casuistry

• The questioning and severely moral element mainly due to the Shorter Catechism - the tendency to casuistry, and to problems, and wistful introspection which had so coloured Stevenson's art up to the date of THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE, and made him a great essayist, was passing in the satisfaction of assured insight into life itself. —  Robert Louis Stevenson, A Record, An Estimate, A Memorial
• By a casuistry which is now elevated into an economic principle, but which has no defenders outside the realm of banking, —  Bill Totten's Weblog
• (This sort of clumsy casuistry was a favorite of the old John Birch Society crowd.) —  Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler
• She was not troubled by any of the shilly-shallyings of casuistry, her doctrine was like a bar of iron, her faith never wavered, her conscience knew no scruples. —  The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 1 (of 8) Boule de Suif and Other Stories
• So wonderful are Browning's resources in casuistry, and so cunningly does he ravel the intricate motives at play in this tragedy and lay bare the secrets of the heart, that the interest increases at each repetition of the tale. —  Brief History of English and American Literature

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context