Casuistry

(kaz'u-is-tre.) (From L. casus, a case. (Ethics.) That branch of ethical science which resolves cases of conscience or of doubtful propriety, or which determines the lawfulne or illegality of an act, by rules and principles drawn from the Scriptures, from social customs, or from reason. C. was much practised by the Jesuits in the löth and 16th centuries. [s. 152]