This book examines culture, religion and polity in the context of Buddhism. Gananath Obeyesekere, one of the foremost analytical voices from South Asia develops Freud's notion of 'dream work', the 'work of culture' and ideas of no-self (anatta) to understand Buddhism in contemporary Sri Lanka. This work offers a restorative interpretation of Buddhist myths in contrast to the perspective involving deconstruction. The book deals with a range of themes connected with Buddhism, including oral traditions and stories, the religious pantheon, philosophy, emotions, reform movements, questions of identity and culture, and issues of modernity. This fascinating volume will greatly interest students, teachers and researchers of religion and philosophy, especially Buddhism, ethics, cultural studies, social and cultural anthropology, Sri Lanka and modern South Asian history.

The virtue of humility is a much debated subject. To many, humility is an attractive character trait in others, the opposite of pride and arrogance. Yet many philosophers, be they ancient or modern, find little value in humility as a virtue. For the Aristotelian moral tradition, humility is an impediment to greatness. Modern philosophers take this sentiment further, asserting that humility only leads to unhappiness and human debasement. The Christian intellectual tradition, however, provides a contrast to these negative appraisals of humility. St Augustine of Hippo is an eloquent and robust proponent of the value of humility. Unlike the thinkers of the classical and modern philosophic traditions, Augustine asserts that humility is not only a significant virtue; it is the indispensable foundation of human greatness. In The Greatness of Humility, Joseph J. McInerney traces how Augustine makes his argument regarding the importance of humility and shows how his position measures up to those of his philosophical rivals.

What is the state of contemporary American morality? From their original conception in Christian scripture to their assimilation into Western culture, the 'Seven Deadly Sins' - lust, greed, envy, pride, and all the rest - have guided human morality, steering human behavior and psychology away from evil and toward a full embrace of the good. But their hold on modern life is increasingly tenuous. Indeed, one may observe that these days, deadly sin is far more common and more commonly practiced than its virtuous counterparts - humility, charity, kindness, industriousness, and chastity. Without greed, there is no economy; without anger, no politics; and without pride and envy, surely less motivation and competition would exist. James D. Wright carefully examines the complexities and ambiguities in modern society in the context of the seven deadly sins and their corresponding virtues. Are we all lost souls, condemned by our immoral deeds, or are the trappings of older sin deteriorating? Is it time, finally, to reconsider the classifications of evil and good? Wright uses each chapter to consider how the social sciences have operationalized each 'sin', how they have been studied, and what lessons have been learned over time. He reviews recent trends and contemplates the societal costs and benefits of the behaviors in question. Lost Souls emerges, then, as a meditation on contemporary sin, concluding that the line between guilt and innocence, right and wrong, is often very thin.

The Power of Reconciliation will come to be seen as Archbishop Welby's most important book to date. Welby writes about Reconciliation as seeking to disagree well. It relates to both religious and secular communities, from the household to the international. Conflict is widespread. With the after-effects of Covid, changes in science and technology, inequality, and increasingly polarized political and social strife, moves towards reconciliation are more necessary than ever. Both before ordination and since Welby has seen conflict first-hand. He has spent many years working on issues of conflict around the world. The book is full of practical advice for all those in authority on how to bring about reconciliation. There is even a step-by-step guide for this, drawn from the author's own experience. The book is thus down-to-earth, plugged into reality and devoid of pointless optimism or a Pollyannaish view of our contemporary problems. Furthermore, there is the dignity of difference. Today there is so much intolerance of views that are other than our own as we demonize those we do not agree with. This revolutionary book is published in the first place for the 2022 Lambeth Conference in July, when bishops from all around the world assemble in Canterbury. But its importance goes far beyond these confines, which will nonetheless be widely reported in the media and the press. The author deals with conflict and reconciliation within families, businesses, warfare between nations, races and all forms of political conflict. The book concerns the secular sphere every bit as much as the religious, though Welby's message is Christian inspired, and the influence of Desmond Tutu strongly felt.

