The goal of the project is to study accountability as a virtue – as an excellence that contributes to human flourishing.
The project is funded by a generous grant from the Templeton Religion Trust.
Project Background
The contemporary world talks a great deal about accountability. Citizens want politicians to be accountable. Business executives are held accountable to the shareholders for how they run companies. The lack of accountability is devastating for an organization, whether that is with respect to a church, like the Roman Catholic Church that has been roiled by sex abuse scandals and cover-ups, or a school, such as Michigan State University, which has been rocked by the behavior of a physician convicted of sexually abusing gymnasts. This concern for accountability is important and justified. However, the majority of the discussion generally focuses on holding people accountable. Often, this amounts simply to punishing someone who has been irresponsible.
Defining Accountability As A Virtue
Baylor University philosopher C. Stephen Evans, along with a multi-disciplinary team of researchers, considers the issue of accepting accountability to be likewise in need of evaluation. After all, we think punishment is needed precisely in cases where people have tried to evade being accountable. It seems critical then to think about what it means to welcome accountability, to recognize that we are all accountable in various ways, and that it is good to embrace being held accountable when certain conditions are present.
Thus, the goal of the project here is to study accountability as a virtue, i.e. as an excellence that contributes to human flourishing. The project is funded by a generous grant from the Templeton Religion Trust.
