Dr. Andy Fitz-Gibbon
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We are finite, fallible, fragile, fragments of the universe. But because we have an inbuilt need to find meaning, we inhabit the universe in terms of a conception of its character — a big picture — either consciously adopted or unconsciously presupposed. In so doing we are always, whether we realize it or not, living by faith, that is, moving in an immensely important area in which there is no certain knowledge and in which we cannot avoid the risk of being seriously mistaken.
John Hick
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Academics
My academic work can be summarized in the question: How shall we live? Given the complexities of the human condition, what is it that we ought to be striving for? What kind of life makes for human thriving?
You can read a pdf version of my CV here.
Research Interests
 The philosophy of love
Philosophies of nonviolence
Communitarianism/community
Animal rights
Spirituality, mysticism, the neo-monastic movement, inter-religious dialogue
Courses Fall 2008
Links are clickable to pdf versions of syllabii.
PHI 135: Philosophical Approaches to Contemporary Moral Problems
PHI 330: Philosophies of Nonviolence
PHI 400: The Ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre
Other Courses
PHI 201: Ancient Social Philosophy
PHI 331: War and Terrorism
PHI 240: Social and Poltical Philosophy
PHI 203: Social Ethics
PHI 320: Environmental Ethics
Links
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My first degree was in Business Studies (I also received diplomas from the Chartered Institute of Bankers and the Market Research Society, UK). I left the business world to study theology at Manchester University. My interests in social ethics led me to a research degree (MLitt) at Newcastle University where I studied the radical sects of sixteenth century in Europe. I followed that with a degree in Applied Theology looking at social structure, the family, and feminism. For my PhD I studied Christian social thinking in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The work was published as "In the World But Not of the Word" by Lexington in 2000. (The image below links to Amazon.com)
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Since then I have written a number of articles on nonviolence, spirituality and love.
I am writing a book on love as a basis for morality.
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