In this book, Victoria Lorrimar explores anthropologies of co-creation as a theological response to the questions posed by technologically enhanced humans, a prospect that is disturbing to some, but compelling for many. The centrality the imagination for moral reasoning, attested in recent scholarship on the imagination, offers a fruitful starting point for a theological engagement with these envisioned technological futures. Lorrimar approaches the topic under the purview of a doctrine of creation that affirms a relationship between human and divine creativity. Traditionally, theological treatments of creativity have been almost exclusively applied to artistic endeavours. Here, Lorrimar breaks new ground by extending such theological accounts to include technology, and uniting them with the strengths of scientific accounts of co-creation. She draws on metaphor studies, cognitive sciences, as well as literary studies, to develop an account of human creativity in relation to divine creativity, which is then applied to various enhancement scenarios.

This volume presents the first organized study of Jung's ethics. Drawing on direct quotes from all of his collected works, interviews, and seminars, psychoanalyst and religious scholar Dan Merkur provides a compendium of Jung's thoughts on various topics and themes that comprise his theoretical corpus-from the personal unconscious, repression, dreams, good and evil, and the shadow, to collective phenomena such as the archetypes, synchronicity, the psychoid, the paranormal, God, and the Self, as well as his contributions to clinical method and technique including active imagination, inner dialogue, and the process of individuation and consciousness expansion. The interconnecting thread in Merkur's approach to the subject matter is to read Jung's work through an ethical lens. What comes to light is how Merkur systematically portrays Jung as a moralist, but also as a complex thinker who situates the human being as an instinctual animal struggling with internal conflict and naturalized sin. Merkur exposes the tension and development in Jung's thinking by exploring his innovative clinical-technical methods and experimentation, such as through active imagination, inner dialogue, and expressive therapies, hence underscoring unconscious creativity in dreaming, symbol formation, engaging the paranormal, and artistic productions leading to expansions of consciousness, which becomes a necessary part of individuation or the working through process in pursuit of self-actualization and wholeness. In the end, we are offered a unique presentation of Jung's core theoretical and clinical ideas centering on an ethical fulcrum, whereby his moral psychology leads to a cure of souls. Jung's Ethics will be of interest to academics, scholars, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of Jungian studies and analytical psychology, ethics, moral psychology, philosophy, religious studies, and mental health professionals focusing on the integration of humanities and psychoanalysis.

In 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer-a theologian and pastor-was executed by the Nazis for his resistance to their unspeakable crimes against humanity. He was only 39 years old when he died, but Bonhoeffer left behind volumes of work exploring theological and ethical themes that have now inspired multiple generations of scholars, students, pastors, and activists. This book highlights the ways Dietrich Bonhoeffer's work informs political theology and examines Bonhoeffer's contributions in three ways: historical-critical interpretation, critical-constructive engagement, and constructive-practical application. With contributions from a broad array of scholars from around the world, chapters range from historical analysis of Bonhoeffer's early political resistance language to accounts of Bonhoeffer-inspired, front-line resistance to white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA. This volume speaks to the ongoing relevance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's work and life in and out of the academy.

For thousands of years the Jewish tradition has been a source of moral guidance, for Jews and non-Jews alike. As the essays in this volume show, the theologians and practitioners of Judaism have a long history of wrestling with moral questions, responding to them in an open, argumentative mode that reveals the strengths and weaknesses of all sides of a question. The Jewish tradition also offers guidance for moral conduct by individuals, communities, and countries and shows how to motivate people to do the good and right thing. The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Ethics and Morality is a collection of original essays addressing these topics-historical and contemporary, as well as philosophical and practical-by leading scholars from around the world. The first section of the volume describes the history of the Jewish tradition's moral thought, from the Bible to contemporary Jewish approaches. The second part includes chapters on specific fields in ethics, including the ethics of medicine, business, sex, speech, politics, war, and the environment.

Yintlaninge yencwadi ezibhaliweyo zapapashwa kweli ngobuKrestu buphela nezimalunga neeNkonzo eziziMeleyo. Ezinye zibhalwe ziincakuba zeengqiqi-buThixo ezinye zazo zibhalelwe uluntu. Kuzo zombini ezi nkalo akukho nenye ebhalwe ngamalungu ezi nkonzo.

