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Rethinking the Significance of Early Modern Probabilism in Post- Reformation Catholicism: The Case of Alberto de Albertis

Rethinking the Significance of Early Modern Probabilism in Post- Reformation Catholicism: The... By Stefania Tutino First developed around the middle of the sixteenth century, probabilism represented a significant and controversial novelty in Catholic moral theology and in Catholic intellectual life more generally. Against a deep-seated tradition defending the need for rigid moral rules and dictating that in doubtful cases one should always follow the safest course of action (the so-called tutiorist doctrine), early modern probabilists believed that one could legitimately follow a course of action if, in the absence of absolute theological norms governing the matter, such course of action was supported by a probable opinion, however tenuous the probable opinion in question might be. By the second half of the seventeenth century, probabilism became inextricably linked to the Jesuits, who were its most vocal supporters, and to a system of morality which emphasized and in some cases exploited the elasticity of moral norms. As such, it became the subject of virulent anti-probabilist and anti-Jesuit propaganda (at times brilliant, as was the case with Pascal's Provincial Letters). Intellectual and cultural historians of early modern Europe have generally ignored probabilism: most of the existing studies on probabilism tend to focus on this doctrine simply as a branch of moral theology and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History de Gruyter

Rethinking the Significance of Early Modern Probabilism in Post- Reformation Catholicism: The Case of Alberto de Albertis

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the
ISSN
2198-0489
eISSN
2198-0489
DOI
10.14315/arg-2016-0113
Publisher site
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Abstract

By Stefania Tutino First developed around the middle of the sixteenth century, probabilism represented a significant and controversial novelty in Catholic moral theology and in Catholic intellectual life more generally. Against a deep-seated tradition defending the need for rigid moral rules and dictating that in doubtful cases one should always follow the safest course of action (the so-called tutiorist doctrine), early modern probabilists believed that one could legitimately follow a course of action if, in the absence of absolute theological norms governing the matter, such course of action was supported by a probable opinion, however tenuous the probable opinion in question might be. By the second half of the seventeenth century, probabilism became inextricably linked to the Jesuits, who were its most vocal supporters, and to a system of morality which emphasized and in some cases exploited the elasticity of moral norms. As such, it became the subject of virulent anti-probabilist and anti-Jesuit propaganda (at times brilliant, as was the case with Pascal's Provincial Letters). Intellectual and cultural historians of early modern Europe have generally ignored probabilism: most of the existing studies on probabilism tend to focus on this doctrine simply as a branch of moral theology and

Journal

Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History – de Gruyter

Published: Oct 1, 2016

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