PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS
James D. Diamond remembers the legendary Father Joseph S. Hogan, S. J. (who died in 1961) of St. Joseph’s College (now University) in Philadelphia. On one of his walks he was interrupted by a student who wanted to know the difference between philosophy and ethics. “Philosophy is easy; you can do it in an easy chair, with a good cigar in one hand and a decent cognac in the other. But ethics, that’s different. If you’re going to tell people what God wants them to do or not do, you better spend an awful lot of time talking to God yourself. You can do philosophy sitting on your caboose, but you do ethics on your knees. Why? Because human liberty is at stake.” Nice call, Father. Diamond collected Hoganisms in his college notebooks. “The existence of God is the last thing you should be worried about. I mean THE VERY LAST, and I mean VERY WORRIED.” “If you were God, would…
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