Bloomsbury Academic

Bloomsbury Academic

English

With experience in the business world and now as a professor of religion, ethics, and public life, Cowley (Heythrop College, Univ. of London) is uniquely situated to write this useful book on Christian ethics and the finance sector. Unlike most volumes on business ethics, Cowley's book illuminates the role of the moral agent in the complex world of financial transactions. Deeply informed about the workings of the market, and grounded in virtue ethics and the rinciple of the common good, Cowley not only does a good job of situating the world of economic activity within a larger social and ethical framework, but also brings an insider's knowledge of the finance sector to bear on her moral analysis. Given the focus on the market, it is perhaps not too surprising that she underdevelops the personalist ethics that she uses to challenge the utilitarian moral philosophy that underlies much of the defense of the free market. This excellent book will be profitably used by social ethicists and also nonacademics seeking to understand how market and financial activity can be subject to moral evaluation based on Christian moral principles. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.