casuistry

Noun

casuistry (countable and uncountable, plural casuistries)

1. The process of answering practical questions by means of interpretation of rules, or of cases that illustrate such rules, especially in ethics; case-based reasoning.
   • Cages for Gnats, and Chains to Yoak a Flea; Dry'd Butterflies, and Tomes of Caſuiſtry1714, Alexander Pope, Miscellaneous poems and translations, by several hands. Particularly The first book of Statius his Thebais [&c.] by mr. Pope, page 374
   • The letters of Margarita were all that the fondest lover could desire, the eye of a poet linger on, but they did not contain the casuistry which could lead Glentworth to renounce a faith which he had now been led to examine in a manner he had certainly never done before.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 85

   Synonyms:

   casuistics

2. (derogatory) Hairsplitting, argument with quibbling detail.
3. (derogatory) Sophistry, a specious argument designed to defend an action or feeling.
   • I felt it was hopeless to argue against casuistry of this nature, which, if it were carried to its logical conclusion, would absolutely destroy all morality, as we understand it.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
4. (derogatory) Legalism, argument concerning the text of a written law against all other factors.