古斯塔夫森的伦理思想述评

詹姆斯·穆迪·古斯塔夫森(James Moody Gustafson,1925～ )被誉为20世纪美国最重要、最有影响的基督教伦理思想家之一.[1]1955年在耶鲁大学获哲学博士学位后,他先后在耶鲁大学、芝加哥大学和爱默里(Emory)大学从事神学伦理教学与研究,长达42年.退休之后,古斯塔夫森继续活跃在基督教伦理思想领域,从事伦理学研究与写作.作为伦理学家和神学家,他从一开始就关注现实社会中的伦理问题,从科学、神学、伦理学、哲学等学科交叉渗透的角度,致力于道德原理、公共选择与公共行为,以及具体领域的伦理思想研究,坚持从上帝中心的视角(theocentrism)对神学伦理传统和人类中心主义进行反思与批判.     

试比较基督教伦理道德与社会伦理道德区别、联系

引言 所有伦理道德都是调节人与人之间关系的行为准则,有相同的功能,所以具有普遍性。"如果没有普遍性的道德或规则,就不能称作伦理"。基督教伦理道德和社会主义伦理道德尽管差异颇多,但却有一些无法割断的必然联系,正如汉斯·昆提到的:"全球伦理离不开宗教,而与基督教有特殊联系。"如果说社会伦理对社会能够起到非常大的积极作用的话,那么,基督教伦理在不同历史处境中对社会所起的积极作用也不能被忽视,不能被抹煞,应该给予充分地     

西方道德解脱理论述评

道德解脱机制是一系列使道德自我调整过程无效的认知机制,对这个机制的研究有利于解释为什么个体经常在做非伦理决策时没有明显的负罪感或自责心理。基于对道德解脱相关文献的梳理,本文分类总结了道德解脱的具体作用机制,从伦理决策过程角度分析道德解脱机制对个体和组织伦理决策的影响,并立足中国的特殊情境对道德解脱理论的应用进行了展望,强调组织领域的道德解脱研究将有利于中国转型社会背景下的组织伦理建设。     

试论《圣经·创世记》的伦理思想

基督教的上帝创世思想、契约思想和原罪思想对西方基督教伦理有深刻的影响,进而对西方文化也产生了影响,将他们的伦理观念与中国相应的伦理观念及其对文化的影响进行比较研究,对于明确我们民族文化发展的方向具有极其重要的意义。     

论制度设计伦理

在社会生活的公共化和制度化程度不断提高的现代社会里,制度的道德合理性受到了人们的普遍关注,制度设计伦理凸显出来.制度设计伦理包括实质伦理和程序伦理,其中程序伦理包括制定制度中的程序伦理与实现制度中的程序伦理两个方面.它是范导社会生活的新道德体系,必定会对完善道德文化提出新的要求.     

“执子之手,与子偕老”——试论赵紫宸先生中国化的婚姻伦理观

本文主要通过赵紫宸的人生经历与他的相关神学作品来阐述他的婚姻伦理观,主要从真爱婚姻、两性契合、有节有义和伦理责任四个方面来分析基督教与中国传统文化如何共构了赵先生的婚姻伦理观念。一方面赵紫宸从上帝的创造、基督道成肉身彰显真爱来凸显婚姻的圣礼性内涵,另一方面结合中国传统婚姻哲学,指出在赵先生的思想里"参配阴阳"的"夫妇之道"何以"通达神明"。重视婚姻道德、促进人格发展,助力社会和谐,赵先生婚姻伦理观不仅能给今日的基督徒带来道德激励,更能在一个婚姻危机的时代发出基督教婚姻伦理的声音,为社会的稳定和伦理的重建做出自己的贡献。     

在基督明镜里细察中国——读《丁光训文集》

于汉语语境中阅读具有中国原创意义上的基督教著作,在我看来非《丁光训文集》莫属,因为《文集》凝聚了丁主教半个世纪以来对中国人信奉基督教的独特处境和信仰生活变迁轨迹的神学思考,尤其是对近二十年来处在社会转型特殊阶段的中国基督教如何构建自己的神学体系,并尽快改变中国基督教神学的人文学研究在社会知识结构中的萎     

在婚姻关系中荣耀神

在现实生活中,因婚姻产生的社会问题不是单靠法律可以解决的。对此,基督教所倡导的婚姻观,正好可以从道德伦理方面给予一定的补足。本文旨在从基督教伦理的角度来探讨婚姻关系,使得基督教在促进社会和谐方面起到积极作用。     

