Author's School

Arts & Sciences

Author's Department

Biology

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2003

Originally Published In

Goodenough, U. (2003). Religious naturalism and naturalizing morality. Zygon, 38(1), 101-109. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9744.00482

Abstract

I first offer some reflections on the term religious naturalism. I then outline how moral thought might be configured in the context of religious naturalism. It is proposed that the goal of morality is to generate a flourishing community and that humans negotiate their social interactions using moral capacities that are cultivated in the context of culture. Six such capacities are considered: strategic reciprocity, humaneness, fair–mindedness, courage, reverence, and mindfulness. Moral capacities are contrasted with moral susceptibilities, fueled by self–interest, and brought to the fore in times of stress and humiliation. The essay is in two parts. I first respond to Jerome Stone's query as to the nature of religious naturalism. This is followed by the text of my presentation at the 2001 AAR meeting.

Comments

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Goodenough, U. (2003). Religious naturalism and naturalizing morality. Zygon, 38(1), 101-109, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9744.00482. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.

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