Preface

THE ARTICLES IN THIS VOLUME were presented at the 2019 meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics in Louisville, KY. There was no theme to the conference and the papers presented in this issue cover a diverse range of subjects. However, there are some thematic connections that draw these articles together.

The first two essays utilize Thomas Aquinas's account of the virtues to offer analyses of issues in contemporary ethics. Ryan Darr's "The Virtue of Justice and the Justice of Institutions: Aquinas on Money and Just Exchange" offers an examination of the way in which Aquinas' understanding justice as a virtue intersects with his account of money as a medium of just exchange in society. He argues that Aquinas envisions just institutions as a precondition for enacting the virtue of justice, and through which just relations can be mediated. He then concludes by noting the difficulty of adhering to the virtue of justice in the context of an unjust institutional setting.

Elisabeth Rain Kincaid takes a different approach to the question of virtue by examining how professional ethics in the legal setting can offer resources for a discussion of the subject in theological ethics. Analyzing the renewed emphasis on the role of precepts as elements in the creation of communities capable of forming individuals ethically, she draws analogies to the way in which Thomas Aquinas describes the virtue of religion. She argues, relying on the thought of Francisco Suarez, that these precepts can aid in the development of rules that are crucial in protecting the vulnerable.

James McCarty's "The Power of Hope in the Work of Justice: Christian Ethics after Despair" offers a response to Miguel De La Torre's recent Embracing Hopelessness. McCarty argues that De La Torre's account of hopelessness as a liberative stance does not hold up to scrutiny in light of the actual experiences of oppressed communities. Furthermore, he claims, the stance of hopelessness does not offer a means of conceptualizing sustained social transformation on behalf of justice. Drawing on the lived experiences of oppressed communities, he argues in favor of hope as a moral principle that can sustain the struggle for justice.

In "The Rich Young Ruler and Christian Ethics: A Proposal," Gerald McKenny examines how the Bible can serve as a resource for Christian ethics. Contrasting two interpretations of the biblical story, one embraced by John Calvin and the other by Thomas Aquinas, he reconstructs a reading of the story as implying that the young man, contrary to his assertions, has not in fact successfully kept the commandments. Turning to the question of what this implies about the moral status of Biblical laws, he argues in favor of a reading of the story, grounded in Calvin's interpretation, suggesting that human moral action is intended to more and more fully embody the image of God in human life.

Robyn Boeré's article asks a poignant question: "Can a Child Die a Good Death?" Engaging with the work of Jeffrey Bishop, Boeré argues that contemporary approaches to the meaning of a "good death" focus on the question of rational choice. However, such choice is often absent in the case of children. She argues for an alternative way of viewing a good death, that emphasizes relationality rather than autonomy, and meaning-making rather than rational choice. She maintains that, in understanding that we are finally only complete in God, we can see children as capable of dying a good death.

In "Pharmaceutical Memory Modification and Christianity's 'Dangerous' Memory," Stephanie Edwards considers the ethical implications of the use of drugs to dampen, or even eliminate entirely, traumatic memories. While acknowledging the potential healing that such approaches offer, Edwards argues that they fail to aid individuals in reintegrating the experience of suffering in their persons. She advocates for a recovery of what Johann Baptist Metz refers to as Christianity's "dangerous memory" in order to develop a Christian ethics of "enfleshed counter-memory" capable of overcoming experiences of trauma.

In "Reproductive Justice Re-Constructs Christian Ethics of Work," Jeremy Posadas argues in favor of an "anti-work" Christian ethics of work. He argues that capitalism's work ethic is...