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Faculty and Fellow Profiles

Jean   Porter

Jean Porter

John A. O'Brien Professor of Theological Ethics, University of Notre Dame

Areas of Expertise

Thomas Aquinas; Moral Theology; Contemporary Moral Philosophy; Scholasticism

Curriculum Vitae

    Porter's research focuses on the moral theory of Thomas Aquinas, seen in the context of his scholastic interlocutors, on the one hand, and contemporary moral philosophy and theology, on the other. She has written on scholastic theories of natural law, Thomistic virtue theory, and philosophical and theological views on legal theory. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a past President of the Society of Christian Ethics.

    Her books include Ministers of the Law: A Natural Law Theory of Legal Authority (Eerdmans, 2010), Nature as Reason: A Thomistic Theory of the Natural Law (Eerdmans, 2005), and Natural and Divine Law: Reclaiming the Tradition for Christian Ethics (Eerdmans, 1999). She has also written many book chapters and articles.

    Porter holds a doctorate and a master of arts from Yale University, a master of divinity from Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and a bachelor of arts in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.