Ancestors

Toot

Written by sport of sacred spherical cows on 2024-12-16 at 02:10

[#]PleaseBoost

Putting feelers out for a subject-matter expert:

Looking for anyone with a deep knowledge of #Catholic theology and metaphors common to discussion of same.

Looking for an etymology of use with regards to the term "moral grid" (English) or "grille morale" (French).

Have been able to trace the term back to an 1888 literary journal, where it is used off-handedly as if having an already established meaning.

Term takes off in mid-20th century print sources, being taken up in literary analysis and ethnographic writing, always invoked just the once, as if its meaning is a given. Yet, in so doing, seems to have taken on a slightly different meaning than its original theological use.

Yet if this shift has been formalized by anyone, have been unable to find the theorist responsible.

Anyway, if anyone has any leads to share, they'd be most appreciated.

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Descendants

Written by Aaron Brick — אהרן בריק on 2024-12-16 at 08:37

@beadsland I found a few references to “cuadrícula moral” in Spanish, which may mean something as simple as “moral framework”. What evidence do you have of a specifically theological meaning?

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Written by sport of sacred spherical cows on 2024-12-16 at 09:12

@aarbrk

The earliest text evidence are French: a historical fiction in 1888 that opens with an account of "the unpublished story of a Franciscan monk" regarding a 1759 eruption in Mexico, where the term appears to refer to grille in the sense of gate. Circumstantial, but for the next two references: a 1915 short story about a nun, then a Carmelite biography in 1960. Both harken to "gate" by wordplay, "grille" and "grille morale" in contextual juxtaposition.

The term begins to take off in French, and first appears in English, only after this, more often in literary analysis and ethnographic contexts, always presented without citation, as if it were just a known meaning. Then, in 1975, we get this from laicized Catholic priest, Eugene Kennedy:

"In order to begin to answer these questions, we must ask another. Is it necessary always to approach the human person with a moral grid to be pressed down to deliver the kinds of answers moral theologians usually look for?"

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