Germain Grisez (1929-2018)
Germain Grisez, professor emeritus of philosophy and Christian ethics at Mount St. Mary’s University, died this past Thursday at the age of 88.
Grisez taught for 30 years at Mount St. Mary’s. Before that, he held appointments at Georgetown University, the University of Virginia and the University of Regina. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago.
Grisez is known for his work on Catholic moral teachings and theology, especially for his contributions to the development of the “new natural law theory.”
Mount St. Mary’s has a memorial notice here. There is a detailed obituary in The National Catholic Register.
This is a real loss. Grisez gave the modern world perhaps its most thorough, rigorous, and philosophically percipient defense of Catholic belief. As a non-believer, I found the precision and thoughtfulness of his work on the existence of God stunning. One can only hope the breadth of his impact will one day match the depth of his insight.
Having difficulty getting your class to participate in discussions? Teach this question from Grisez’s magnum opus, Difficult Moral Questions:
“Question 61: May a physician treat a wife’s syphilis without her informed consent?”
http://www.twotlj.org/G-3-61.html