Naturalism, formalism, and supernaturalism - Moral epistemology and comparative ethics

If the much discussed fragmentation of the West means that we can seldom ho ld constructive moral conversations with our near neighbors, why imagine th at comparative ethics is feasible as a critical enterprise with a coherent method? How, more specifically, do we understand the relative merits of nat uralism, formalism, and supernaturalism as ethical orientations? The author addresses these questions first by examining the meaning of the quoted ter ms, then by criticizing the inordinate optimism of most naturalisms and for malisms. The article ends by briefly elaborating and defending a supernatur alist conception of Christian love. As a fruit of the Spirit, agape leaves one neither heteronomous nor autonomous, but holy. Such holiness can move o ne to appreciate, judiciously, cultures different from one's own.