Educational Resource
Caring for Persons: An Introduction to Natural (Person) Law, Part I by Robert E. Joyce (1982)
Caring for Persons: An Introduction to Natural (Person) Law, Part I by Robert E. Joyce in International Review of Natural Family Planning, Volume VI, Number 4, Winter 1982
Editors' note: The following is Part I of a four-part series on the natural moral law, written with the natural family planning advocate in mind. The next three issues of the IRNFP will publish Parts II, Ill, and IV, respectively. Dr. Joyce's outline of the complete series, which follows, will assist the reader in putting Part I in perspective.
Part I: The Meaning of Morality
The contemporary crisis in morality can be regarded as a crisis in reason and faith over whether there is any natural law for all freely-chosen human action. In general, the so-called new morality says no; and the traditional, Judeo-Christian morality says yes. In the areas of human sexuality and life-care, where the new morality has developed wide-spread support, the natural moral law is blatantly denied or overlooked.
Persons who have responsible positions as parents, counselors, and teachers are as much in need of understanding today as the young people whom they attempt to guide. Perhaps it is time to ask ourselves seriously: just what is this Judeo-Christian ethic that we once thought we knew? Grass roots thinking may be necessary if we are to take effective grass roots action in teaching, counseling, and otherwise communicating.
Robert E. Joyce, Ph.D., is associate professor of philosophy at St. John's University, Minnesota. He is the author of Human Sexual Ecology and other books and articles on sexuality and human life.
intl-review-nfp-1982-Joyce-Intro-to-Natural-Person-Law-Part-1-2.pdf