Christian Ethics, Religious Ethics, and Secular Ethics: A Contemporary Reappraisal

In this essay, I argue that Christian ethicists should not think of themselves as religious ethicists. I defend this claim by arguing that the concept of religious ethics, as it has come to be understood as a discipline that is distinct from secular ethics, is incoherent. In part one, I describe the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religious ethics
Main Author: Clem, Stewart ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2023
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2023, Volume: 51, Issue: 1, Pages: 11-31
Further subjects:B Secular ethics
B Natural Law
B Religious Ethics
B theories of religion
B Kant
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Summary:In this essay, I argue that Christian ethicists should not think of themselves as religious ethicists. I defend this claim by arguing that the concept of religious ethics, as it has come to be understood as a discipline that is distinct from secular ethics, is incoherent. In part one, I describe the fraught attempts by theologians in the 20th century to identify the distinctiveness of Christian ethics. In part two, I argue that certain accounts of natural law unwittingly reinforce a problematic conception of secular ethics. Part three examines some trends in religious studies and comparative religious ethics to highlight problematic conceptions of religion. Drawing together these strands of inquiry, I contend that that the secular-religious dichotomy in contemporary ethics should be rejected, but by the same token, I suggest that comparative ethics remains a worthwhile enterprise.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jore.12422