Narrative ethics and economic justice: Toward an ethic of inclusion

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze critically the ethical methodology summarily known as "narrative ethics." Research centered primarily on the writings of Stanley Hauerwas and James William McClendon, the two leading proponents of this method. The critical analysis was accomplished by describing the basic assumptions of narrative and by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of this method by applying it to a specific issue: economic justice. The second chapter described these assumptions, outlined a preliminary assessment of them, and proposed some working criteria for economic justice that the narrative ethics methodology implied.; Chapter 3 presented basic information about class structure in the United States in order to establish a context for applying narrative ethics to economic justice. Reinhold Niebuhr's insights into class attitudes was presented because Niebuhr's balance-of-power ethic is an example of the kind of ethics against which McClendon and Hauerwas have reacted. The chapter concluded with an explanation of how the narrative ethics method would apply to class barriers and of how their approach contrasts with Niebuhr's.; Chapter 4 began with a critical analysis of the approaches to economic ethics put forth by J. Philip Wogaman and Michael Novak. The assumptions of narrative ethics were the tools of this analysis. The chapter concluded with a presentation of the rudimentary elements of an economic ethic based on narrative ethics. This ethic was called an "ethic of inclusion" because the narratives of poor people that were recounted signified that above all the poor need to participate meaningfully in the economic mainstream. The "ethic of inclusion" centered on how a Christian community that needs the narratives of the poor might evaluate society's economic patterns and relationships.; Chapter 5 updated the preliminary assessment of narrative ethics by highlighting what further weaknesses and strengths had become apparent as the method was applied to economic justice. A postscript suggested several ways that a Christian community might put into practice the implications of narrative ethics pointed out in this dissertation.