Casuistry

In ethics, casuistry (/ˈkæzjuɪstri/ KAZ-ew-iss-tree) is a process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or extending abstract rules from a particular case, and reapplying those rules to new instances.^[1] This method occurs in applied ethics and jurisprudence. The term is also used pejoratively to criticise the use of clever but unsound reasoning, especially in relation to moral questions (as in sophistry).^[2] It has been defined as follows:

It remains a common method in applied ethics.^[4]

Etymology[edit]

According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, the term and its agent noun "casuist", appearing from about 1600, derive from the Latin noun casus, meaning "case", especially as referring to a "case of conscience". The same source says, "Even in the earliest printed uses the sense was pejorative".^[5]

– Practical application of moral considerations

Applied ethics

– Process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems

Case-based reasoning

– Ethical theory based on consequences

Consequentialism

– Exemption from the obligation of law in some cases

Dispensation (Catholic canon law)

– Basic proposition or assumption

First principle

– Overview of and topical guide to thought

List of thought processes

– Method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis

Pilpul

– Deductive analogy or reasoning by measuring the new situation with the given situation

Qiyas

– Art of persuasion

Rhetoric

– Faculty of discovering the crux of the matter

Rhetorical reason

– Cultural movement

School of Salamanca

– Takes into account the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically

Situational ethics

– Methods for investigation & determination of meanings of Jewish biblical scriptures

Talmudical hermeneutics

– Problem-solving method

Heuristics

: "Casuistry"

Dictionary of the History of Ideas

article on how modern compliance regimes in accountancy and law apply casuistry

Accountancy as computational casuistics

Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Mortimer Adler's Great Ideas – Casuistry

Summary of casuistry by Jeramy Townsley

Archived 18 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine

Casuistry – Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy

catalogued at she-philosopher.com