Christian Ethics and the Moral Psychologies

Interest in psychology permeates our culture, with psychological solutions advanced for a host of moral dilemmas. How should ethically minded Christians include insights from such disciplines as psychoanalysis, cognitive moral development, and neuroscience in their theological reflection? Don Browning offers a serious proposal for combining these disciplines with the best in ethical reflection from a Christian standpoint. Along the way, he introduces readers to the moral psychology work of Sigmund Freud, Carol Gilligan, Antonio Damasio, and others, opening up a dialogue between their work and the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur. Browning also recognizes the potential limits of the conversation between Christian ethics and the moral psychologies, pointing out where they must diverge.

Don S. Browning (1934-2010) was Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago Divinity School and director of the Lilly Project on Religion, Culture, and the Family. He coauthored From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate and served as coeditor of the Religion, Marriage, and Family series (Eerdmans).