Development of Moral Theology and Value Preferences in Slovakia After the Year 1990

Sa？etak This article focuses on the development of moral theology in Slovak society since the 1990s. It deals with the phenomena closely related to man’s morality (human nature, human rights, autonomy of personal conscience, free will, values of truth, goodness, beauty, dispositions of good will, the common good, and a need for return to virtues). The first precondition for the content of this paper is the claim that only man is capable of moral life. In this sense, three questions arise: 1. What trends can be identified in moral theology in Slovakia and Central Europe in the past and at present? 2. Why is cooperation between moral theology and moral philosophy important? 3. What impact do moral theology and moral philosophy have on the growth of the common good (bonum communis) and on the relationship between freedom, conscience and truth? The analytical, reflexive and comparative methods intermingle in the study. In the final conclusion, we will also use the synthesis method. With the aid of the analytical method, I will accentuate those specificities that bring the reader closer to the meaning, importance and image of a person with a ？moral face？. The starting point for this assertion will be Christianity with its high sense of humanity, which was steadily formed in Slovakia in the 9th century as a result of the missionary activity of the two Thessalonian Brothers Constantine – Cyril (827–869) and Methodius (826–885). I will also use a comparative method in the text as we try to compare the traditional moral theology in Slovakia before 1990 and after 1990, when it has been influenced by secularism, liberalism, relativism and practical materialism. The method of synthesis will allow us to draw on certain conclusions, taking into account the dynamics of flexible postmodern？liberal influences, anthropological？normative and multicultural approaches, as well as the latest scientific technologies and nanotechnologies, which increase the demoralization of society by breaking the integrity of the body standards of the traditional family order. Man and society cannot exist separately because the identity of a person in society is a sign of self？consciousness and at the same time the basis of belonging to society, nation, ethnicity, state. Since 1990, moral theology in Slovakia has strived to resist secular tendencies, especially hedonism and practical materialism, dictatorship of relativism, ethical？axiological and cultural variability, since they have no support in universal norms, but also sexual freedom without responsibility and social indifference. The