ABSTRACT
Feminist ethics brings out a number of the themes linking secular and religious ethics in the theistic traditions of the West. Both feminist ethics and Biblical ethics are suspicious of the notion of the radically autonomous, self-sufficient moral individual and both want to highlight the importance of the experience of mutuality. A theistic moral ontology has a clear sense of the goods and they clearly have much in common with a feminist ethic. The traditional fear of a heteronomous moral force breaking in upon the self from outside is particularly acute among women who have generally experienced heteronomous power as that which emanates from men seeking to perpetuate male control over subordinate, dominated women. Given the reality of political, economic and sexual domination that women experience it is no surprise that many feminists reject the notion of a divine being setting the terms for their moral life.
