RIGHT AND REASON is probably the greatest and most successful Ethics book written to date. Widely used in Catholic colleges, it is undoubtedly the clearest and easiest-to-read Ethics text ever published. The author says that no book can take the place of a professor in the classroom, but this one virtually does-and Fr. Fagothey says he wrote it that way. Though issued in 1959, it remains remarkably contemporary and can be read basically by any adult-either in toto or as a handy reference to look up topics in question. Phrased in non-technical language, Right and Reason is a thoroughly competent book in the philosophy of Ethics, which gives the science of morality from the Aristotelian-Thomistic, common-sense school of thought-which is none other than the Perennial Philosophy of the Ages, the philosophy outside of which one's positions quickly become absurd and all reasoning ends up in dead-ends.
He covers the whole field of Ethics, posing and answering the perennial questions; for example: What makes the right right and the wrong wrong? What is moral obligation and where does it come from? Why is divorce always wrong? Why is abortion always wrong? When is it moral to kill another person? Do animals have rights? What is the origin of the State? Who has the right to educate? Is capital punishment ethical? Is there a right to work? What is a just wage? What is a just war? What is the principle of double effect? Are suicide and euthanasia against the Natural Law? Is there a Natural Law? Etc., etc.
The classic principles of Ethics are as valid today as ever, and anyone who attempts to grapple with today's new moral questions-in medical ethics, family issues, international relations, etc.without a solid grounding in these classic principles is guaranteed to flounder around in the swamp of guesswork, emotional thinking and mere personal opinion. Every educated Catholic and every educated person-if he is to think correctly on moral issues-must be familiar with the great ethical questions and their classic solutions, solutions such as presented in Fr. Fagothey's clear and masterful work, RIGHT AND REASON, which for today's confused world is a beacon of common sense written with an authoritative competence that no one can effectively argue against.