ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an account of the character trait of others-centeredness, which is the ultimate object of study in the book. Others-centeredness is defined as a tendency to treat the perceived interests of each other person as more important than one’s own perceived interests for purposes of deciding what to do, just because these interests are others’. Explanatory commentary is provided regarding key features of this definition, such as what one’s own and others’ perceived interests are, what it is to treat others’ interests as more important than one’s own, and what it is to treat others’ interests as more important just because they are others’. The methodological approach to Religious Virtue Theory exemplified in the book is then explicitly discussed. This approach involves reading foundational religious texts responsibly in conversation with interpretive scholarship with a view toward uncovering potentially distinctive insights about character contained within these texts, and then evaluating these potential insights critically using contemporary philosophical and psychological resources. The chapter concludes with a summary of the remaining chapters and some brief remarks about the importance of the book in opening interdisciplinary inquiry into others-centeredness.
