Policy Debates, Principles, and Prudence: Conference Reminder

To the excellent recent exchanges over the relative importance and "categorical" nature of various Catholic social teachings, I'd like to respond for now only by ... plugging our conference of the Murphy Institute at St. Thomas on April 7-8 concerning "Public Policy, Prudential Judgment, and the Catholic Social Tradition."  An excerpt from the conference description (full text here; speakers include MOJ's own Rob Vischer, with plenary addresses by John McGreevy (History, Notre Dame) and Christopher Wolfe (Political Science, Marquette)):

In recent years a number of public policy questions, such as the permissibility of the death penalty, the morality of the war in Iraq, and the justice of welfare reforms, have provoked controversy among Catholics. Advocates of very different policies have claimed that their positions follow from the Catholic social tradition and, at times, some have even insisted that their positions alone are faithful to this tradition. These controversies highlight enduring questions about the proper relationship between moral principles and prudential judgment.

In much the same way, controversies have also accompanied some of the formal positions adopted by the American bishops and even the Vatican on questions of public policy. Here again there has been an indistinct line between direct inference from moral principles and sound prudential judgment, where the former invites commitment and the latter tolerates disagreement.

Because of the importance of prudential judgment in public policy matters, the time is ripe for a careful and comprehensive discussion of the topic.

Tom