Life Together:Theology,Ethics,and the Christian Community

Introduction I thank the leaders of the Seminary for inviting me to give a talk today. Also, I express my thanks to you students and staff for being here. I am grateful to Prof. Lin Manhong for translating for me. I regret that my Chinese is not good eno…     

From Environmental to Ecological Ethics: Toward a Practical Ethics for Ecologists and Conservationists

Ecological research and conservation practice frequently raise difficult and varied ethical questions for scientific investigators and managers, including duties to public welfare, nonhuman individuals (i.e., animals and plants), populations, and ecosystems. The field of environmental ethics has contributed much to the understanding of general duties and values to nature, but it has not developed the resources to address the diverse and often unique practical concerns of ecological researchers and managers in the field, lab, and conservation facility. The emerging field of “ecological ethics” is a practical or scientific ethics that offers a superior approach to the ethical dilemmas of the ecologist and conservation manager. Even though ecological ethics necessarily draws from the principles and commitments of mainstream environmental ethics, it is normatively pluralistic, including as well the frameworks of animal, research, and professional ethics. It is also methodologically pragmatic, focused on the practical problems of researchers and managers and informed by these problems in turn. The ecological ethics model offers environmental scientists and practitioners a useful analytical tool for identifying, clarifying, and harmonizing values and positions in challenging ecological research and management situations. Just as bioethics provides a critical intellectual and problem-solving service to the biomedical community, ecological ethics can help inform and improve ethical decision making in the ecology and conservation communities.

Unity and Distinction: The Nature of God in the Theology of Lucas Trelcatius,Jr

Abstract

The theology of Lucas Trelcatius, Jr belongs to both the broader trajectory of developing Reformed, academic formulation in the era of early orthodoxy and the carefully defined program of the Leiden University. Its way of arguing the ‘locus' on God provides an index to the nature and character of these formulations and, specifically, to issues of sources and method as well as to the still-debated questions of degree of metaphysical interest and the status of the doctrine of the Trinity. The present essay finds claims of excessive metaphysical ‘speculation’ and of de-emphasis on the doctrine of the Trinity unfounded.     

Judaism and Theology In Martha Nussbaum's Ethics

The writings of Martha Nussbaum broadly defend an account of transcendence as internal, always rooted in the human context. Her account implies that any and all projects of normative theological ethics are superfluous, since they transcend the natural bounds of human experience and reason. This essay points toward a space for theology, specifically Jewish theology, in Nussbaum's work, through an analysis of her recent philosophical and autobiographical writings on Judaism. Nussbaum's account in Upheavals of Thought associates Judaism with carnality and vulnerability; this essay supplements her account by pointing to a non-natural origin of emotional judgments in some of the texts Nussbaum treats. This move serves to temper the emphasis on autonomy in liberal Jewish thought, and provides an account of transcendence which can serve as the basis of a more traditional Jewish theological ethics.     

Religion in the Context of Culture, Theology, and Global Ethics

The theme of this symposium is distinctive and challenging, because it incorporates the dimensions of interreligious reflection, theology, science, and ethics. This article presents a palette of issues that are both challenge and resource for approaching the theme. Three sets of issues are considered: (1) the role of religion in culture, (2) theological interpretation of nature, disease, and evil, and (3) the fashioning of a global ethic.     

Hope,Self-Transcendence and Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethicists often hold that organisms, species, ecosystems, and the like have goods of their own. But, even given that such goods exist, whether we ought to value them is controversial. Hence an environmental philosophy needs, in addition to an account of what sorts of values there are, an explanation what, how and why we morally ought to value—that is, an account of moral valuing. This paper presents one such an account. Specifically, I aim to show that unless there are eternal goods (and maybe even if there are), we have a duty of self-transcendence toward nature—that is, a duty to value nature's goods as ends. This duty is owed, however, not to nature, but to ourselves. It is grounded in what I call an imperative of hope. The argument, in a nutshell, is that we have a duty to ourselves to (in a certain sense) optimize hope. This optimization requires self-transcendence toward entities whose goods are more diverse and enduring than any human goods. But unless there are eternal goods, such goods occur only in nature.     

Ecological Theology: Roots in Tradition, Liturgical and Ethical Practice for Today

Often it is claimed that themes occasionally present in Christianity such as anthropocentrism, ecological alienation, and redemption as a world‐escaping disembodied immortality, translated directly into large‐scale abuse of nature and subsequent ecological crisis. Such a view is too simplistic, however. Instead the present environmental and ecological crisis may be primarily traced to cultural, economic, and technological developments of the last 500 years. Indeed, within Christian monasticism, ecofeminism, covenantal ethics, and cosmic christology, one finds ample resources for the transformation of human attitudes towards nature and a brighter ecological future.     

