The Theological Ethics of Stanley Hauerwas

An in-depth study of the theological ethics of Stanley Hauerwas, covering some of his major theological and philosophical influences, main themes of his work, the development of his thought, and some of his key interlocutors. The bulk of the course will focus on his ‘fundamental moral theology,’ including questions of the goal of human life, the nature of human actions and problems of action description, the significance of vision, narrative, and virtue in the Christian life, the place of ethics in the Christian community as people of God, and questions concerning the church’s peace witness. The course will also spend some time at Hauerwas’ work in the area of theology and medicine, particularly addressing how his broader theological and ethical convictions inform his approach to medical ethics. Finally, the course will touch on Hauerwas’s place in and contributions to theology in its more “dogmatic” expressions, his relation to Barth and to postliberalism, and his reception in both the Protestant and Catholic worlds.