Definition of "casuistry"

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, […], page 85

And yet it would seem that the whole analysis he had made, his attempt to find a moral solution to the problem, was complete. His casuistry had been honed to a razor’s edge, and he could no longer think of any objections.

1968, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Sidney Monas, Crime and Punishment, published 1866

“And if you lose?” Diana enunciated, through a thin grin. She meant to extract casuistry’s penalty in advance.

1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, page 47

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