|
Showing 1 - 16 of
16 matches in All Departments
Are human beings naturally violent? Is war the fate of the human
race? Despite the depressing record of the past, the world's future
depends upon avoiding war and drastically reducing violence. Living
Nonviolently: Language for Resisting Violence examines carefully
the language of violence and war. One of the first casualties of
violence is language, which in turn makes resistance to violence
difficult to articulate. In the first four chapters, Gabriel Moran
proposes distinctions for the interconnected ideas of force, power,
aggressiveness, violence, and war not to invent a new and logical
language but to ground the meaning of these terms in our human
experience. That revitalization of ordinary language depends upon
an inclusive language of men and women, adults and children, human
and nonhuman animals. The fifth chapter locates the potential for
both encouraging violence and resisting violence in the peculiar
logic of religion. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is commonly invoked
by people who say that nonviolence may be an admirable ideal for a
few people but it is irrelevant for most people and for all
nations; in this chapter, Moran examines the widely misunderstood
sermon in detail to illustrate its potential for resisting
violence. For a conclusion, he discusses practical means of
education that are helpful to reaching some understanding of
violence and resistance to violence. Living Nonviolently is written
for scholars in peace studies, political philosophy, or religious
studies and for anyone who wishes to understand the roots of
violence and war."
Speaking of Teaching: Lessons from History focuses on teaching as a
fundamental act of all human beings, viewing the question of
teaching through the lens of five famous thinkers and two
contemporary problems. Moran argues that teaching is not given the
attention that it deserves and proposes to situate school teaching
in the context of many forms of teaching. Tracing the history of
the idea of teaching from Socrates to Wittgenstein in the first
several chapters, this book also examines the intricacies of
teaching morality and religion, showcasing society's ambivalence
about teaching.
Speaking of Teaching: Lessons from History focuses on teaching as a
fundamental act of all human beings, viewing the question of
teaching through the lens of five famous thinkers and two
contemporary problems. Moran argues that teaching is not given the
attention that it deserves and proposes to situate school teaching
in the context of many forms of teaching. Tracing the history of
the idea of teaching from Socrates to Wittgenstein in the first
several chapters, this book also examines the intricacies of
teaching morality and religion, showcasing society's ambivalence
about teaching.
Everyone knows that the death rate on earth is 100 percent. If one
were to concentrate obsessively on that fact, it could become an
obstacle to living. But fleeing from all talk about death can also
be unhealthy. Death is omnipresent in today's media. But the
portrayal of death in the movies, television and video games can be
a way of distancing oneself from the reality of one's own death.
This book provides language for personally grappling with issues
that eventually concern every individual. The author brings an
historical perspective to practices that have undergone a change in
public perception. Euthanasia and suicide were until recently
judged to be sickness or sin. These practices are now sometimes
thought to be acceptable but language is needed for a better
discussion of them. The book is particularly concerned with
education, not just courses in school but the teachable moments in
the lives of both children and adults. A child's encounter with the
death of a family member or even the death of a pet are important
moments for integrating into one's life a healthy attitude to
death. The idea that there are stages of dying was made popular by
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. This book critically examines what truth
there may be to the idea and its practical relevance. In a sense,
everyone is dying from the moment of birth. A diagosis that one has
a few weeks or months to live simply makes one aware of the
process. Dr. Johnson's famous comment that "getting hanged in a
fortnight wonderfully concerntrates the mind" applies more broadly
to every reminder of one's mortality. Every adult eventually has
the experience of mourning a loved one. In most societies there is
a careful ritual for mourning. This book discusses the absence of
support for mourning in many people's lives. In recent years public
tragedies bring forth makeshift memorials. That can be a help but
it is not a substitute for expressions of personal grief which are
best helped by the support of a few friends and family members. The
last two chapters of this book concern the place of religion in
relation to dying. Death functions as a helpful point of reference
for an ecumenical conversation among the major religions. The
beliefs of Christianity are examined to help Christians find
support in their religion when they are dying. The many
philosophical issues discussed in this book are dramatized in the
two memoirs that begin the book. Memoir is a strange literary genre
which assumes a reader's interest in the private details of an
individual's life. The popular appeal of memoirs confirms the
meaning of "human uniqueness" that the author has frequently
written about. A person's uniqueness is not based on having nothing
in common with others; instead, human uniqueness is based on
openness to all others. Sherwin Nuland begins his great book, "How
We Die," by saying that "the uniqueness of each of us extends even
to the way we die." Yet he can write a helpful book on his
experiences with the dying because a person's unique death can
teach every other unique person about how to die. The first memoir
in "Talking About Dying" describes in detail the author's caring
for his wife as she suffered from dementia during the last four
years of her life. There are millions of people confronted with
this problem; they often feel alone. The reader might learn from
the author's attempt to cope with dementia, including mistakes that
he made. The second memoir is a reflection by the author on his own
experience of dealing with colon cancer. Dying takes on a vivid
reality when one comes up against a disease that can soon end one's
life. Whatever one had previously thought about dying is suddenly
challenged when the death is one's own. In both memoirs the author
recounts the kindnesses of friends and the skill and dedication of
medical professionals. Ultimately we die alone but the support of
others is invaluable in every moment up to the very la
|
Uniqueness (Paperback)
Gabriel Moran
|
R618
R512
Discovery Miles 5 120
Save R106 (17%)
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
Well-known religious educators Maria Harris and Gabriel Moran
challenge the religious education community to risk change.
Focusing on themes of foundations, development, spirituality, and a
wider world, Harris and Moran discuss issues such as gender, death
and dying, and both interreligious and international dialogue.
This book is thoroughly original work on the meaning of teaching by
one who has been widely credited with reshaping the field of
religious education in the United States, and to have had a
significant effect also in many other countries. Despite a steady
flow of books that have "teaching" in the title, nearly all of them
leave out most of the story. In Showing How, Gabriel Moran presents
the full story of the act of teaching. Part 1 establishes a
fundamental meaning for "to teach," examining why there exists a
deep-seated fear that teaching is an immoral act. Professor Moran
then grounds the meaning of "to teach in its most basic forms,
moving from examples in the nonhuman world (what the mountain
teaches the mountain climber) to communal and nonverbal forms of
teaching among humans. Part 2 explores the languages of teaching
and the diverse forms of speech appropriate to teaching; rhetorical
forms, including storytelling and preaching; therapeutic languages;
and religion'' preservation of these languages in ritualized
settings, including confessing and mourning. Part 3 draws out the
implications for education, the school, and the teaching of
morality. Showing How addresses not only schoolteachers but
parents, counselors, ministers, administrators, and everyone who
can recognize teaching as a fundamental human act. By exposing the
root meaning of teaching, the book represents a challenge to any
proposals for educational reform. Gabriel Moran is Professor and
Director of Religious Education in the Department of Culture and
Communication, New York University. He is the author of sixteen
books, including Uniqueness: Problem or Paradox in Jewish and
Christian Traditions and A Grammar of Responsibility.
|
You may like...
Morgan
Kate Mara, Jennifer Jason Leigh, …
Blu-ray disc
(1)
R67
Discovery Miles 670
|