Tag Archive for 'Conscience'

“Conscience and the Common Good” not only refers to my new book (more on that in a moment), but it also helps capture my own sense of the value that this blog can bring to the already bursting-at-the-seams blawgosphere. Participants in this blog come from a variety of faith traditions (or no faith tradition), but I’m guessing that most (maybe all?) of the participants operate from the premise that bringing our own convictions and values into the conversations about law, religion, and ethics will enrich our understanding and challenge our easy conclusions; making the conversations more particular and personal need not preclude a meaningful shared conception of the common good. My own interest in this blog is motivated, in significant part, by my skepticism toward the notion that the common good is best pursued by a lowest-common-denominator approach to law, politics, or ethics. The wisest response to moral and religious pluralism is not to keep our core convictions — those that comprise our consciences –to ourselves. It is often those core convictions that help us look beyond ourselves.