T.L.S. Sprigge
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199283040
- eISBN:
- 9780191603662
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199283044.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter examines the philosophy of T. H. Green, the initial leading figure among the absolute idealists who dominated British philosophy in the late 19th century. Green sought to establish that ...
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This chapter examines the philosophy of T. H. Green, the initial leading figure among the absolute idealists who dominated British philosophy in the late 19th century. Green sought to establish that the existence and nature of human beings, especially of the human mind, was not susceptible of a purely empirical or scientific explanation. He claimed that the only possible explanation involved reference to the existence of an Eternal Consciousness, which was gradually realizing itself in the temporal world, more especially in the life of human beings. Further issues in his philosophy are examined, such as that things count as real only if they are in unchanging relations to each other, the difference between negative and positive freedom, the nature of moral choice, the superiority of a virtue ethic to a utilitarian one.Less
This chapter examines the philosophy of T. H. Green, the initial leading figure among the absolute idealists who dominated British philosophy in the late 19th century. Green sought to establish that the existence and nature of human beings, especially of the human mind, was not susceptible of a purely empirical or scientific explanation. He claimed that the only possible explanation involved reference to the existence of an Eternal Consciousness, which was gradually realizing itself in the temporal world, more especially in the life of human beings. Further issues in his philosophy are examined, such as that things count as real only if they are in unchanging relations to each other, the difference between negative and positive freedom, the nature of moral choice, the superiority of a virtue ethic to a utilitarian one.
Leif Lewin
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198277255
- eISBN:
- 9780191599774
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198277253.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The final chapter of the book draws conclusions and implications from the evidence presented in previous chapters that public interest seems to be of greater importance in democratic politics than ...
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The final chapter of the book draws conclusions and implications from the evidence presented in previous chapters that public interest seems to be of greater importance in democratic politics than self‐interest. Analysing collective rationality, the public‐choice theory maintains the notion that realization of collective choice often brings about ‘unfortunate and unintended consequences’, thus suggesting that more self‐regulatory, privately owned free‐market economy can solve many problems, providing individuals better opportunities to reach their goals. As an alternative, drawing on such classics of political philosophy as Rousseau, Kant, and Hume, as well as on insights of iterative games of ‘Prisoner Dilemma’, Leif Lewin describes concepts of welfare state, social contract, and common good. Upholding the belief that the man is a rational human being, who endeavours to realize his preferences, the author maintains that these preferences need not be egoistic in nature and calls political scientists not to deny the findings of their own empirical research. He concludes that for the most part the man tries to further the public interest in politics, assuming that in the long run such policies are also to his own benefit.Less
The final chapter of the book draws conclusions and implications from the evidence presented in previous chapters that public interest seems to be of greater importance in democratic politics than self‐interest. Analysing collective rationality, the public‐choice theory maintains the notion that realization of collective choice often brings about ‘unfortunate and unintended consequences’, thus suggesting that more self‐regulatory, privately owned free‐market economy can solve many problems, providing individuals better opportunities to reach their goals. As an alternative, drawing on such classics of political philosophy as Rousseau, Kant, and Hume, as well as on insights of iterative games of ‘Prisoner Dilemma’, Leif Lewin describes concepts of welfare state, social contract, and common good. Upholding the belief that the man is a rational human being, who endeavours to realize his preferences, the author maintains that these preferences need not be egoistic in nature and calls political scientists not to deny the findings of their own empirical research. He concludes that for the most part the man tries to further the public interest in politics, assuming that in the long run such policies are also to his own benefit.
Peter C. Phan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199827879
- eISBN:
- 9780199919451
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827879.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. This chapter’s response to the previous chapter underscores the value of focusing on the meaning of being human. The response ...
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This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. This chapter’s response to the previous chapter underscores the value of focusing on the meaning of being human. The response admits that in the current state of the church’s dialogue with Confucianism, the church seems more ready to teach than to learn.Less
This chapter presents a response to comments in the previous chapter. This chapter’s response to the previous chapter underscores the value of focusing on the meaning of being human. The response admits that in the current state of the church’s dialogue with Confucianism, the church seems more ready to teach than to learn.
P. J. Marshall (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263945
- eISBN:
- 9780191734038
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263945.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
Volume 139 of the Proceedings of the British Academy contains thirteen lectures in the humanities and social sciences delivered at the British Academy in 2005. Subject matter ranges from ...
