Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism

A History of Probabilism

Stefania Tutino

Provides insight into the intellectual and theological structure of Catholicism as a global religion
Provides the most comprehensive historical account of the doctrine of early modern probabilism and its implications
Offers a novel theory on the significance of probabilism for the intellectual and cultural development of the early modern world
Examines a vast array of previously unpublishes manuscript sources
Sets the debate on probabilism in a wide context

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism

A History of Probabilism

Stefania Tutino

Description

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism provides a historical account of early modern probabilism and its theological, intellectual, and cultural implications. First developed in the second half of the sixteenth century, probabilism represented a significant and controversial novelty in Catholic moral theology. By the second half of the seventeenth century, probabilism became and has since been associated with moral, intellectual, and cultural decadence. Stefania Tutino challenges this understanding and claims that probabilism played a central role in addressing the challenges that geographical and cultural expansions posed to traditional Catholic theology.

Tutino argues that early modern theologians used probabilism to integrate major changes within the post-Reformation Catholic theological and intellectual system. Probabilist theologians realized that their time was characterized by many changes that traditional theology was not equipped to deal with, which consequently provoked an exponential growth of uncertainties, doubts, and dilemmas of conscience. Probabilism represented the result of their efforts to appreciate, come to terms with, and manage that uncertainty. Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism reinterprets probabilism as a way of dealing with moral and epistemological doubts in quickly changing times, a way that still may be useful today.

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism argues that probabilism played a central role in addressing the challenges that a geographically and intellectually expanding world posed to traditional Catholic theology. Early modern probabilist theologians realized that their time was characterized by many changes and novelties that traditional theology was not equipped to deal with, and that consequently provoked an exponential growth of uncertainties, doubts, and dilemmas of conscience. These theologians used probabilism as a means to integrate changes and novelties within the post-Reformation Catholic theological and intellectual system. Seen in this light, probabilism represented the result of their attempts to appreciate, come to terms with, and manage uncertainty. The problem of uncertainty was not only crucial then, but remains central even today. Despite the unprecedented amount of information available to us, we are becoming less able to formulate arguments based on facts, and more dependent on a cacophony of opinions that often simply reproduce our own implicit or explicit biases, prejudices, and preconceived preferences.

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism

A History of Probabilism

Stefania Tutino

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Preface

Chapter 1: The Building Blocks
Chapter 2: The Genesis of Probabilism
Chapter 3: Jesuit Probabilism: The Theoretical Cornerstones
Chapter 4: Different Shades of Seventeenth-Century Probabilism
Chapter 5: "Nihil scio certo, & tamen ob incerta non doceo": Mature Probabilism
Chapter 6: The Roman Reaction: Anti-Probabilist Pressures, Doctrinal Ambiguities, and Institutional Needs
Chapter 7: Reason of State(s) and Reasons of Church: the Case of Honoré Fabri
Chapter 8: Jesuits vs. Jesuits: the Case of Alberto de Albertis
Chapter 9: Time Goes on Crutches till Love have all his Rites: Marriages in East Asia
Chapter 10: Buying with You, Selling with You, Praying with You: the Goods of Converted Jews
Chapter 11: All That Live Must Die, Passing through Nature to Eternity: Baptizing Fetuses

Conclusion: The End of Probabilism?

Index

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism

A History of Probabilism

Stefania Tutino

Author Information

Stefania Tutino is a historian of post-Reformation Catholicism. She received her Ph.D. from the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, and is currently a professor of history at UCLA. She has published on Catholic political thought, and on the intellectual and cultural history of early modern Catholicism.

Uncertainty in Post-Reformation Catholicism

A History of Probabilism

Stefania Tutino

Reviews and Awards

"It is sophisticatedly argued and well-research, and offers a valuable resource for considering the application of probabilism to a legion of different challenges brought about by increases in both new information and uncertainty in the early modern world." -- Christopher P. Gillett, Journal of Jesuit Studies

"In UPRC, Stefania Tutino has made an exceptional contribution to the his-tory of early modern moral theology. Advanced students as well as scholars and library collections can profit from this excellent scholarly resource." -- Julia A. Fleming, Catholic Historical Review

"Recommended."--B.B. Kensinger, CHOICE

"Tutino's newest book is an eminent contribution to intellectual history, and a necessary antidote to the caricatures of probabilism floating around in handbooks of ethics and theology. This is an exciting reading adventure into a world where uncertainty was not feared but dealt with creatively."--Ulrich L. Lehner, The Regensburg Forum

"This work offers the most comprehensive treatment of its topic in any language. Central to Tutino's purpose is to rescue probabilism from the condescension of posterity. For her, it is high time that Pascal's association of probabilism with moral duplicity and decadence was jettisoned and replaced by an awareness of the central role played by probabilism in managing uncertainty in the face of the new challenges to Roman Catholic moral theology posed by a geographically and intellectually expanding world."--Simon Ditchfield, Professor of Early Modern History, University of York

"Stefania Tutino combines a sharp focus on the concept of probability with an abundance of carefully researched detail to bring a forgotten epoch in the history of epistemology to light. If you are looking for a path-breaking study of the early modern Catholic turn to probability as a criterion of theoretical, theological, and moral certainty, look no further. This is it. It lays the stereotype of 'Jesuitic casuistry' to rest and provides a little sanity for our time." --Constantin Fasolt, Karl J. Weintraub Professor Emeritus of History, University of Chicago