UbuNgqina bobuKrestu bama-Afrika yincwadi eyahluke kakhulu ngendlela ezimbini; okokuqala ababhali bayo ngamaAfrika azinkokheli zeNkonzo eziziMeleyo-bebalisa ibali labo; bezithethela ngokwabo. Le ncwadi ibuza umbuzo wokuba kutheni le nto zivumelekile ezinye izizwe ukuba zamkele ubuKrestu zibugcine nobuzwe bazo? Kungoba kutheni lento kufuneka uguquke ube liNgesi ukuze ube ngumKrestu osulungekileyo? Bubumdaka ukuba ngumAfrika akuhlangani nokukhanya kobuKrestu!! Njani?

Amanqaku-ntengiso:

• Intembeko: Ingangubani na umnye onegunya lokusixelela eli bali ngaphandle komntu ezitye kuye esikhumbeni izagweba zengcinezelo njengomAfrika nanjengomKrestu okwayinkokheli kwezi nkonzo?
• Ikhwelo: Le ncwadi ihlaba ikhwelo kuthi sonke, abangamaKrestu nabangengawo, lokuba uKrestu akayomali ehlala ezipokothweni zababala lithile kuphela.
• Ibuza imibuzo eyoyikwayo: Omnye wale mibuzo ngothi, kungani na ukuba xa ungumAfrika kufuneka ungazihlanganisi nobumdaka nobuhedeni bobuAfrika ujike uzibize ngoKrestu? Kungabonwa ngxaki kumKrestu okwaliNgesi.

As a result of its almost total displacement from the everyday life environment death threatens to become a target for the projection of various fears. This volume takes an interdisciplinary look at this complex phenomenon, and attempts to examine its various dimensions. The presentation of the possibilities of current palliative medicine and ethical reflection upon it are shown to be of particular importance.

Drawing on her own experience as a surrogate mother, Grace Y. Kao assesses the ethics of surrogacy from a feminist and progressive Christian perspective, concluding that certain kinds of surrogacy arrangements can be morally permissible—and should even be embraced. While the use of assisted reproductive technology has brought joy to countless families, surrogacy remains the most controversial path to parenthood. My Body, Their Baby helps readers sort through objections to this way of bringing children into the world. Candidly reflecting on carrying a baby for her childless friends and informed by the reproductive justice framework developed by women of color activists, Kao highlights the importance of experience in feminist methodology and Christian ethics. She shows what surrogacy is like from the perspective of women becoming pregnant for others, parents who have opted for surrogacy (including queer couples), and the surrogate-born children themselves. Developing a constructive framework of ethical norms and principles to guide the formation of surrogacy relationships, Kao ultimately offers a vision for surrogacy that celebrates the reproductive generosity and solidarity displayed through the sharing of traditionally maternal roles.

The book gives a detailed overview of relevant traditional indigenous Sami myths, beliefs and rituals based on empirical findings. The author inquires whether and how they are related to an ecologically sustainable use of the natural environment. Her main sources are ancient missionary texts, writings by Sami and contemporary interviews with Sami individuals. The traditional value system included ecological sustainability as a survival strategy. Beliefs and rituals, transmitted via stories, incorporated these values and transmitted a feeling of a round life, despite the strict rules for right behavior and punishment for transgressions. The term round symbolized a sense of safety, interconnectedness, reliance on mutual help and respect, identification and empathy with all living beings.

A new ethics for understanding the social forces that shape moral character. It is easy to be vicious and difficult to be virtuous in today's world, especially given that many of the social structures that connect and sustain us enable exploitation and disincentivize justice. There are others, though, that encourage virtue. In his book Daniel J. Daly uses the lens of virtue and vice to reimagine from the ground up a Catholic ethics that can better scrutinize the social forces that both affect our moral character and contribute to human well-being or human suffering. Daly's approach uses both traditional and contemporary sources, drawing on the works of Thomas Aquinas as well as incorporating theories such as critical realist social theory, to illustrate the nature and function of social structures and the factors that transform them. Daly's ethics focus on the relationship between structure and agency and the different structures that enable and constrain an individual's pursuit of the virtuous life. His approach defines with unique clarity the virtuous structures that facilitate a love of God, self, neighbor, and creation, and the vicious structures that cultivate hatred, intemperance, and indifference to suffering. In doing so, Daly creates a Catholic ethical framework for responding virtuously to the problems caused by global social systems, from poverty to climate change.