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Volume 139 of the Proceedings of the British Academy contains thirteen lectures in the humanities and social sciences delivered at the British Academy in 2005. Subject matter ranges from archaeological perspectives on the essence of being human to discussions of the UK's Monetary Policy Committee, the role of judges, and Dame Marilyn Strathern on ‘Useful Knowledge’.Less
Volume 139 of the Proceedings of the British Academy contains thirteen lectures in the humanities and social sciences delivered at the British Academy in 2005. Subject matter ranges from archaeological perspectives on the essence of being human to discussions of the UK's Monetary Policy Committee, the role of judges, and Dame Marilyn Strathern on ‘Useful Knowledge’.
Ingo Gildenhard
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199291557
- eISBN:
- 9780191594885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291557.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses figures of thought in Cicero's speeches to do with being human and the human condition. Special attention is given to the notions that human beings are inherently fallible and ...
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This chapter discusses figures of thought in Cicero's speeches to do with being human and the human condition. Special attention is given to the notions that human beings are inherently fallible and that human life unfolds in an unpredictable environment (personified in Fortune, goddess of happenstance and caprice) and is thus subject to random, i.e. amoral disasters. Both notions found articulation in new comic scripts, before appearing in other genres of discourse, such as rhetorical handbooks and public oratory. Against this background, the chapter explores how Cicero uses them to fashion models of the human self and of the universe, not least to address the problem of social accountability.Less
This chapter discusses figures of thought in Cicero's speeches to do with being human and the human condition. Special attention is given to the notions that human beings are inherently fallible and that human life unfolds in an unpredictable environment (personified in Fortune, goddess of happenstance and caprice) and is thus subject to random, i.e. amoral disasters. Both notions found articulation in new comic scripts, before appearing in other genres of discourse, such as rhetorical handbooks and public oratory. Against this background, the chapter explores how Cicero uses them to fashion models of the human self and of the universe, not least to address the problem of social accountability.
Ingo Gildenhard
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199291557
- eISBN:
- 9780191594885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291557.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter focuses on how Cicero constructs specific human beings and human ‘types’, to which individuals are assigned. It first discusses the factors that underwrote the constitution and ...
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This chapter focuses on how Cicero constructs specific human beings and human ‘types’, to which individuals are assigned. It first discusses the factors that underwrote the constitution and reproduction of Rome's ruling elite, with particular emphasis on how Cicero combated what he stigmatizes as the ‘class racism’ of the nobility. Further sections consider how the category ‘nature’ was used in late republican rhetorical thought, as foil for an exploration of how Cicero deployed the lexemes natura and homo to construe persons as, first and foremost, human beings, quite irrespective of their historical identities. The chapter further illustrates Cicero's penchant for thinking in anthropological categories, and his reasons for doing so.Less
This chapter focuses on how Cicero constructs specific human beings and human ‘types’, to which individuals are assigned. It first discusses the factors that underwrote the constitution and reproduction of Rome's ruling elite, with particular emphasis on how Cicero combated what he stigmatizes as the ‘class racism’ of the nobility. Further sections consider how the category ‘nature’ was used in late republican rhetorical thought, as foil for an exploration of how Cicero deployed the lexemes natura and homo to construe persons as, first and foremost, human beings, quite irrespective of their historical identities. The chapter further illustrates Cicero's penchant for thinking in anthropological categories, and his reasons for doing so.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198235125
- eISBN:
- 9780191598579
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198235127.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
A substance is a concrete individual thing that exists all at once. Although the world can be cut up into substances in different ways, any full description of the world will include both material ...
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A substance is a concrete individual thing that exists all at once. Although the world can be cut up into substances in different ways, any full description of the world will include both material objects and immaterial souls as substances. Souls have essentially mental properties, ones to which the subject has privileged access such as thoughts and sensations. The essential part of a human being is a human soul, one with a structure and a capacity for logical thought, moral belief, and free will, and (typically but not necessarily) certain limited powers exercised through a human body. No human being is essentially human.Less
A substance is a concrete individual thing that exists all at once. Although the world can be cut up into substances in different ways, any full description of the world will include both material objects and immaterial souls as substances. Souls have essentially mental properties, ones to which the subject has privileged access such as thoughts and sensations. The essential part of a human being is a human soul, one with a structure and a capacity for logical thought, moral belief, and free will, and (typically but not necessarily) certain limited powers exercised through a human body. No human being is essentially human.
John Casey
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198240037
- eISBN:
- 9780191680069
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198240037.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter provides an abstract notion of a person as a self-conscious rational being, and explores a more concrete picture of what it is to be such a being. Human emotions, appetites, and ...
