Neil Arner
Co-Principle Investigator
Biography:
Neil Arner is an Assistant Professor of Moral Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He has received research fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the Center of Theological Inquiry, and the John Templeton Foundation. The primary area of Dr. Arner’s research and teaching is fundamental moral theology: the way in which Christian ethicists integrate biblical, ecclesial, historical, philosophical, and empirical considerations. He specializes in Protestant theories of natural law, the theological bases of ecumenical collaboration, and Christian responses to scientific accounts of morality.
Research Project:
As a co-PI on this grant, Arner will collaborate with Drs. Couenhoven and McKenny in planning a dozen workshops that cultivate intellectual community and equip theologians to engage the social sciences. As a researcher, he will write two articles that illustrate how theologians can benefit from imitating those psychologists who resist generalizing about human nature in favor of specifying the moral capacities of particular groups of humans. As a teacher, he will lead a class that models critical-yet-collaborative theological engagement with the fields of evolutionary anthropology and social psychology in the endeavor to specify the moral capacities of humans.
Contact: neil.arner@nd.edu