Who Do Our Methods Serve and Protect? Pedagogical and Meta-Ethical Challenges in Teaching Breonna Taylor

Abstract:Introductory courses in Christian ethics ordinarily survey deontological, teleological, and virtue ethics, testing each against case studies. In spring 2021, this author followed the customary approach, but our case was a claim made by Sgt. John Mattingly of Louisville Metro Police Department, who was involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor. In an e-mail to over 1,000 LMPD colleagues, Mattingly claimed, "I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night." Mattingly's striking assertion raises epistemological and meta-ethical questions. In what sense was killing Ms. Taylor the right thing to do? Was this action virtuous? Did it proceed from a worthy intention toward a valid goal? Was it done in accordance with duty/ies? Did it produce good consequences? Was it conducive toward liberation? While the methods are necessary, none is fully adequate; the article argues that they should be supplemented by responsibilist ethical lenses adapted from Darryl Trimiew and Iris Marion Young.