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This chapter provides an abstract notion of a person as a self-conscious rational being, and explores a more concrete picture of what it is to be such a being. Human emotions, appetites, and embodiment, and human social existence can all be seen as expressions of rational agency, rather than as adventitious additions, or even obstacles to it. The chapter suggests that the best, and perhaps the only, way of giving a concrete picture of what it is to be a person and to apprehend others as persons is to say something about human beings. Some philosophers — including Kant and Hegel — have sought to base an ethical doctrine upon what it is to be a person, which in turn greatly influences this book.Less
This chapter provides an abstract notion of a person as a self-conscious rational being, and explores a more concrete picture of what it is to be such a being. Human emotions, appetites, and embodiment, and human social existence can all be seen as expressions of rational agency, rather than as adventitious additions, or even obstacles to it. The chapter suggests that the best, and perhaps the only, way of giving a concrete picture of what it is to be a person and to apprehend others as persons is to say something about human beings. Some philosophers — including Kant and Hegel — have sought to base an ethical doctrine upon what it is to be a person, which in turn greatly influences this book.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198236986
- eISBN:
- 9780191598593
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198236980.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Part 1 (Chs. 2–7) argues that mental events (consisting in the instantiation of mental properties – sensations, thoughts, purposes, desires, and beliefs) are distinct from physical events (such as ...
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Part 1 (Chs. 2–7) argues that mental events (consisting in the instantiation of mental properties – sensations, thoughts, purposes, desires, and beliefs) are distinct from physical events (such as brain events), although in causal interaction with them. Part 2 argues that these mental events consist in the instantiations of properties in immaterial substances, souls. A human being (and any higher animal) consists of two parts, the essential part – his soul, and a contingent part – his body. It is extremely unlikely that there could be a scientific explanation of the creation of souls. Humans are distinguished from the higher animals by an ability to reason logically, and by having moral awareness, free will, and an integrated system of beliefs and desires. Neither direct empirical evidence nor pure a priori philosophical argument can show what will happen to the soul after death. This could only be shown by some very general metaphysical system.Less
Part 1 (Chs. 2–7) argues that mental events (consisting in the instantiation of mental properties – sensations, thoughts, purposes, desires, and beliefs) are distinct from physical events (such as brain events), although in causal interaction with them. Part 2 argues that these mental events consist in the instantiations of properties in immaterial substances, souls. A human being (and any higher animal) consists of two parts, the essential part – his soul, and a contingent part – his body. It is extremely unlikely that there could be a scientific explanation of the creation of souls. Humans are distinguished from the higher animals by an ability to reason logically, and by having moral awareness, free will, and an integrated system of beliefs and desires. Neither direct empirical evidence nor pure a priori philosophical argument can show what will happen to the soul after death. This could only be shown by some very general metaphysical system.
Joseph Almog
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146462
- eISBN:
- 9780199833054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146468.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter reviews the real distinction of Chapter 1 in the light of the pressure put on generic dualism by the integrationist challenge to give way to robust essences. It revisits the question of ...
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This chapter reviews the real distinction of Chapter 1 in the light of the pressure put on generic dualism by the integrationist challenge to give way to robust essences. It revisits the question of conceivability, in particular conceivability illusions such as the apparent conceivability of disembodiment and man–mind swaps. The full essence of the specific entities involved in the conceivability attempts holds the key to unravelling the illusion. It is not conceivable of the mind that it exists disembodied—contrary to first‐blush—if the full essence of the mind is brought to bear upon the question, the mind being what it is, namely, the mind of a human being. Two kinds of integrations are distinguished: generic versus tight, depending on whether the mind is made to depend existentially on any body of a given kind, or whether it is inextricably connected to a particular human body. The final pages contain a discussion of Descartes's primal question (what am I?) and finds that there is ‘appeal and confidence’ in Descartes's primal answer to that question: a man.Less
This chapter reviews the real distinction of Chapter 1 in the light of the pressure put on generic dualism by the integrationist challenge to give way to robust essences. It revisits the question of conceivability, in particular conceivability illusions such as the apparent conceivability of disembodiment and man–mind swaps. The full essence of the specific entities involved in the conceivability attempts holds the key to unravelling the illusion. It is not conceivable of the mind that it exists disembodied—contrary to first‐blush—if the full essence of the mind is brought to bear upon the question, the mind being what it is, namely, the mind of a human being. Two kinds of integrations are distinguished: generic versus tight, depending on whether the mind is made to depend existentially on any body of a given kind, or whether it is inextricably connected to a particular human body. The final pages contain a discussion of Descartes's primal question (what am I?) and finds that there is ‘appeal and confidence’ in Descartes's primal answer to that question: a man.
