Notre Dame launches Center for Virtue Ethics
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The University of Notre Dame announced Tuesday a new research center on the study of virtue ethics named after the school’s outgoing president.
The Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Center for Virtue Ethics will support research that advances human flourishing in both moral and spiritual contexts, develop undergraduate courses on topics such as justice and the common good, and deepen the ethical formation of Notre Dame students and faculty, the university said.
Jenkins announced in October that he would step down as president at the end of the academic year to return to teaching and ministry.
“As a professor of philosophy and as the president of Notre Dame for 19 years, Father Jenkins has devoted his career to building a world-class research university where both faith and reason are brought to bear on the most pressing questions of our day,” Jack Brennan, chair of the university’s board of trustees, said in a news release. “The Jenkins Center for Virtue Ethics will advance his work by creating a dedicated arena in which the enduring relevance of virtue ethics thrives, where faith and reason flourish, and where major moral ideas unite people, rather than divide them.”
The center will be part of the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative, a university-wide effort to establish the school as a global destination for the study of ethics, the university said. Virtue ethics will be a key area of focus, as well as technology ethics, business ethics and environmental ethics.
Virtue ethics emphasizes moral character, and Plato and Aristotle are counted among its founding fathers.
“Virtue ethics tells us that the moral life is not simply about discrete actions properly performed, nor about achieving laudable results in the world, but about becoming a certain kind of person,” Father Jenkins said. “In an age of moral confusion and uncertainty, this center will provide a powerful voice and compelling vision.”
Initial funding for the new center was provided by several members of the board and others, the news release said without identifying the benefactors by name.
“Through the Jenkins Center for Virtue Ethics, Notre Dame will be at the forefront of new research in virtue ethics, continuing the long history of Catholic thought leadership in this field,” said philosophy professor Meghan Sullivan, the Ethics Initiative director.