by Theodor Steinbüchel, 1938
In Memory of Johann Adam Möhler who died in Munich on 12 April 1838
Forward
The present work on the philosophical foundation of Catholic moral theology consists of less and more than an ethics. It is not a complete treatise of moral philosophy. It foregoes the matter of customs proper to Catholic moral theology, which takes its inspiration from divine revelation and finds the motive, purpose and force of its right behavior in the imitation of Christ. This work intends to elaborate the premises which are given in the being of man for the building of his moral life. But that takes it beyond the range of ethics. It applies itself to the ethical questions but first to the ontological and anthropological premises upon which human morality can and must arise in order to place itself in the consortium of man with the God of revelation Who comes to meet him. It is especially dedicated to the existence-understanding of man today. The problems of ethics and anthropology are to be proposed, and the solutions to them sought, according to the needs of the time.
Munich, on the 100th anniversary of the death of Johann Adam Möhler.
Theodor Steinbüchel
