Abstract

IRRAZABAL, Gustavo. NATURAL LAW AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE : ABOUT DOCUMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMISSION . Veritas [online]. 2011, n.24, pp. 9-31. ISSN 0718-9273.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-92732011000100001.

The document of the International Theological Commission, “The Search for Universal Ethics: A New Look at Natural Law”, released in December 2008 is an important contribution to the efforts of the Catholic Church to offer a renewed presentation of the doctrine of natural law as a framework for the dialogue between different religions, philosophies and cultures, in order to make possible a substantial agreement on the foundations of a universal ethics and its main concretions. This document, while not strictly new, has been able to rescue the essence of the doctrine from its historical distortions, showing both its metaphysical and anthropological foundation, and its ability to integrate the universal principles and the contingency of reality, from which arises an openness and flexibility suitable to serve as a basis for universal dialogue.

Keywords : Natural law; dialogue; moral experience; wisdom; moral virtues.