Print this pageCourses on Lonergan
THO 3166: Moral Existence (Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology): Winter 2011
The course is a presentation of foundations in ethics within the discipline of theology. Christian ethics is presented as an active quest towards understanding and guiding ethical living. Part I presents a brief historical background to ethics in the Christian tradition. Part II introduces key insights on moral knowing, moral persons and the social dimension of moral life. Part III discusses human sinfulness and the response of Christian faith. Part IV presents some contemporary issues and debates in ethics.
THO 6333: Methods and Approaches in Contemporary Ethics: Charles Taylor and Bernard Lonergan (Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology) Winter 2011
This course will: (1) introduce students to contemporary debates on ethical foundations and the challenge of democratic pluralism; (2) explore the role of theological resources in public ethical discourse; (3) introduce the works of Charles Taylor and Bernard Lonergan; (4) invite student participation in critical dialogue on foundational issues related to theology, ethics and democratic society.
THO 3566: Existence Morale (Mark Slatter, Faculty of Theology): Winter 2011
Ce cours est une introduction au champ de l’éthique et/ou de la morale en théologie. Les sujets a l’étude incluent les concepts de base de l’éthique, les principales théories éthiques, les éléments fondamentaux de l’existence morale, les sources philosophiques de la morale et l’histoire de la théologie morale, le rôle de L’Écriture et de la foi chrétienne en éthique. Une importance particulière sera accordée a certains thèmes, tels que le sens de la vie et l’obligation morale, la question du bien, la spécificité de la morale chrétienne, l’enseignement moral de L’Eglise et la conscience morale, la loi évangélique et la loi naturelle.
THO 3155: Selected Topics in Ethics II: Jane Jacobs (Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology): Fall 2010 [prerequisite: THO 3166]
This course introduces students to the work of Jane Jacobs. Students will read a selection of Jacobs’s work with a view towards understanding how she grounds an ethics within an understanding of the dynamic structure of social life. Topics include ethics and social science; ethics and economics; the common good; natural law; ethics and the human person; ethics and spirituality.
THO 4108: Grace and Christian Existence (Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology): Fall 2010 [prerequisite: THO 3162]
This course focuses on the relationship between human freedom and the experience of grace in human life. Topics include the Christian heritage of theological reflection on grace; contemporary efforts to rethink grace in a social and liberation context; the possibility of God's action within a contemporary understanding of world process and moral freedom; grace as an essential element in our response to the problem of human sinfulness.
THO 2147: Selected Topics in Ethics I: Business Ethics (Morag McAleese, Coordinator of the Lonergan Centre): Winter 2010
This course will introduce students to contemporary discussions on the role of business and its management practices from a Christian perspective. It will engage students in a variety of readings that contrast traditional business practices with stakeholder theory and a common good perspective from Catholic social thought. Topics covered in this course also include corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship.
THO 2316: Religion, Culture and Diversity (Derek Bianchi Melchin, Conflict Studies): Winter 2010
Living in contemporary societies means engaging with religious and cultural diversity as a fact of everyday life. However, it also challenges us to address the problems that emerge when people’s beliefs, values and practices come into conflict. This course will introduce sutdents to some of the questions raised by contemporary challenges of religious and cultural pluralism. The first section of the course uses case studies to examine some of the ways we typically respond to situations of religious and cultural difference. The second section focuses on understanding the process of interreligious and intercultural engagement more fully: what are we doing when we struggle to “make sense” of others whose cultural and religious values differ from our own? The third section builds on this framework to develop elements for a theological response to the problems of religious diversity and conflict in contemporary societies. Throughout, the aim of the course is to help students gain a better understanding of the types of challenges that religious diversity presents us with as well as some ideas about how we can respond to these challenges, both socially and theologically.
THO 4127: Economics and Ethics (Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology): Winter 2010
The course begins with a history of economic theories. The goal is to identify ethical issues that are operative explicitly or implicitly in these theories. In the second section, readings focus on the work of Jane Jacobs as a novel way of understanding economics and the economics-ethics relationship. Finally, the American Bishops Pastoral Letter on the U.S. economy is examined to understand the relationship between theology and economics.
THO 6341: Political Ethics/Spiritual Movements – Their Social Context and Importance I: Democracy, Conflict, and Spirituality (Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology): Winter 2010
This course examines diverse ways of understanding democracy, the role of conflict in thinking about democracy, and the role of spirituality in meeting the challenges of democratic living. We introduce theories of democracy and approaches to the study of conflict. We focus on the Insight approach to conflict and examine the links between conflict and democracy. We examine theology’s contribution to politics by studying the role of spirituality in political ethics.
