Altruism and Christian Ethics

ISBN-13: 9780521791441 / Angielski / Twarda / 2000 / 288 str.

Colin Grant (University of New Brunswick)

Opis

Separated from its anchorage in religion, ethics has followed the social sciences in seeing human beings as fundamentally characterized by self-interest, so that altruism is either naively idealistic or arrogantly self-sufficient. Colin Grant contends that, as a modern secular concept, altruism is a parody on the self-giving love of Christianity, so that its dismissal represents a social leveling that loses the depths that theology makes intelligible and religion makes possible. He argues that to dispense with altruism is to dispense with God and with the divine transformation of human possibilities.

Recenzje

"It provides a useful introduction to features of and debates surrounding altruism and makes clear the role Christian ethics can play in defending and promoting it." Religious Studies Review

Spis treści

Part I. Alien Altruism: 1. Explanations for altruism; 2. Evidence of altruism; 3. The elusiveness of altruism; Part II. Ideal Altruism: 4. Contract altruism; 5. Constructed altruism; 6. Collegial altruism; Part III. Real Altruism: 7. Acute altruism: agape; 8. Absolute altruism; 9. Actual altruism.