Summaries / Resúmenes - Studia Moralia

382 BRIAN JOHNSTONE
be said to be morally wrong when it is considered as separate
from the subject, that is, prior to any consideration of the deliberate
choosing of the act and thus prior to the intention of the
subject.
In the second phrase, it is the deliberate choosing, (to go
against nature) presupposing the intention on the part of the
subject, which is said to be intrinsically inhonestum. The “intrinsic”
defect, considered as a moral defect, is referred, in the one
case, to the objective status of the act, prior to the intention of
the subject, and, in the other, to the deliberate act of the subject,
which presupposes the intention. Thus, the term “intrinsic” has
both an objective and a subjective, or perhaps better, an objectbased
and a subject-based sense. 4
The text of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) refers to
“. . . sexual intercourse, which is deliberately contraceptive and
so intrinsically wrong (inhonestum).” 5 Thus, the term “inhonestum”
refers to the deliberate choice of the subject, presupposing
the intention of the subject, rather than to the object (and act)
as separate from and prior to the choice of that subject. A more
recent document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, Persona humana (1975) says of homosexual acts that they
are by reason of their “intrinsic nature” disordered (inordinatos).”
6 Here the term refers to the objective status of the act,
separated from a consideration of the deliberate act of the
subject and the intention.
Thus, in these documents, there are reflected two theories of
morality, one an object-based theory, linked with the words
“against nature,” or “disordered,” and a subject-based or perhaps
better a subject-inclusive theory, expressed by the word
“inhonestum.” I use the expression “subject-inclusive” in recognition
of the fact that the texts include subject based elements,
such as deliberation, but do not interpret inhonestum as if
4
I will use these terms rather than “objective” and “subjective” since the
latter carry unhelpful value presuppositions.
5
Humanae Vitae, # 14: “. . . sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive
and so intrinsically wrong (inhonestum).” AAS 60 (1968) 491.
6
Persona Humana, # 8: “. . . actus homosexualitatis suapte intrinsica
natura esse inordinatos.” AAS 68 (1976) 85.