Casuistry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Clever but deceptive argument that uses subtle reasoning to justify wrong conduct ; the branch of ethics that resolves particular moral cases by applying general rules
2. Specious reasoning that tries to excuse questionable behavior through technical logic ; a method of deciding individual ethical dilemmas by reference to broader principles
3. Sophistical argument designed to rationalize morally dubious actions ; the practical application of ethical doctrine to concrete cases of conscience

Etymology: Casuistry is built from "casuist" plus the suffix "-ry", so its history is really the history of the older word it grows from. A casuist was originally a person who resolves cases of conscience, someone who applies general moral rules to specific, tricky situations. Over time the practice came to be judged harshly, and the term drifted from careful ethical analysis toward clever argument designed to justify what one wanted to do anyway. The suffix "-ry" shows the same pattern seen in many English nouns: it turns a person-word into a name for a practice, activity, or body of knowledge. So "casuistry" names the method or habit of the casuist, and "casuist" is the root that carries the sense of case-by-case moral reasoning. The shift in tone is what gives the word its bite. Once a respectable intellectual activity, it now usually signals reasoning that is slippery and self-serving, the kind that finds loopholes in principles rather than honoring them.

Synonyms: sophistry, rationalization, specious reasoning

Antonyms: sincerity, candor