26 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Dan P. McAdams, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. McAdams proposes that the development of virtue can be understood via a three-part model that traces t...

25 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Ross A. Thompson, Professor of Psychology at The University of California at Davis, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. Thompson reviews “the results of recent studies relevant to the development of virtuous character in...

24 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Darcia Narvaez, Professor of Psychology at The University of Notre Dame, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. Narvaez approaches the question of cultivating virtue from a very different perspective from those we’ve seen i...

20 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Jennifer A. Herdt, Professor of Christian Ethics at Yale Divinity School, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. Professor Herdt opens her paper with an acknowledgement of the importance of virtue in the Christian tradition...

18 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Elizabeth M. Bucar, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Northeastern University, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. Professor Bucar analyzes the writing of “one exemplary Islamic figure: the tenth-century thinke...

17 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Owen Flanagan, Professor of Philosophy, Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. Professor Flanagan opens his paper with a conveniently clear pointer: “This is my topic. Budd...

15 Apr 2018

In his paper on the “Situationist Critique and Early Confucian Virtue Ethics” which we discussed in a recent post, Professor Slingerland, in his conclusion, makes the following statement: “…the early Confucian form of virtue ethics seems as if it could survive even the strongest and most plausible form of the situationist critique, which means that proclamations of the death of virtue...

14 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Edward Slingerland, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. The first part of Slingerland’s paper discusses situationism and the “situationist critiqu...

12 Apr 2018

The account of the deaths of Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu is the most frequently discussed topic in Parashat Shemini. Most comment addresses what the brothers actually did and why their action merited the punishment they received. The text is not seriously disputed to this extent: the brothers literally took their firepans, put fire in them, placed incense on the fire and brought the ...

09 Apr 2018

Material quoted here is drawn from the paper by Christine Swanton, professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, which was published in “Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology” edited by Nancy E. Snow, Oxford University Press, 2015. The two problems for virtue ethics that Swanton addresses in this paper are: ...