Marquette Today

Campus News and Events

Submit news

Menu

  • Campus News
    • Top News for Students
    • Top News for Faculty & Staff
    • Magazines at Marquette
    • Campus Alerts
  • Archives
  • Submit news
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Contacts
  • @MarquetteToday
  • Events Calendar
  • Topics
    • Community Engagement
    • Diversity
    • Innovation
    • Master Planning
    • Marquette Momentum
    • Research
    • Strategic Planning

Of wealth and values

November 16, 2022

Dr. Kate Ward’s new book explores how inequality challenges people’s moral development.

 

By Anna Funk

The Christian tradition has a lot to say about wealth and poverty. But for people who are neither struggling to make ends meet nor flying private spaceships to Mars, it can be surprisingly easy to underestimate how wealth affects them. 

“Most people have a sense that inequality is wrong in some way. But the aspect of how it affects us personally is not one, I think, people think about a lot,” explains Dr. Kate Ward, assistant professor of theology. In her new book, Wealth, Virtue, and Moral Luck: Christian Ethics in an Age of Inequality, Ward examines how material privilege affects personal virtue — the moral qualities people develop that help them live well — by shaping the opportunities and choices that are presented to them.

Dr. Kate Ward

Because our society is largely segregated by income, the physical separation of wealthy people from those experiencing poverty can lead to what Ward calls hyper-agency, or people having power over others and taking that power for granted. A simple example of this, Ward says, is the use of Instacart and other shopping services during the pandemic. To most users of these services, they were a way to maintain social distancing and reduce exposure to the virus. But what about the people doing the shopping? 

“Inequality is what makes it possible for me to use Instacart and command someone to go risk their life for me,” Ward says. “What does that do to me as a person when I have this kind of power over another human being? That’s not good for my virtue.”

An expert in theological ethics, Ward explores the intersections of Catholic tradition, Christian teachings and modern economics throughout her scholarship. Her next project will examine work and how it fits into a meaningful life.

Filed Under: Research, Sidebar feature stories

More news

Heather Van Vugt Ramirez named to BizTimes Milwaukee’s Notable Nonprofit Board Leaders

June 8, 2023

Support on-campus retail tenants as traffic slows

June 8, 2023

Professor earns prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award for international research

June 8, 2023

Register for an on-campus counseling session with TIAA, June 13-14

June 8, 2023

Marquette, NMDSI award seven mini grants to university faculty

June 8, 2023

Marquette, Safe & Sound hosting Juneteenth Celebration, June 17

June 8, 2023

Cara Hardin to serve as acting Title IX coordinator

June 8, 2023

No vacation from vocation as Anselm Smith enters seminary

June 6, 2023

More news

Marquette UniversityCopyright 2023 by Marquette University
MARQUETTE.EDU // A TO Z