Moral Theology in a Digital Age: Retrieving the Past for the Future

摘要

In many respects, what I propose in this essay is simply a very personal reflection. For these past few years, I have been teaching and writing in two areas that often do not intermix as readily in our academic theological or even ecclesial discourse. For instance, at this gathering, I tend to "bracket" the fact that my primary teaching responsibilities and service in my local diocese are as a fundamental moral theologian. Likewise, and in particular in the context of the ethical and political issues that have risen lately in my country, the moment 1 am labeled a "moral theologian," it becomes more difficult to explain to fellow theologians, or to members of the hierarchy, that there are technological effects and media dynamics to consider, even in the very analysis of the social, political, or personal situation. It is only in the sanctuary of the classroom, (and in more "esoteric" academic journals and books), that I find myself able to speak my mind and to string together in the same sentence natural law and the Laws of Media, or to apply Veritatis Splendor's teachings on the morality of the act to the dangers of Deep Learning. Otherwise, the two worlds of discourse seem to remain parallel to each other, never truly "touching," let alone mutually-mediating, one another.