A Defence of Theological Virtue Ethics

The philosophical revival of virtue ethics has not gone unnoticed by theologians, who have made some of the most important contributions to the ‘turn to virtue’. Largely absent, though, is a theological response to the many criticisms that have been levelled at modern virtue ethics.

This book fills that gap, addressing various concerns including claims that virtue ethics is incomplete and inconsistent; that it flies in the face of psychological reality; and that it commits itself to unpalatable moral positions such as egoism, relativism and particularism. To each of these it gives a response grounded in moral and metaphysical theological commitments, often suggesting new approaches not explored by secular thinkers. In doing so it refutes the criticisms at hand and makes a positive case for a distinctively theological virtue ethics.