Ecological Moral Character

A Catholic Model

Nancy M. Rourke

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781647124038, 9781647124021
• eBook ISBN: 9781647124045
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

An ecological model through which we can imagine Aquinas' vision of moral character

The images we use to think about moral character are powerful. They inform our understanding of the moral virtues and the ways in which moral character develops. However, this aspect of virtue ethics is rarely discussed.

In Ecological Moral Character, Nancy M. Rourke creates an ecological model through which we can form images of moral character. She integrates concepts of ecology with Aquinas' vision and describes the dynamics of a moral character in terms of the processes and functions that take place in an ecosystem. The virtues, the passions, the will, and the intellect, are also described in terms of this model.

Ecological Moral Character asks readers to choose deliberately the models we use to imagine moral character and offers this ecological virtue model as a vital framework for a period of environmental crisis.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• 1 The Shape of Moral Character: Sharpening Virtue Theory
• 2 Where Morality Takes Place: Ecology and Ecosystems
• 3 Earthly Moral Character: An Ecological Virtue Model
• 4 Where Roots Meet Source: The Theological Virtues
• 5 Embedded Within and Without: Prudence and Justice
• 6 Enjoyment in a World of Wounds: Fortitude and Temperance
• 7 Down to Earth with the Integral Ecology: Role Models
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author