Beyond Virtue Ethics: A Contemporary Ethic of Ancient Spiritual Struggle

by Stephen M. Meawad

Overview

A contemporary model of spiritual struggle shifts the emphasis from virtue’s acquisition to its pursuit

Beyond Virtue Ethics offers a distinctive approach to virtue ethics, arguing not simply for the importance of “struggle” to virtue ethics, but that “struggle” itself is a manifestation of virtue. In doing this, Stephen M. Meawad offers a way of thinking about virtue not simply as a perfected state, but as a state that is to a greater or lesser degree a manifestation of the ideal itself, which is not attainable. Meawad affirms the concept of the unity of virtues—that is, the idea that a virtue is not a virtue unless united with other perfected virtues—which is found in God. Insofar as humans grow in unity with God, they too participate in the unity of virtues, although always to an imperfect extent. Meawad rejects a division between ethics and spirituality and provides two concrete examples of this suggested model. The first is the application of this model to the body and its implications for contemporary sexual ethics. The second is a reintegration of ethics and Scripture through the contemporary application of an ancient Patristic divine reading. This book establishes for readers a contemporary model of spiritual struggle, defining it as the exertion of effort in all conceivable dimensions—physical, emotional, psychological, and intellectual—with the intent to attain a semblance of, knowledge of, and intimacy with Jesus Christ.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647123130
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2023
Series:	Moral Traditions series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	834 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stephen Meawad is an assistant professor of theology in the Department of Theology and Philosophy at Caldwell University.

Table of Contents

PART I: SITUATING THE ETHICIntroduction: Ethics, Anthropology, and PatristicsFrom Ancient to Modern: Creating Space for the Church FathersChapter Overview1. Which Virtue Ethics? Which Problems?An Orthodox Christian Ethic Politeia?Aristotle, Aquinas, and Virtue Ethical ProblemsThe Virtuous Agent and the Unity of the VirtuesPerfectionism and (Un)attainabilityMoral Luck and Moral EffortSelf-Centeredness and Self-EffacementGrace and WorksGrace and VirtueWorks and AntinomianismA Contemporary Consensus Between Grace and WorksConclusion

PART II: DEVELOPING THE ETHIC2. A Case for Spiritual StruggleWhy “Spiritual Struggle”?Struggle Against Base Desires: the Self as Co-operator with God’s GraceStruggle as Communal Confrontation of External OppressionStruggle as Purgative, Virtuous Struggle with GodConclusion

3. Onward and Upward: The Perpetual Godwardness of Spiritual StruggleGregory’s Theological IntegrationEpektasis: Immutable and Infinite Perpetuity of Godward ProgressAnagogy: Godward Progress as Ascent in Goodness, Virtue, and PerfectionThe Stages of Godward Spiritual StruggleConclusion

PART III: APPLYING THE ETHIC4. Asceticism as Godward Spiritual Struggle Applied to the BodyFirst Stage: Controlling Impulses Gone AwrySecond Stage: Angelification and RestorationThird Stage: Liturgical Transformation and Divine IndwellingLiturgy as InteriorizerParticular Instantiations of InteriorizationConclusion

5. Sacred Reading as Godward Spiritual Struggle Applied to ScriptureFirst Stage: Vulnerability, Christ, and CommunityVulnerabilityChristo-centricityCommunal ExegesisSecond Stage: Embodiment, Prayer, and VirtuePrayerful Embodiment of ScriptureVirtuous ReadingThird Stage: Full Immersion and a New CreationConclusion

6. Conclusion: Embodied Ethics and Inevitable TensionsBibliography

What People are Saying About This

Aristotle Papanikolaou

The return of virtue ethics is now six decades in the making, and yet, in all that time, very little has engaged the rich tradition of thinking on virtue in Orthodox Christianity. This book fills that gap. With a grounding in deification and with an emphasis on virtue as struggle rather than achievement, it offers a paradigm shift for understanding the meaning of virtue in the ethical and spiritual life.

James F. Keenan

In Beyond Virtue Ethics, Stephen Meawad disruptively inserts Orthodox virtue ethics into the broader discourse of theological ethics and prompts us to recognize what he calls our spiritual struggle and the perpetual pursuit of God. A refreshing proposal that ought to awaken in any reader the longings we so want (and need) to pursue.

Stanley Hauerwas

Meawad’s book not only brings Orthodox resources to bear on the development of the virtues, but also helps us see how the virtues provide an account of the spiritual life. An important book for the growing literature on the virtues.

Stephen Hauerwas

Meawad’s book not only brings Orthodox resources to bear on the development of the virtues, but also helps us see how the virtues provide an account of the spiritual life. An important book for the growing literature on the virtues.