试论基督教的神圣原则

基督教伦理是奠立在宗教信仰基础上的伦理形态,道德的存在以神圣的信仰为来源为归宿,自身不构成自足的根据,以神圣性的精神理念为起点和终点,形成了基督教伦理的基本观念和基本原则,并由此引申出一套伦理行为规范,对人的生活中的价值选择和行为模式进行道德建构和道德评判。所以,基督教伦理的实质是将今世的相对性奠立在来世的绝对性之上,用神圣的视野观照世俗的道德,用超越的信念支撑经验的伦理。     

浅论基督教伦理的社会关切

本文以当下社会转型中存在的诚信缺失,伦理道德失范,人际关系物化,以及人对精神世界的淡漠为观察角度,尝试从《圣经》文本、信仰和处境三个层面思考基督教伦理的内涵,并反思其作为维系人类"共在"与"秩序"的伦理之一,如何在当下社会发挥苏醒人心和灵性省思作用,且参与建立一个具尊严、包容、秩序、和谐的社会,彰显基督教伦理在当下社会中的存在价值,见证基督教对现世与终极的关切。     

从传统伦理向现代伦理的转型和跨越——孙中山伦理思想研究

孙中山以自由、平等、博爱等人道主义现代伦理理念为指导 ,从道德本体、道德规范的内容、人格模式、道德价值定位等视角将传统伦理转化为现代伦理 ,实现了传统伦理向现代伦理的跨越。孙中山伦理思想在中国近现代伦理思想史上具有重要的历史地位。     

GENRE AND PERSUASION IN RELIGIOUS ETHICS An Introduction

Issues of genre and persuasion are central to ethical thought and practice. Until recently, there has been an asymmetry between religious ethics and moral philosophy in regard to these issues. Renewed attention to these issues in moral philosophy creates a new context for their consideration in religious ethics—one in which the relation of religious ethics and moral philosophy is less determinate than it has been in previous discussions. The four essays that comprise this Focus Section reflect this new context while also making new contributions to perennial concerns of genre in ethical thought and practice.     

Søren Kierkegaard and the Impossibility of (Un)Forgiveness

Discussions of forgiveness within Christian theology have tended to focus on the conditions in which forgiveness may be a moral or divine imperative for believers. With regard to Søren Kierkegaard’s theological ethics, this article explicates a radical perspective. For the Kierkegaardian Christian lover, no definitive relational break with the other (however objectionable) can occur. As Kierkegaard emphasizes in Works of Love, in a discourse which bears this sentiment as its title, “love abides.” Indeed, I illustrate how in three consecutive discourses in Works of Love—“VI: Love Abideth,” “VII: Mercy, a Work of Love,” and “VIII: The Victory of the Reconciliation in Love”—Kierkegaard’s ethical vision is grounded in Christian love’s immutability. For Kierkegaard, if Christian love is present, then forgiveness is redundant, and unforgiveness is impossible.     

THE EVOLUTIONARY BASIS OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS

Abstract. I propose that religious ethical traditions can be understood as cultural expressions of underlying evolutionary processes. I begin with a discussion of evolutionary theories of morality, specifically kin selection and reciprocal altruism, and then discuss some recent work on the evolution of religion, setting out those features of religion that prepare it to take on a moral function in society. Having established the theoretical framework for the thesis, I turn to a close reading of early Jewish and Christian ethical teachings, as found in the Bible, in order to set out preliminary support for the proposal. My goal is to argue for the plausibility of the thesis and to indicate how, if correct, it provides new insight into Judeo‐Christian moral traditions and into the phenomenon of religious violence. Such an approach to religious ethics has important metaethical implications. In the last section I consider issues such as the foundation of ethics and the possibilities and limitations of a secular ethics.     

The Values of Confucian Benevolence and the Universality of the Confucian Way of Extending Love

The spirit of Confucianism, which holds benevolence as its core value, has positive significance in the dialogue between civilizations and in the construction of global ethics. The values represented in Confucian benevolence are similar to the values in Christian Charity. Confucian values such as the doctrine of magnanimity, the idea of putting oneself in the place of another, and the Confucian way of extending love and favors, are crucial resources to hold in close connection with the relationship between human beings and nature, individuals and society, self and others, and one and oneself. The Confucian idea of “differentiated love” is a concrete and practical idea, which can be extended to be “universal love.” Furthermore, the Confucian way of extending love can also be interpreted as eco-ethical: On the one hand, Confucianism affirms the intrinsic value of the universe and calls for a universal moral concern for the ecological world; on the other hand, it recognizes a distinction between human beings and the nature, revealing an eco-ethical awareness of distinction and a consciousness of the differentiation between different ethical spheres. In extracting the instrumental value of ecological resources, Confucians never disregard the intrinsic value of animals and plants. Confucianism puts emphasis on subjectivity, especially the subjectivity of morality. Relationships between man and himself, between self and others, however, are inter-subjective. For Confucians, the universe exists and grows in the process of perfecting oneself, others, and the world. Such an understanding is of modern significance for the exchange and dialogue between civilizations, and the growth of personality and the mental regulation of gentleman today.     