Martha Nussbaum
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198287971
- eISBN:
- 9780191596704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198287976.003.0024
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Nussbaum agrees with O’Neill's proposal and comments on the implication of it on women's lives. Nussbaum discusses the role of women's issues in development economics, then contrasts O’Neill's ...
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Nussbaum agrees with O’Neill's proposal and comments on the implication of it on women's lives. Nussbaum discusses the role of women's issues in development economics, then contrasts O’Neill's Kantian approach with her own Aristotelian one, and finally considers the issue of conflict of values, which has traditionally been thought to result in the conclusion that separate and distinct norms of quality of life are needed for the lives of women and men.Less
Nussbaum agrees with O’Neill's proposal and comments on the implication of it on women's lives. Nussbaum discusses the role of women's issues in development economics, then contrasts O’Neill's Kantian approach with her own Aristotelian one, and finally considers the issue of conflict of values, which has traditionally been thought to result in the conclusion that separate and distinct norms of quality of life are needed for the lives of women and men.
Rosalind Hursthouse
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199247998
- eISBN:
- 9780191597756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199247994.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Virtues are those character traits that make a human being a good human being— those traits that human beings need to live well as human beings, to live a characteristically human life. Ethical ...
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Virtues are those character traits that make a human being a good human being— those traits that human beings need to live well as human beings, to live a characteristically human life. Ethical evaluations of human beings as good or bad are taken to be analogous to evaluations of other living things as good or bad specimens of their kind, as Foot has argued. This naturalism reveals that several features of ethical evaluation thought to be peculiar to it, and inimical to its objectivity, are present in the quasi‐scientific evaluation, even of plants.Less
Virtues are those character traits that make a human being a good human being— those traits that human beings need to live well as human beings, to live a characteristically human life. Ethical evaluations of human beings as good or bad are taken to be analogous to evaluations of other living things as good or bad specimens of their kind, as Foot has argued. This naturalism reveals that several features of ethical evaluation thought to be peculiar to it, and inimical to its objectivity, are present in the quasi‐scientific evaluation, even of plants.
Anthony Briggman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199641536
- eISBN:
- 9780191738302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641536.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Theology
Chapter 6 analyzes, for the most part, the salvific role ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Against Heresies 5. This chapter contains a narrative that ties together many aspects of Irenaeus’ pneumatology ...
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Chapter 6 analyzes, for the most part, the salvific role ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Against Heresies 5. This chapter contains a narrative that ties together many aspects of Irenaeus’ pneumatology examined in previous chapters. It addresses the perfection of the human being by the reception of the Holy Spirit; the identification of Irenaeus’ threefold concept of perfection, including the approximation of the uncreated One by the human being in the possession of eternal existence which renders the believer ‘like’ God; the modulation of temporal life to eternal life by means of the power/grace given by the Spirit; and the idea that the Spirit becomes more closely united to believers over the course of the divine economy, a notion that aligns with the movement of the economy from animation to vivification.Less
Chapter 6 analyzes, for the most part, the salvific role ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Against Heresies 5. This chapter contains a narrative that ties together many aspects of Irenaeus’ pneumatology examined in previous chapters. It addresses the perfection of the human being by the reception of the Holy Spirit; the identification of Irenaeus’ threefold concept of perfection, including the approximation of the uncreated One by the human being in the possession of eternal existence which renders the believer ‘like’ God; the modulation of temporal life to eternal life by means of the power/grace given by the Spirit; and the idea that the Spirit becomes more closely united to believers over the course of the divine economy, a notion that aligns with the movement of the economy from animation to vivification.
Dinah Shelton
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199647071
- eISBN:
- 9780191738999
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199647071.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter examines the jurisprudence of domestic and international courts dealing with the tensions between obligations pertaining to human rights and environmental protection. Environmental ...
