casuistry Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
  2. noun moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas

WordNet

Cas"u*ist*ry adjective
Definitions
  1. The science or doctrine of dealing with cases of conscience, of resolving questions of right or wrong in conduct, or determining the lawfulness or unlawfulness of what a man may do by rules and principles drawn from the Scriptures, from the laws of society or the church, or from equity and natural reason; the application of general moral rules to particular cases.
    The consideration of these nice and puzzling question in the science of ethics has given rise, in modern times, to a particular department of it, distinguished by the title of casuistry. Stewart.
    Casuistry in the science of cases (i.e., oblique deflections from the general rule). De Quincey.
  2. Sophistical, equivocal, or false reasoning or teaching in regard to duties, obligations, and morals.

Webster 1913