A Summation of my Philosophical Outlook

My perceptions about the multitudinous sides to arguments are informed by my collegiate experiences, as an undergraduate I attended the University of Saint Thomas a Catholic university in Houston, Texas founded in 1,947 by the Congregation of Saint Basil (The Basilian Fathers). The core curriculum of the University mandates that all undergraduate students including transfer students complete a given number of theology and philosophy course prior to graduation. The manner of instruction on the philosophy courses offered by the University is consistent with the Thomistic foundation on which the University rests.

Thomism, the philosophy espoused by Thomas Aquinas maintains that faith and reason are neither mutually exclusive nor are they irreconcilable. Aquinas argued that God endowed humankind with a rational mind and a spiritual conscience, which, permits humankind to exercise freedom of choice. The effect Thomism has had on my perceptions as it relates to my understanding of the multiplicity of arguments available can be seen though my application of the Principle of Double Effect to given scenarios. I generally attempt to maintain positions that do not vitiate the Principle of Double Effect, although, I concede I am not able to always do so.

The Principle of Double Effect states that an act is moral if it meets four prerequisites, a morally acceptable act requires the fulfillment of the following conditions: One, the act must be either morally good or indifferent. Two, the good effect must not be achieved by means of the evil effect. Three, the proper intention exists when the intent underlying the act is the achievement of the good effect, with the evil effect construed as a tolerable unintended side effect. Last, the good effect and the evil effect must be proportionate to each other.

My ethics professor Dr. M. Jean Kitchel, always encouraged her students to see all the sides of an issue by drilling the following Latin epigram into the heads of her students: Cave ab homine unius libri roughly translated it means ‘beware the man who has only one book.’