Do autonomy and relational morality correlate with capitalism and socialism?
A. No. Both moralities are individualistic moralities. Autonomy morality obviously takes individualism to an extreme and does tend to favor laissez-faire capitalism. But relational moralists also are individualistic and typically were highly critical of Marxism. For example, the pioneer of universal public education, Horace Mann, insisted that educational curriculum should respect and develop the individual character of students. Many relational moralists are religiously sensitive, and they do not accept the materialism of Marxism. If autonomy morality favors unbounded capitalism, or laissez faire, relational morality is content with bounded capitalism, or markets with limits. Q. In your book, you make the argument that relational morality is biblically based. Can you explain that? A. Historically, the ideas of “love of neighbor,” humans in “the image of God”(giving dignity to all), and true freedom being “freedom from self” (not the pursuit of self-interest), are clearly biblical. Thi
