct human behavior? Can we humans discover in nature how to act correctly? Does nature help us to get to know what to do? Philosophically speaking, should actions follow our being (agere sequitur esse), and is ethics fundamentally hooked up with reality and ontology? (bonum et verum convertuntur). Does the “ought” follow from the “is”, and should human life and societies comply with how things are?
After overcoming the mechanistic reductionism of the “natural fallacy”, which denies “value judgments” originating from “is” or facts, this Lecture Series attempts to trace back question of “natural goodness” (Philippa Foot), morals and good actions “in accord with reason” (S. Thomas Aquinas, S.Th. I-II.21.1.; ST I-II, 90.1). The philosophical and catholic tradition calls this the morality of the “natural law”. The lectures shed light on development and relevance of Natural Law from different philosophical and theological angles.
About the Talk & Speaker:
Prof. Chin Hei (Andrew) LEONG; Ph.D in Theology (Biblical Studies, Old Testament) / Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Since the time of the Church Fathers, the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) has been seen as the privileged expression of the Natural Law (see: CCC 2070). This lecture will review the adoption of the Decalogue in Catholic theological ethics, explore its significance, and critically evaluate the challenges it poses.
Details:
Date: 10 December 2020
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Location: Don Bosco Auditorium, USJ Ilha Verde Campus
Organised by: Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy, University of Saint Joseph
*This Public Lecture will be conducted in English
