casuistry
/ˈkazjʊɪstri
/ /ˈkaʒjʊɪstri/noun [mass noun]
1The use of clever but unsound reasoning, especially in relation to moral questions; sophistry: the minister is engaging in nothing more or less than casuistry...
- It speaks on its own accord, barking out those cheap casuistries and cliches that you use like so many crutches.
- He seems to confuse good governance with ‘political bullying’, and should take lessons in casuistry from someone.
- No doubt it may be said that this is mere casuistry and does not meet the objection that a person who has or believes he has a good defence may still feel under pressure to plead guilty.
Synonyms
sophistry, specious reasoning, speciousness, sophism, chicanery, quibbling, equivocation, fallaciousness
informal fudging
2The resolving of moral problems by the application of theoretical rules.Impartial rule theory, casuistry, and virtue ethics are all consistent with rather than rivals of a principle-based account when it is properly conceived....
- The historical origins of double effect as a tenet of Catholic casuistry might provide a similar explanation for the unity of its applications.
- The power of casuistry derives not from the application of maxims or the calculation of debts but from the responsive appreciation of other people's thinking; for Maurice, this is to say that it relies on guides and exemplars.