While scholars might once have been inclined to think of the economy
as a driver of ethical transformation and religion as a force for the
preservation of traditional moral ideas and practices, it has become
clear that the relation between religious and economic dimensions
of moral change is much more complex and multi-dimensional. This
interdisciplinary conference aims to explore the part played by religious
and economic factors in how moral change comes about, and what this
can tell us about the fundamental character of ethical life. Both religion
and ‘the economy’ are sometimes imagined as being exceptional in
relation to ‘everyday life’, and sometimes as the fundamental grounding
of social life. What role do specifically religious and economic ideas,
values, and judgements play in people’s ethical imagination, reflection,
and conduct? Do what we call religious and economic values motivate
conduct in similar or divergent ways, and how do they motivate change?
Do they possess different kinds of authority, or do they draw from the
same sources of legitimacy? Where do they support each other and
where are they in conflict? Does ritual belong to both domains, or is it
at bottom religious? What role does ritual play in shaping ethical life
and motivating ethical change? We invite many different approaches
to these and a wide range of related questions, including those from
anthropology, sociology, theology, philosophy, and history. Our goal is
to deepen interdisciplinary discussion of the ethical dimension of human
social life.