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This chapter examines the jurisprudence of domestic and international courts dealing with the tensions between obligations pertaining to human rights and environmental protection. Environmental protection requires controlling human activities that unsustainably use natural resources, disrupt natural processes, or pollute the air, water, and soil upon which life depends. Like many other types of governmental regulation, measures of environmental protection almost inevitably restrict the scope of individual freedom to act, as well as have the potential to limit the enjoyment of human rights guaranteed by international or domestic law. This may result in norm conflicts between, on the one hand, legislation designed to protect nature and on the other, constitutional or treaty-based human rights, especially those concerning property rights, indigenous peoples, and freedom of movement. The chapter illustrates, however, that the various concerns are not intrinsically incompatible, because environmental law is also concerned with human well-being.Less
This chapter examines the jurisprudence of domestic and international courts dealing with the tensions between obligations pertaining to human rights and environmental protection. Environmental protection requires controlling human activities that unsustainably use natural resources, disrupt natural processes, or pollute the air, water, and soil upon which life depends. Like many other types of governmental regulation, measures of environmental protection almost inevitably restrict the scope of individual freedom to act, as well as have the potential to limit the enjoyment of human rights guaranteed by international or domestic law. This may result in norm conflicts between, on the one hand, legislation designed to protect nature and on the other, constitutional or treaty-based human rights, especially those concerning property rights, indigenous peoples, and freedom of movement. The chapter illustrates, however, that the various concerns are not intrinsically incompatible, because environmental law is also concerned with human well-being.
John Barry
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199695393
- eISBN:
- 9780191738982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695393.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Offers a green alternative to neoclassical economics based on ecological considerations as well as eco-feminist, ecological economics, and heterodox economic insights. Picking up on the discussion of ...
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Offers a green alternative to neoclassical economics based on ecological considerations as well as eco-feminist, ecological economics, and heterodox economic insights. Picking up on the discussion of economic growth in the previous chapter this chapter critically interrogates it, following John McMurtry, as denoting ‘the cancer stage of capitalism’. This chapter outlines and defends an alternative to economic growth—namely ‘economic security’ in which quality of life and well-being (especially free time) become central objectives of macroeconomic policy and the way we think about a sustainable economy. Key to this notion of economic security (which is suggested as appropriate only for ‘over-developed’ economies in the minority world) is the need to reduce socio-economic inequality. Other features of this green political economic alternative to the neoclassical orthodoxy include the centrality of principles such as sufficiency and moderation over efficiency and maximization, here linking back to the permaculture-inspired idea of resilience being a function of ‘slack’ and in-built redundancy, i.e. deliberative deviations from the norm of efficiency.Less
Offers a green alternative to neoclassical economics based on ecological considerations as well as eco-feminist, ecological economics, and heterodox economic insights. Picking up on the discussion of economic growth in the previous chapter this chapter critically interrogates it, following John McMurtry, as denoting ‘the cancer stage of capitalism’. This chapter outlines and defends an alternative to economic growth—namely ‘economic security’ in which quality of life and well-being (especially free time) become central objectives of macroeconomic policy and the way we think about a sustainable economy. Key to this notion of economic security (which is suggested as appropriate only for ‘over-developed’ economies in the minority world) is the need to reduce socio-economic inequality. Other features of this green political economic alternative to the neoclassical orthodoxy include the centrality of principles such as sufficiency and moderation over efficiency and maximization, here linking back to the permaculture-inspired idea of resilience being a function of ‘slack’ and in-built redundancy, i.e. deliberative deviations from the norm of efficiency.
Gerald O'Collins
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199605569
- eISBN:
- 9780191729454
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199605569.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter reflects on the human condition or the account that fundamental theologians should give of the human subject who in faith accepts the self-revealing God. After briefly examining four ...
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This chapter reflects on the human condition or the account that fundamental theologians should give of the human subject who in faith accepts the self-revealing God. After briefly examining four alternate ways of identifying the human being — as one who suffers (homo dolens), as one who questions (homo interrogans), as one embedded in history (homo storicus), and as essentially symbolic (homo symbolicus) — the chapter offers an account of the human person in terms of experience (homo experiens). Fourteen points spell out what the reality of human experience entails: for instance, as always involving some interpretation. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the nature of religious experience as such and, in particular, on how it reveals a primordial drive toward the fullness of life, meaning/truth, and love.Less
This chapter reflects on the human condition or the account that fundamental theologians should give of the human subject who in faith accepts the self-revealing God. After briefly examining four alternate ways of identifying the human being — as one who suffers (homo dolens), as one who questions (homo interrogans), as one embedded in history (homo storicus), and as essentially symbolic (homo symbolicus) — the chapter offers an account of the human person in terms of experience (homo experiens). Fourteen points spell out what the reality of human experience entails: for instance, as always involving some interpretation. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the nature of religious experience as such and, in particular, on how it reveals a primordial drive toward the fullness of life, meaning/truth, and love.
Anna Wierzbicka
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137330
- eISBN:
- 9780199867905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137337.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter, too, is devoted to two twin parables with an identical message, and it argues that the image of a God, searching tirelessly for every lost “sheep” or “coin” (that is, every individual, ...
