Eternal Law and Environmental Policy: Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, and a Thomistic Approach to Climate Change

McHugh, James T.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71377-9_4

James T. McHugh⁵

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy ((PSRPP))

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Abstract

The inspiration and methodology for Pope Francis’s environmental encyclical, Laudato Si’, has been credited to various philosophical and theological sources. One such influence that may not have received the attention that it deserves (though it is consistent with Pope Francis’ background and training as a Jesuit) is the moral theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In particular, the encyclical’s attention to climate change and its biological, economic, moral, and social implications for the planet are highly consistent with an underappreciated category of law within the Thomistic tradition, which is the eternal law. Understanding this influence provides broader insights into the reconciliation of faith and reason in support of the sort of environmental and social justice policies that this encyclical appears to promote.

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Notes

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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7.
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13.
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14.
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16.
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23.
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26.
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27.
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28.
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33.
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34.
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35.
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36.
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37.
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38.
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39.
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40.
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41.
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42.
Aquinas , Summa Theologiae, Question 91, article 2.
43.
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44.
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45.
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47.
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48.
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49.
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50.
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51.
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52.
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53.
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54.
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55.
Laudato Si’, section 66.
56.
Ibid., section 23.
57.
Ibid., section 25.
58.
Ibid., section 67.
59.
Ibid., sections 164, 173.
60.
Ibid., section 68.
61.
Ibid., section 76.
62.
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63.
Laudato Si’, section 106.
64.
Ibid., section 158.
65.
Peter M. J. Hess and Paul L. Allen, Catholicism and Science (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008), 149–58.
66.
John Bowlin, Contingency and Fortune in Aquinas’ Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 120–23.
67.
Laudato Si’, section 199.
68.
Ibid., section 205.
69.
Fabro, “Intensive Hermeneutics,” 1225–228.
70.
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71.
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72.
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74.
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75.
Katie McShane, “The Bearers of Value in Environmental Ethics,” in Consequentialism and Environmental Ethics, ed. Avram Hiller, Ramona Ilea, and Leonard Kahn, 17–34 (New York: Routledge, 2013).
76.
Paul Hurley, Beyond Consequentialism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 116–17, 124–25.
77.
Rziha, Perfecting Human Actions, 26–27.

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University of Akron/University of Vermont, Akron, OH, USA
James T. McHugh

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University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
Alynna J. Lyon
Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH, USA
Christine A. Gustafson
American University, Washington, DC, USA
Paul Christopher Manuel

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McHugh, J.T. (2018). Eternal Law and Environmental Policy: Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, and a Thomistic Approach to Climate Change. In: Lyon, A., Gustafson, C., Manuel, P. (eds) Pope Francis as a Global Actor. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71377-9_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71377-9_4
Published: 09 February 2018
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
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