Ethics - General presentation

Ethics at the Faculty of Theology is at the intersection between research within religious studies and philosophical analysis of morality. The book Ethics, written by professors Elena Namli and Carl-Henric Grenholm, offers a presentation of how ethics is conducted at the Faculty of Theology (Etik – 9789144121680 | Studentlitteratur). We understand morality as a social institution and ethics as a critical study of conventional morality. Hence, researchers in ethics have the important task of developing theoretical tools that help us cast light on and challenge various forms of marginalisation, dominance and oppression.

Ethicists in Uppsala work in particular with various theological and religious traditions. Philosophical analysis of morality is related to tangible contexts and worldviews. This creates a unique disciplinary profile in relation to the ethical research pursued at faculties of philosophy. We believe that theological ethics makes a significant contribution to a critique of morality. Knowledge of traditions deepens our understanding of morality in various ways. However, morality within different traditions also needs to be scrutinized and knowledge of various conventions and cultural contexts is a crucial condition of such a scrutiny.