Some of the deepest questions of women's hearts are about beauty: an innate desire to decorate ourselves and our surroundings, and the struggle to feel beautiful. But these desires are often in direct conflict with values and beliefs that tell us fashion (or any form of creativity) is frivolous and vain, and may actually be a sin. Jeanette Johnson, founder of popular style blog J's Everyday Fashion, shares her personal journey and the stories of other women, examining how we can best explore our quest for beauty while still honoring our faith and personal values and being responsible consumers. Jeanette delves into topics that many women grapple with: Is fashion selfish? Is it necessary? Does it dishonor our faith? With an in-depth look at issues like healthy self-esteem, modesty, and how fashion fits into the big picture, Jeanette offers practical, thoughtful insight, guiding every woman to conquer her fashion guilt and achieve "personal style with purpose."

With its unique union of theory and application and its well-organized, easy-to-use design, Moral Choices has earned its place as the standard text for college ethics courses. This fourth edition offers extensive updates, revisions, and three brand new chapters all designed to help students develop a sound and current basis for making ethical decisions in today's complex postmodern culture. Moral Choices outlines the distinctive elements of Christian ethics while avoiding undue dogmatism. The book also introduces other ethical systems and their key historical proponents, including Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant. After describing a seven-step procedure for tackling ethical dilemmas, author Scott Rae uses case studies to address some of today's most pressing social issues. He guides students in thinking critically and biblically about issues, including: Abortion Reproductive Technologies Euthanasia Capital Punishment Sexual Ethics The Morality of War Genetic Technologies and Human Cloning Ethics and Economics NEW: Creation Care NEW: Animal Rights NEW: Gun-Control NEW: Race, Gender, and Diversity NEW: Immigration, Refugees, and Border Control FEATURES Relevant Case Studies throughout Discussion questions at the end of each chapter Sidebars with case studies for discussion Recommended further reading

This book sets the scene for the deliberations on ethics and its application to healthcare in the twenty-first century. The word ethics, in classical Greek, means the "beliefs of the people" the study of what is right and good in human conduct and the justification of such claims. Without a doubt this task is not simply about setting up a list of rights and wrongs. Rather, it is a discussion, a process that helps tease out the real issues and find and teach ethical solutions to complex practical problems. The centrality of the patient is of prime consideration in this book, and the health of the individual patient is the first consideration in the teaching considerations discussed. Applied ethics in healthcare may have lost sight of what traditional ethics was trying to accomplish: a good life for good people over a lifetime in society with others. We must put biomedical ethics into perspective and develop a truly comprehensive approach to health care ethics. On the practical level, we need structures integrating givers ethical perspectives. But, there seems to be a gap and significant perception differences among healthcare providers' learning environments and actual professional situations. Hence, teaching ethics and healthcare providers values is important to bridge this gap.

Welsh Language Edition. An essential companion to help students master one of the most important areas of their Religious Studies course in Ethics: knowing the key thinkers. - Provides an overview of each thinker's life and their ideas, with key dates, social context and why they are important. - Helps students understand the thinkers' main arguments and how they justified their approach to ethics, allowing students to evaluate the theories them for themselves. - Exam guidance section in each chapter provides a focus for revision and includes advice on how different types of questions could be tackled. - Encourages students to explore each area of scholarly knowledge required by the specification, from grasping key ideas to knowing how to best criticise a thinker's approach. - Puts ideas and theories into contemporary contexts to help students build their evaluation skills. - Timeline displaying an overview of the key dates for each thinker in relation to world events. - Key thinkers covered include Thomas Aquinas, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes and Jeremy Bentham.

