Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

236 STEPHEN T. REHRAUER
the study of morality in psychology. While even psychology itself
admits that “None of the major theoretical approaches offers an
adequately comprehensive view of the psychology of morality…”,
19 this does not mean that we as theologians can ignore or
take lightly the information that each of them does provide.
For the sake of synthesis I would like to cluster the
psychological research according to three main areas of interest,
which not surprisingly also correspond to the common
philosophical and theological questions which have classically
been raised concerning the nature of justice and injustice. The
three clusters I have chosen are:
1. Research concerning the way that people ordinarily
understand the nature of justice and injustice.
2. Research concerning the specification of the rules governing
justice and injustice in both simulated and real-life situations.
3. Research into the reasons why and the ways that ordinary
people justify their unjust behavior in everyday situations.
In the remainder of this article, I will concentrate on the first of
these clusters, expanding and developing the latter two in the
second part to be published at a later date.
Before considering the first of these, there are a few things
that need to be mentioned regarding the difference between
morality and justice. For some these are one and the same
reality, justice being the overall integrative virtue or principle
that unifies all other moral concepts. This way of thinking about
justice is very similar to the Socratic ideal. Justice is an inner
harmony or ordering of one’s self which enables the person to do
of philosophical positions or of human sciences by the theologian has a
value which might be called instrumental, but yet must undergo a critical
study from a theological perspective. In other words, the ultimate and
decisive criterion for truth can only be a criterion which is itself theological.”
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Instruction on Certain Aspects of
the “Theology of Liberation,” VII. 10.
19
J. REST, “The Major Components of Morality,” p. 24.