{"id":{"repo_id":"fsu-retro","oai_identifier":"oai:diginole.lib.fsu.edu:fsu_928074"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/fsu-retro/oai:diginole.lib.fsu.edu:fsu_928074","repository":{"repo_id":"fsu-retro","name":"Florida State University","base_url":"https://repository.lib.fsu.edu/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Charity as a Foundation of Ethics","abstract":"It seems to me that the greatest contribution which Christianity has made to the history of ethics is its claim that what we should do, above all else, is love—love everyone with no exceptions. It is strange to me that this insight has generally not survived in contemporary ethics. Though our dominant ethical theories always mention love at some point, they seldom give it the seat of honor. This dissertation, then, is an argument that they should: that our ethical theories, secular ones included, should be founded on love. Perhaps that sounds like a strange suggestion. (You may say, \"Are you suggesting that contractualism, for example, should be founded on love? Well… it isn't. If it were it would not be contractualism.\") The structure of my argument therefore begins with some remarks on ethics as a project. Why might it be the sort of thing that is best approached with the tools of charity? I then turn to an example—one possible ethics of charity (and quite a compelling one, in my view), borrowed largely from Thomas Aquinas. Finally, I employ this Thomistic theory to the issue of forgiveness and correction, as a way of showing how such a theory works itself out in application. The hope is that the overall picture is one on which the ethical-theoretical utility of love is clearly on display.","abstract_html":"It seems to me that the greatest contribution which Christianity has made to the history of ethics is its claim that what we should do, above all else, is love—love everyone with no exceptions. It is strange to me that this insight has generally not survived in contemporary ethics. Though our dominant ethical theories always mention love at some point, they seldom give it the seat of honor. This dissertation, then, is an argument that they should: that our ethical theories, secular ones included, should be founded on love. Perhaps that sounds like a strange suggestion. (You may say, "Are you suggesting that contractualism, for example, should be founded on love? Well… it isn't. If it were it would not be contractualism.") The structure of my argument therefore begins with some remarks on ethics as a project. Why might it be the sort of thing that is best approached with the tools of charity? I then turn to an example—one possible ethics of charity (and quite a compelling one, in my view), borrowed largely from Thomas Aquinas. Finally, I employ this Thomistic theory to the issue of forgiveness and correction, as a way of showing how such a theory works itself out in application. The hope is that the overall picture is one on which the ethical-theoretical utility of love is clearly on display.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":[],"institution":"Florida State University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sigourney, Tucker (author)","Westlund, Andrea C. (Andrea Carol) (professor directing dissertation)","Kelsay, John, 1953- (university representative)","Clarke, Randolph K. (committee member)","LeBar, Mark (committee member)","Schwenkler, John Louis (committee member)","Florida State University (degree granting institution)","College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college)","Department of Philosophy (degree granting department)"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024","date_published":"2024","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:48:14Z","subjects":["Ethics"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["fsu:928074","iid: Sigourney_fsu_0071E_18649"],"render_values":[{"text":"fsu:928074","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"iid: Sigourney_fsu_0071E_18649","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sigourney, Tucker (author)","Westlund, Andrea C. (Andrea Carol) (professor directing dissertation)","Kelsay, John, 1953- (university representative)","Clarke, Randolph K. 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It is strange to me that this insight has generally not survived in contemporary ethics. Though our dominant ethical theories always mention love at some point, they seldom give it the seat of honor. This dissertation, then, is an argument that they should: that our ethical theories, secular ones included, should be founded on love. Perhaps that sounds like a strange suggestion. (You may say, \"Are you suggesting that contractualism, for example, should be founded on love? Well… it isn't. If it were it would not be contractualism.\") The structure of my argument therefore begins with some remarks on ethics as a project. Why might it be the sort of thing that is best approached with the tools of charity? I then turn to an example—one possible ethics of charity (and quite a compelling one, in my view), borrowed largely from Thomas Aquinas. Finally, I employ this Thomistic theory to the issue of forgiveness and correction, as a way of showing how such a theory works itself out in application. The hope is that the overall picture is one on which the ethical-theoretical utility of love is clearly on display.","Dissertation submitted to the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.","March 18, 2024.","charity, ethics, forgiveness, love, Thomas Aquinas","Includes bibliographical references.","Andrea Westlund, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Kelsay, University Representative; Randolph Clarke, Committee Member; Mark LeBar, Committee Member; John Schwenkler, Committee Member."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["computer","online resource","1 online resource (184 pages)","application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Charity as a Foundation of Ethics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sigourney, Tucker (author)","Westlund, Andrea C. (Andrea Carol) (professor directing dissertation)","Kelsay, John, 1953- (university representative)","Clarke, Randolph K. (committee member)","LeBar, Mark (committee member)","Schwenkler, John Louis (committee member)","Florida State University (degree granting institution)","College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college)","Department of Philosophy (degree granting department)"],"dc:date":["2024"],"dc:description":["It seems to me that the greatest contribution which Christianity has made to the history of ethics is its claim that what we should do, above all else, is love—love everyone with no exceptions. It is strange to me that this insight has generally not survived in contemporary ethics. Though our dominant ethical theories always mention love at some point, they seldom give it the seat of honor. This dissertation, then, is an argument that they should: that our ethical theories, secular ones included, should be founded on love. Perhaps that sounds like a strange suggestion. (You may say, \"Are you suggesting that contractualism, for example, should be founded on love? Well… it isn't. If it were it would not be contractualism.\") The structure of my argument therefore begins with some remarks on ethics as a project. Why might it be the sort of thing that is best approached with the tools of charity? I then turn to an example—one possible ethics of charity (and quite a compelling one, in my view), borrowed largely from Thomas Aquinas. Finally, I employ this Thomistic theory to the issue of forgiveness and correction, as a way of showing how such a theory works itself out in application. The hope is that the overall picture is one on which the ethical-theoretical utility of love is clearly on display.","Dissertation submitted to the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.","March 18, 2024.","charity, ethics, forgiveness, love, Thomas Aquinas","Includes bibliographical references.","Andrea Westlund, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Kelsay, University Representative; Randolph Clarke, Committee Member; Mark LeBar, Committee Member; John Schwenkler, Committee Member."],"dc:format":["computer","online resource","1 online resource (184 pages)","application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["fsu:928074","iid: Sigourney_fsu_0071E_18649"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["Florida State University"],"dc:subject":["Ethics"],"dc:title":["Charity as a Foundation of Ethics"],"dc:type":["Text","doctoral thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:48:14Z"}