Christian ethics and empirical research

Abstract

What significance might empirical research have for a constructive theory of Christian ethics? This article discusses this question by bringing results from a concrete empirical study of aspects of Christian ethics into conversation with two theories of the same phenomenon: those of William Schweiker and Stanley Hauerwas/Samuel Wells. After mapping the results of the empirical study to the views offered by the two constructive accounts, I discuss more generally whether empirical studies of this kind can have significance for constructive ethical theory. I discuss three possible objections against such a position: that introducing empirical research to constructive theory of Christian ethics undermines normativity, that it blocks criticism, and that its contributions are likely to be divergent, incoherent and unsystematic, thus adding little of significance to constructive theory. I argue that none of these objections can definitively exclude empirical research from constructive theory. But they certainly have implications concerning not only how empirical research might have significance, but also regarding criteria it must meet in order to legitimately claim constructive relevance. Some concrete suggestions to this effect are launched in a final argumentative move.

Notes

1. Charles Taylor, "Interpretation and the sciences of man," in Philosophy and the Human Sciences (vol.2 of Philosophical Papers; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 15–57.

2. William Schweiker, ed., The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics (Malden: Blackwell, 2006).

3. Stanley Hauerwas and Samuel Wells, eds., The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics (Malden: Blackwell, 2004).

4. Unlike Hauerwas and Wells, Schweiker seems to accept Christian ethics as captured and described by a more general category of religious ethics. In the following I will therefore use Christian ethics as the main concept, implying thereby also William Schweiker's discussion of religious ethics as far as it covers also Christian ethics.

5. Schweiker, Religious Ethics, 11.

6. Hauerwas and Wells, Christian Ethics, 9.

7. Schweiker, Religious Ethics, 14.

8. Schweiker, Religious Ethics, 13.

9. Schweiker, Religious Ethics, 12.

10. Hauerwas and Wells, Christian Ethics, 24–26.

11. Hauerwas and Wells, Christian Ethics, 25.

12. Hauerwas and Wells, Christian Ethics, 7.

13. Johannes A. van der Ven, Formation of the Moral Self (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).

14. In particular I used the Norwegian version of the International Social Survey - Programme survey (ISSP 1998) on religion, dating from 1998, but also the Nordic survey on "Religious and moral pluralism" (RAMP) from 1999, surveys that tap various dimensions of religious beliefs and worldviews, as well as religious practice, self-description and socialisation. A more detailed presentation of the statistical analyses can be found in Ulla Schmidt, "A Weakened Link Between Religion and Morality?" Tidsskrift for kirke, religion og samfunn [Journal for Church, Religion and Society], Vol. 15/2 (2002): 113–130. More detailed presentations of various parts of the interview material can be found in Ulla Schmidt, "Ethics and morality in life stories," in Contemporary religion and church. A Nordic perspective (ed. Ole Gunnar Winsnes; Trondheim: Tapir akademisk, 2004), 47–68.

15. Robin Gill, Church-Going and Christian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).

16. Jaco S. Dreyer, ”Theological Normativity: Ideology or Utopia? Reflections on the Possible Contributions of Empirical Research," in Normativity and Empirical Research in Theology (ed. Johannes v. d. Ven and Michael Scherer-Rath; Leiden: Brill, 2005).

17. Werner Jeanrond, Theological Hermeneutics (London: SCM, 1994), 172–182.

18. Kathryn Tanner, Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997), 56–58.

19. Tanner, Theories of Culture, 70.

20. Tanner, Theories of Culture, 82–86.

21. Paul Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences: Essays on language, action and interpretation (ed. and trans. by John B. Thompson; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).

22. Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences, 90.

23. Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences, 197–221.

24. Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences, 93–94.

25. Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences, 99–100.

26. Jeff Astley, Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002), 126.

27. Tanner, Theories of Culture, 79–86.