Religion and development ethics in global perspective: a case study of a foreign Christian NGO in China

ABSTRACT

Much academic writing on religion and development tends to focus on the values, beliefs, and modes of operation of religious organizations to examine whether religion contributes ethically to development. A problem with such an approach is its disregard of the contested and evolving nature of religious participation in development in broader national and global contexts. What constitutes ethical religious contribution to development? How can we study the question sociologically? To answer these two questions, I develop Roland Robertson’s notion of the global field to present a framework for analyzing the dynamic interaction between religion and development ethics. In terms of methodological contribution, the framework proposed here prompts us dynamically to contextualize the issue of religious development ethics with reference to four components that make up the global field: the religious agent, the national society, the global civil society, and the global discourse on wellbeing and development. This means that, from an analytical perspective, what is proper or ethical in religious development ethics should not be construed in absolute terms, but in terms of degree and variation. I demonstrate the usefulness of such a contextual approach by drawing on research on ‘GMV’ (pseudonym for an international Christian medical professional services group actively engaged in community development) in China and examining the relationship between religious NGOs, the party-state, and evolving discursive practice of development in the country.     

Ethical and institutional frameworks for interactional justice in public organizations: a comparative analysis of selected Western and Chinese sources

This paper explores both differences and points of contact between selected contemporary theories of public ethics in the West and China. China is in a greater state of flux in this connection, with new, eclectic approaches to ethical justification for moral agency gaining prominence. There are thematic parallels between East and West in their distinct strains of institutionalism (in which neither individual moral agency nor the justice claims of individuals have much play). However, there are recent Chinese theoretical proposals – many incorporating Western sources – that address this quandary, namely the institutional overdetermination of moral agency. These proposals are joined to contributions from feminist and liberation ethics in a critical reconsideration of overridingness in formal ethics. Contemporary Chinese ethics connect moral claims to kin, community, and reciprocity networks, particularly as traditional philosophy is recovered in new theoretical syntheses. The grounding of Confucian ethics in kin and community offers an instructive contrast to formal Western ethical systems, as do radical strains of Western ethics that suggest that transcendence is found in the self's extension toward others in need. This paper considers these ethical themes in connection with hypothetical instances of interactional justice in organizations.     

Reconsidering theological exchange between China and the West

ABSTRACT

By reviewing the Chinese theological publications in the twentieth century, especially during the 1920s–1930s and after the 1980s, this article aims to show that it is not a zero-sum game between the translation of western theological works into Chinese and the publication of original Chinese theological works. The selection of the western works for translation exhibited a certain creativity from the Chinese side, and in turn, the translated works also inspired original Chinese theological works. In the twenty-first century, the Chinese studies of Christianity developed rapidly. Many Chinese Christian theologians published pro-actively in western languages. Due to the recognition of the importance of Christianity in contemporary China and the awareness of the global context for Christian theology, there was a growing interest among western theologians in non-western Christian theology, including Chinese Christian theology. The exchange and collaboration between Chinese and western theologians were particularly prominent on global and public issues.     

Decisions at the end of life: Catholic tradition.

Medical decisions regarding end-of-life care have undergone significant changes in recent decades, driven by changes in both medicine and society. Catholic tradition in medical ethics offers clear guidance in many issues, and a moral framework accessible to those who do not share the same faith as well as to members of its faith community. In some areas, a Catholic perspective can be seen clearly and confidently, such as in teachings on the permissibility of suicide and euthanasia. In others, such as withdrawal of nutrition and hydration, the Church does not yet speak with one voice and has not closed out the discussion. Yet, it is not in the teaching on individual issues that a Catholic moral tradition offers the most help and comfort, but in its account of what it means to lead a life in Christ, and to prepare for a Christian death. As in the problem of pain and suffering, it is the spiritual support more than the ethical guidance that helps both patients and physicians bear the unbearable and fathom the unfathomable.     

儒家“消极伦理”不适用于全球化的世界吗?

父子互隐的言论表明,孔子主张伦理的有限性或"消极伦理"。这种"消极伦理"否定特定情况下的伦理原则,给予诸如基于亲情和友情的行为以优先权。从古希腊悲剧《安提戈涅》看,作为伦理学两种最重要替代品的"爱"与"法律"是两种"非道德"(amoral)状态。在谈论儿子对待偷羊的父亲的态度时,孔子的道德不是道德主义意义上的道德,而正是这种非道德。在儒家看来,所有美德都根植于孝弟之类的非道德因素,即根植于一种情感。儒家"有限的"或"消极的伦理"不仅适用于中国,而且具有普世性。