On
February 21-23, 2024, Rowan Williams, a former archbishop of Canterbury,
delivered a series of lectures on the topic of solidarity in moral theology. In
my own research, I relate that field to ethics and historical economic thought.
Williams’ theory of solidarity, which goes beyond what he calls “the vague
feeling of empathy” that is emphasized in the moral writings of David Hume and
Adam Smith, to reach a person’s identity and even one’s soul. Solidary pertains
to interpersonal relations and is thus relevant to neighbor-love, which includes
being willing to attend to the human needs even of one’s detractors and
enemies, as well as just plain rude people. I contend that the upper echelon at Yale Divinity School is at
two-degrees of separation from this sort of solidarity, especially as it is
wholistic rather than partisan in nature. It is no accident, by the way, that
the self-love that characterizes the school's culture has manifested in some
courses being almost entirely oriented to advocating very narrow ideological
partisan positions, politically, economically, and on social issues at the
expense of sheer fairness to students, wholeness, theology, and academic
standards. At the time, the school was accepting 50% of studen applicants. I
leave these ideological and academic matters to the side here so I can focus on
the astonishing distance between the school's dean and the sort of solidarity
that he heard of in the lectures and that could lead to Christian leadership
for Yale's Christian divinity school, which includes two seminaries.
The full essay is at "Yale Divinity School."
