| Ecumenism Contributor(s): Cunningham, Lawrence S. (Editor) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0268027528 ISBN-13: 9780268027520 Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press OUR PRICE: $33.25 Product Type: Hardcover Published: July 1999 Annotation: This is an important collection of the historical work presented at the Tantur Ecumenical Center conference in Jerusalem held in the spring of 1997.The Tantur conference commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the center's founding with a gathering of internationally known ecumenists who represent many decades of serious engagement with Christian dialogue. Their resulting work is an inimitable assessment of the current state of ecumenical relations more than three decades after the Second Vatican Council. Ecumenism "takes the pulse" of ecumenical relationships by making realistic judgments about future prospects for greater Christian unity. This volume is a pledge for the future of religious unity and a valuable resource for all those interested in the state of ecumenism in Christianity today. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Institutions & Organizations - Religion | Christianity - History - Religion | Ecumenism & Interfaith |
| Dewey: 280.042 |
| LCCN: 98-34306 |
| Physical Information: 0.81" H x 5.78" W x 8.83" (0.94 lbs) 196 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Catholic |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In Ecological Ethics and the Human Soul: Aquinas, Whitehead, and the Metaphysics of Value, Francisco J. Benzoni addresses the pervasive and destructive view that there is a moral gulf between human beings and other creatures. Thomas Aquinas, whose metaphysics entails such a moral gulf, holds that human beings are ultimately separate from nature. Alfred North Whitehead, in contrast, maintains that human beings are continuous with the rest of nature. These different metaphysical systems demand different ethical stances toward creation. Benzoni analyzes and challenges Thomas's understanding of the human soul, his primary justification for the moral separation, arguing that it is finally philosophically untenable. The author finds promising the alternative metaphysics of Whitehead, for whom human beings are a part of nature--even if the highest part; all creatures have a degree of subjectivity and creativity, and thus all have intrinsic value and moral worth, independent of subjective human valuation. Further, though there is difference, there is no moral gulf between God and the world. God is truly affected by the experience of creatures. Benzoni argues that if this vision of moral worth is articulated with sufficient force and clarity, it could help heal the human relation to our planet. Eminently clear in concept and analysis, profound in insight, and precise in reasoning, this book not only contributes a distinguished study of Aquinas but also reshapes contemporary ecological ethics by relating it to basic issues of metaphysics. Both subsequent moral theory attentive to Aquinas and subsequent formulations of ecological ethics will be incomplete without taking account of Benzoni's argument.--Franklin I. Gamwell, Shailer Mathews Distinguished Service Professor of Religious Ethics, the Philosophy of Religion, and Theology, The University of Chicago Divinity School In the introduction and conclusion, Francisco Benzoni makes clear the broader significance of this work for the field of ecological ethics and the future well-being of the human species on this earth. One can learn a great deal about the philosophy of both Aquinas and Whitehead in working through these pages.--Joseph Bracken, Xavier University |
Contributor Bio(s): Cunningham, Lawrence S.: - Lawrence S. Cunningham is John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology (Emeritus) at the University of Notre Dame. The author or editor of over 25 books and hundreds of essays and reviews, his books reflect his interest in the history of Christian spirituality, hagiography, the intersection of theology and culture, as well as the relationship of contemplation and action. Professor Cunningham is the recipient of three honorary doctorates and the winner of Notre Dame's Presidential Award for service to academy and church (2002) and the Christus Magister award from the University of Portland in 2011 for distinguished scholarship and teaching. He has served as a visiting lecturer in this country and in Europe, Asia, and South Africa. |