Narrative ethics, moral absolutes and faith in the public square

Overview

Narrative ethics, moral absolute and ethical relativism.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is narrative ethics?

   Model answer

   Narrative ethics holds that moral character is formed by the stories a community tells and lives by, rather than by applying abstract rules to isolated decisions.

2. 2

   Which theologian is most closely associated with narrative ethics?

   Model answer

   Stanley Hauerwas is most closely associated with the claim that the church is a community formed morally by living out the story of Jesus.

3. 3

   Give one argument for the validity of narrative ethics.

   Model answer

   Supporters argue that people make moral decisions as members of traditions with histories and loyalties, so an ethic of character and story describes real moral life better than a decision procedure does.

4. 4

   Give one argument that narrative ethics is not a workable moral theory.

   Model answer

   Critics argue that narrative ethics offers little help in a genuine dilemma, because knowing a community's story does not settle what to do when two of its goods conflict.

5. 5

   Define a moral absolute.

   Model answer

   A moral absolute is a principle held to bind always and everywhere, whatever the circumstances or the consequences.

6. 6

   Define ethical relativism.

   Model answer

   Ethical relativism is the view that moral judgements hold only relative to a culture, a period or an individual, so no moral standard binds everyone.

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