Using ethnographic research, The Work of Inclusion brings the standpoints of people with intellectual disabilities to the forefront of the theological conversation around disability, inclusion, grace, and sin. In a world shaped by interdependency, developing a theological attunement to intellectual disability helps us to understand that human agency is both enabled by and limited by dependency relationships. Only by recognizing the kinds of complex layers of agency seen in this ethnographic study can Christian ethics more broadly address the place of hope, grace, and resistance against structures of sin and injustice.

This book defends the fundamental place of the marital family in modern liberal societies. While applauding modern sexual freedoms, John Witte, Jr also defends the traditional Western teaching that the marital family is an essential cradle of conscience, chrysalis of care, and cornerstone of ordered liberty. He thus urges churches, states, and other social institutions to protect and promote the marital family. He encourages reticent churches to embrace the rights of women and children, as Christians have long taught, and encourages modern states to promote responsible sexual freedom and family relations, as liberals have long said. He counsels modern churches and states to share in family law governance, and to resist recent efforts to privatize, abolish, or radically expand the marital family sphere. Witte also invites fellow citizens to end their bitter battles over same-sex marriage and tend to the vast family field that urgently needs concerted attention and action.

This book sets the scene for the deliberations on ethics and its application to healthcare in the twenty-first century. The word ethics, in classical Greek, means the "beliefs of the people" the study of what is right and good in human conduct and the justification of such claims. Without a doubt this task is not simply about setting up a list of rights and wrongs. Rather, it is a discussion, a process that helps tease out the real issues and find and teach ethical solutions to complex practical problems. The centrality of the patient is of prime consideration in this book, and the health of the individual patient is the first consideration in the teaching considerations discussed. Applied ethics in healthcare may have lost sight of what traditional ethics was trying to accomplish: a good life for good people over a lifetime in society with others. We must put biomedical ethics into perspective and develop a truly comprehensive approach to health care ethics. On the practical level, we need structures integrating givers ethical perspectives. But, there seems to be a gap and significant perception differences among healthcare providers' learning environments and actual professional situations. Hence, teaching ethics and healthcare providers values is important to bridge this gap.

Religion is one of the most powerful forces running through human history, and although often presented as a force for good, its impact is frequently violent and divisive. This provocative work brings together cutting-edge research from both evolutionary and cognitive psychology to help readers understand the psychological structure of religious morality and the origins of religious violence. Introduces a fundamentally new approach to the analysis of religion in a style accessible to the general reader Applies insights from evolutionary and cognitive psychology to both Judaism and Christianity, and their texts, to help understand the origins of religious violence Argues that religious violence is grounded in the moral psychology of religion Illustrates its controversial argument with reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the response to the attacks from both the terrorists and the President. Suggests strategies for beginning to counter the divisive aspects of religionDiscusses the role of religion and religious criticism in the contemporary world. Argues for a position sceptical of the moral authority of religion, while also critiquing the excesses of the "new atheists" for failing to appreciate the moral contributions of religionAwarded Honourable Mention, 2010 Prose Awards

Compassion in Healthcare gives an account of the nature and content of compassion and its role in healthcare. While compassion appears to be a straightforward aspect of life and practice, Hordern's analysis shows that it is plagued by both conceptual and practical ills, and stands in need of some quite specific kinds of therapy. Starting from a diagnosis of what precisely is wrong with 'compassion'-its debilitating political entanglements, the vagueness of its meaning, and the risk of burnout it threatens-three therapies are prescribed for these ills: an understanding of patients and healthcare workers as those who pass through the life-course, encountering each other as wayfarers and pilgrims; a grasp of the nature of compassion in healthcare; and an embedding of healthcare within the realities of civic life. Applying these therapeutic strategies uncovers how compassionate relationships acquire their content in healthcare practice. The form that compassion takes is shown to depend on how doctrines of time, tragedy, salvation, responsibility, fault, and theodicy make a difference to the quality of people's lives and relationships. Drawing on the author's real-world collaborations, the way in which compassion matters to practice and policy is worked out in the detail of healthcare professionalism, marketization, and technology. Covering everything from conception to old age, and from machine learning to religious diversity, Compassion in Healthcare draws on philosophy, theology, and everyday experience to expand our understanding of what compassion means for healthcare practice.