The Teleological Grammar of the Moral Act (Introductions to Catholic Doctrine)
These chapters provide an authentic reading of what Veritatis Splendor teaches about the nature of the moral act.  Anyone who wants to know for sure what he is doing morally should read this book.  If he finds it too difficult, then he should ask someone who can understand the book what it says.  Long is the Thomist Master for our period.  He carries the Thomist tradition into the 21st century with keen insight and lucid prose.  Indispensable for anyone who wants to understand "What the Church teaches." --Romanus Cessario, O.P., St John's Seminary, Boston, MASteven Long's penetrating and provocative analysis of the principle of double-effect is itself worth the price of admission to this primer on the teleology of the moral act.  Long carefully puts this principle back into the context of Thomas's philosophy of human action, with some surprising results.  This is a quite challenging piece of work. --Russell Hittinger, William K. Warren Professor of Catholic Studies, University of TulsaHuman action is the subject matter of moral philosophy. Accordingly, any vagueness, let alone falsity, in the analysis of the moral act has serious consequences for the appraisal of action. Steven Long, in what he describes as "one dense theoretic reflection," has written one of the most perceptive studies of human action in Thomas Aquinas. His book will be a point of reference for all future discussions of the human act. --Ralph McInerny, Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies, University of Notre Dame