Ecology: A Primer for Christian Ethics
Catholic Social Thought 2007

"Ecology: A Primer for Christian Ethics," Journal of Catholic Social Thought 4, no. 2 (2007): 293-312. Online at: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/36771
http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/jcathsoc20074215

"Ecology" is, etymologically, the logic of living creatures' homes. Christian ethicists find the word related to "ecumenical," with roots in the Greek "oikos," the inhabited world. There are both problems and opportunities when Christian ethicists look toward ecological science and wonder what (use) to make of it. Success depends on coupling prescriptive values with an environmental science that is descriptively accurate and operationally competent. Originally a lecture at Villanova University in conjunction with Rolston's receiving the Mendel Medal.