casuistry
- noun
- /ˈkæʒuɪstri/
- Specialized
:
casuística
- As a casuist, Strong would favor casuistry; utilitarians would endorse utilitarianism.
Examples
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In addressing contentious ethical issues, the committee relied on casuistry to provide clear guidance for their decisions.
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For centuries, philosophers passed down to each other an old piece of moral casuistry.
Academic text (1999) -
It was to tackle such practical problems that casuistry developed and made such ready and valuable use of moral distinctions.
Academic text (1992) -
The prominence given to ethical and moral issues can be partly explained by the Jesuits' long association with casuistry.
Academic text (2005) -
Does dwelling on the denseness of particular actions afford a richer model of ethical judgment, or does it encourage casuistries that evade the clear and necessary application of principles?
Academic text (1998) -
Scholars often turn to casuistry to analyze complex moral dilemmas in literature and philosophy.
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The judge used casuistry to navigate the intricate moral questions presented in the case before him.
How Systematic
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Casuistry comes from the Latin word casus meaning 'case', just like the English word 'case'. It originally meant solving moral problems by looking closely at each 'case', which is why it still means using general rules to decide specific moral problems.