Characteristics of Environmental Ethics: Environmental Activits' Accounts

This article describes a qualitative investigation of environmental ethics as construed by environmental activists. Twenty-nine participants responded in writing to open-ended questions on their definitions of an environmental ethic, how they expressed and experienced this moral orientation in their lives, and what sustained it. Four major themes emerged. First, ethical consideration of the natural environment pervaded morality, values, and private and public life. Second, emotional or spiritual experiences, or personal fulfillment, were important for many. Third, there was disagreement on the relationships among environmental principles, intentions, and behaviors, as well as the necessity of prescribing specific behaviors. Finally, there were diverse views on the role of humanitarian concerns in an environmental ethic. These themes are discussed in terms of parallels to religious experience, motivations for an environmental ethic, and implications for nonenvironmental realms of ethics and justice.     

The Refusal of Work in Christian Ethics and Theology

Reviewing major accounts in Christian ethics and theology concerning work reveals a set of assumptions that together form the field's current “common sense” regarding this central human activity: work is part of what it fundamentally means to be a human; there is an aspect of work that is intrinsically good, because it reflects God's work; and work that is degrading can be transformed into this intrinsic good. An emerging body of social thought, however, interrogates work from an anti‐work perspective, rejecting capitalism's demand that people be integrated as fully as possible into the profit‐generating modern‐day work structure. After exploring core tenets of the anti‐work perspective, this essay reconsiders the assumptions often made about work in Christian ethics and theology and delineates some contours of anti‐work Christian normative interpretations of work.     

Theology in Ecological Perspective: An Interdisciplinary,Inquiry‐Based Experiment

Abstract. As the result of an extensive self‐study for the purpose of reaccreditation, the Department of Theology at The University of Portland began offering a new series of courses called Theological Perspective Courses (THEP). THEP courses are upper division and offered by theology faculty in conjunction with another department that has required core courses in the College of Arts and Sciences. They are intended to be interdisciplinary, with two faculty members from different disciplines collaborating on new course design and implementation. THEP 482, Theology in Ecological Perspective, was one of the first two THEP courses taught. This article describes and reflects on the nature of this religion and science course in terms of subject matter, learning theory, and development of community. Several additional appendices to this article appear online at: http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/journal/article2.aspx?id=12397     

Redefining Ecological Ethics: Science,Policy, and Philosophy at Cape Horn

In the twentieth century, philosophy (especially within the United States) embraced the notion of disciplinary expertise: philosophical research consists of working with and writing for other philosophers. Projects that involve non-philosophers earn the deprecating title of "applied" philosophy. The University of North Texas (UNT) doctoral program in philosophy exemplifies the possibility of a new model for philosophy, where graduate students are trained in academic philosophy and in how to work with scientists, engineers, and policy makers. This "field" (rather than "applied") approach emphasizes the inter- and transdisciplinary nature of the philosophical enterprise where theory and practice dialectically inform one another. UNT's field station in philosophy at Cape Horn, Patagonia, Chile is one site for developing this ongoing experiment in the theory and practice of interdisciplinary philosophic research and education.     

Prison Theology: A Theology of Liberation,Hope and Justice

Abstract : In our nation today, the number of prisons and prisoners continue to grow at rates that are out‐of‐control. One in 100 of our citizens is in jail or prison, the highest ratio in the world. Unlike the poor, homeless, critically ill, and elderly, those in prison are separated from us to the degree they are unseen. Unseen also, is the oppressiveness of the criminal justice system that oversees more than 6.5 million people either in confinement or on probation or parole. Liberation theology, which advocates and works toward freeing people from oppression, includes feminist, black, womanist and Latino/Hispanic movements. This article proposes prison theology as part of the liberation theology family and identifies a prison theology based on liberation, hope and justice. It encourages a prison theology movement led by the church to liberate those under the oppressiveness of the criminal justice system, especially those confined and to energize a passion for justice and compassion for the oppressed throughout the criminal justice system.     

Agrarian Philosophy and Ecological Ethics

Mainstream environmental ethics grew out of an approach to value that was rooted in a particular conception of rationality and rational choice. As weaknesses in this approach have become more evident, environmental philosophers have experimented with both virtue ethics and with pragmatism as alternative starting points for developing a more truly ecological orientation to environmental philosophy. However, it is possible to see both virtue ethics and pragmatism as emerging from older philosophical traditions that are here characterized as “agrarian.” Agrarian philosophy stresses the role of nature, soil and climate in the formation of moral character as well as social and political institutions. As such, reaching back to the agrarian tradition may provide a way to move forward with both virtue oriented themes as well as pragmatist themes in developing ecological ethics.     

深层生态学与生态伦理学

本文介绍了西方新兴学科深层生态学的学科内涵、发展概况 ,论述了深层生态学与生态伦理学的关系。认为深层生态学更侧重对自然、人在自然中的位置、生态系统等进行深层的哲学追问 ,因而可以说深层生态学就是生态哲学。生态伦理学则着重研究人与自然的道德关系 ,制订自然道德原则 ,为评判人们利用自然、改造自然的目标与实践活动提供价值标准。