Determining the Good and Human Culpability: Catholic Catechesis on Overcoming the Anxiety of Sin
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: This article focuses on the implications of modernity for human culpability and moral responsibility. Although the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is most often approached theologically and pastorally, this article is intended as an answer to Pope Benedict XVI's call to explore catechesis through new lenses by adopting a psychological therapeutic approach. As such, this article will examine how the rejection of religious ascription to God for defining and determining the good and re-ascribing it to humanity leads to a rupture and the psychological conditions of anxiety, depression, and melancholia. The article will go on to argue for a Lacanian reading of Thomas Aquinas’ definition of the good and how the Thomistic understanding provides a more comprehensive approach to determining culpability and overcoming the associated fear which leads to anxiety, depression, and melancholia.
Source: New Blackfriars
DOI: 10.1111/nbfr.12835
Author: Daniel J. Goodey
Institution: The Open University
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4366814179