A Shared Morality: A Narrative Defense of Natural Law Ethics

Author: Craig Boyd

[Image: A Shared Morality: A Narrative Defense of Natural Law Ethics]

The contemporary ethical and moral landscape is one of confusion and cacophony. Theories of ethics are often presented in terms of the horns of a dilemma in our postmodern world. On the one hand, ethical relativism is deemed both descriptive and prescriptive; on the other hand, moral absolutism is foundational. In reality, other options exist. Craig A. Boyd presents the alternative of natural law morality in A Shared Morality: A Narrative Defense of Natural Law Ethics.

Throughout this text, Boyd traces the history of natural law morality from the Greeks, the Bible, and church history. Not only does Boyd explain this theory but he also compares it to and critiques it with other theories of morality: divine command theory, analytic ethics, sociobiology, and postmodernism. Readers will be surprised at Boyd's conclusion that natural law and virtue ethics complement one another. Natural law morality, in short, provides the basis of human morality by recognizing universally known features of human nature; these features can manifest themselves in myriad ways, depending on environment, culture, and custom.

This groundbreaking work will find a home in the bookshelves of college and seminary professors as well as students of philosophy, theology, and ethics.

Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Table of Contents
Physical Info: 0.75" H x 9.0" L x 6.0" W (0.84 lbs) 272 pages
Publisher: Brazos Press
US SRP: $ 26.99 US
Binding: Paperback
Pub Date: November 2007

Author Information: Craig A. Boyd (PhD, St. Louis University) is professor of philosophy and director of faith integration at Azusa Pacific University. He has published numerous journal articles and presented at many scholarly conferences.

Endorsements: "Craig A. Boyd's A Shared Morality makes an important contribution to the literature on natural law and the virtues. Boyd offers a cogent and historically grounded account of why common human morality is best conceived along lines provided by the natural law tradition. He offers a clear normative thesis but is fair-minded to opposing positions and aware of the need for further work on the topic. This book will be especially interesting to those interested in issues of relativism, moral reasoning, and cross-cultural morality. It should be read by ethicists, theologians, and anyone concerned about the moral foundations of human rights and the common good."--Stephen J. Pope, author of The Ethics of Aquinas

"Natural law advocates and virtue 'theorists' have largely ignored one another. In this book, Boyd develops a constructive engagement between these positions to which I hope philosophers and theologians will attend. If they are like me, they will learn much from this book."--Stanley Hauerwas, author of The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics

"Craig A. Boyd has developed a contemporary version of natural law ethics, drawing more on sociobiology and current concepts of nature than on Aristotelian metaphysics. Yet he follows Aquinas on the good life by tying natural law to virtue ethics, which in turn leads to a divine command theory of moral obligation. Add this to his vigorous response to analytic moral philosophy and to scientific and postmodern criticisms, and the result is a splendid treatment of contemporary philosophical ethics. The exposition is both clear and competent, his research thorough, and the argument persuasive. It's a book I strongly recommend for teacher and student alike."--Arthur Holmes, professor emeritus of philosophy, Wheaton College

Reviews: "An insightful account of natural law ethics, the view that ethical principles derive from the requirements of human nature. A prime obstacle to the acceptance of this type of ethics is that it transgresses the fact-value dichotomy. Boyd responds in detail to this objection, as well as to G.E. Moore's criticism of ethical naturalism. Although he defends natural law, Boyd holds that the classical version of that view as advanced by Thomas Aquinas cannot be accepted. It is based, he writes, on outdated biology, and attention to modern evolutionary theory results in a natural law position less universalistic in its claims than the classical doctrine. Boyd further criticizes other attempts to use evolutionary biology in ethics, as expressed in Larry Arnhart's Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature and the writings of E.O. Wilson. Natural law, Boyd argues, needs to be supplemented with virtue ethics. He also compares natural law to divine command ethics and addresses postmodernist and relativist criticisms. Boyd discusses an unusually wide range of material, and his challenging book is recommended for philosophy collections."--David Gordon, Library Journal

A Shared Morality: A Narrative Defense of Natural Law Ethics Author: Craig Boyd
	Item#	Binding	isbn - 10	Price
	9781587431623	Paperback	1587431629	19.95
Defends a concept of natural law ethics in a postmodern setting of doubt regarding natural law.

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