Seeking Goodness and Beauty

Patricia Lamoureux and Kevin O'Neil have edited a splendid volume of essays that probe the intersections of theological ethics and art and the relationship between morality and aesthetics. In the broader field of theology and the arts, this work will make a major contribution to understanding the role of the arts in the shaping of the moral life. Autobiography, film, music, the visual arts, literature are all explored in terms of their power to speak to us about grace and hope, mystery and brokenness, conscience and moral character. This is an excellent addition to the literature of theology and the arts and should be of special importance to those teaching in theology, religious studies, the arts and those in ministry. -- Wilson Yates, President, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and Professor of Religion, Society and the Arts
Teachers of ethics or moral theology will need little convincing of the potential for art and beauty to engage students effectively and to aid in transforming an academic study into a means of personal moral formation. More difficult is the question of exactly how it can be done. In Seeking Goodness and Beauty, successful teachers of theology and ethics share insights on the use and potential misuse of the arts in the pedagogy of morality. Several essays give a general perspective on the ways in which the arts, especially in their narrative forms, can function in focusing moral attention, sharpening conscience, and exemplifying moral attitudes. Rather than methodological principles or formulas, they provide concrete illustrations of the use of the arts in correlation to moral knowledge and formation. These essays, rich in practical wisdom drawn from wide and varied experience, should provide inspiration and insight not only to ethicians but also to teachers of theology and even to preachers. -- Richard R. Viladesau, Professor of Theology, Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at Fordham University
Seeking Goodness and Beauty is a finely-crafted book that will inform and delight many readers. Brimming with insights and practical ideas for the classroom, it offers a rich set of examples that show how attention to fiction, autobiography, film, and music can impact the teaching of ethics in profound and powerful ways. -- Anne E. Patrick, William H. Laird Professor of Religion and the Liberal Arts, Carleton College