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This chapter, too, is devoted to two twin parables with an identical message, and it argues that the image of a God, searching tirelessly for every lost “sheep” or “coin” (that is, every individual, every lost human being), suggests a hope of universal salvation and is incompatible with the traditional notion of an eternal “hell.” The explication of the two parables’ message includes components like the following ones:God wants to do good things for all peopleGod wants all people to live with Godwhen a person doesn’t want to live with GodGod feels something bad because of thisGod does many things because of thisif afterwards this person wants to live with GodGod feels something very good because of thisLess
This chapter, too, is devoted to two twin parables with an identical message, and it argues that the image of a God, searching tirelessly for every lost “sheep” or “coin” (that is, every individual, every lost human being), suggests a hope of universal salvation and is incompatible with the traditional notion of an eternal “hell.” The explication of the two parables’ message includes components like the following ones:
God wants to do good things for all people
God wants all people to live with God
when a person doesn’t want to live with God
God feels something bad because of this
God does many things because of this
if afterwards this person wants to live with God
God feels something very good because of this
Lisa Lassell Hallstrom
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195116489
- eISBN:
- 9780199851621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195116489.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Westerners have come to know Ānandamayī Mā as a saint because of Paramahamsa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, which is why some Westerners had wanted to seek her darshan in India. In spite of how ...
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Westerners have come to know Ānandamayī Mā as a saint because of Paramahamsa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, which is why some Westerners had wanted to seek her darshan in India. In spite of how Ānandamayī Mā' devotees are not exactly at ease with referring to Mā as a saint, since they believe that Mā is a personification of God instead of a mere human being, several Westerners and Hindus recognize her as an extraordinary human being or “an exalted woman saint”. Significant figures in the context of spirituality in India are thus continuously evaluated and positioned by spiritual seekers and publicly recognized saints. This chapter investigates the complexities of sainthood evident in various Hindu traditions through identifying the qualities that saints supposedly possess and comparing these with the claims of Ānandamayī Mā's devotees.Less
Westerners have come to know Ānandamayī Mā as a saint because of Paramahamsa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, which is why some Westerners had wanted to seek her darshan in India. In spite of how Ānandamayī Mā' devotees are not exactly at ease with referring to Mā as a saint, since they believe that Mā is a personification of God instead of a mere human being, several Westerners and Hindus recognize her as an extraordinary human being or “an exalted woman saint”. Significant figures in the context of spirituality in India are thus continuously evaluated and positioned by spiritual seekers and publicly recognized saints. This chapter investigates the complexities of sainthood evident in various Hindu traditions through identifying the qualities that saints supposedly possess and comparing these with the claims of Ānandamayī Mā's devotees.
Robin R. Wang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199827879
- eISBN:
- 9780199919451
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827879.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter presents comments on the previous chapter’s discussion. Picking up on the chapter’s invitation to discuss the meaning of being human this chapter cites a number of classic Confucian ...
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This chapter presents comments on the previous chapter’s discussion. Picking up on the chapter’s invitation to discuss the meaning of being human this chapter cites a number of classic Confucian texts to suggest several ways to pursue the dialogue. But it also notes that Confucian texts suggest that any explicit effort to articulate dimensions of transcendence is kept at a distance, preferring to focus on how one is to live in this life now. The chapter also wonders how a dialogue is possible with a very diverse tradition “for which no one in particular can speak authoritatively.” The chapter states an opinion that seriously doubts that Chinese people think that their rites are only “civil and political,” and asks whether Catholicism is really open to learning from Confucianism.Less
This chapter presents comments on the previous chapter’s discussion. Picking up on the chapter’s invitation to discuss the meaning of being human this chapter cites a number of classic Confucian texts to suggest several ways to pursue the dialogue. But it also notes that Confucian texts suggest that any explicit effort to articulate dimensions of transcendence is kept at a distance, preferring to focus on how one is to live in this life now. The chapter also wonders how a dialogue is possible with a very diverse tradition “for which no one in particular can speak authoritatively.” The chapter states an opinion that seriously doubts that Chinese people think that their rites are only “civil and political,” and asks whether Catholicism is really open to learning from Confucianism.
David Hodgson
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198240686
- eISBN:
- 9780191680236
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198240686.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics/Epistemology
According to the theory of evolution, human beings are the result of an evolutionary process beginning millions of years ago with a simple life form. It seems reasonable to assert that consciousness, ...
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According to the theory of evolution, human beings are the result of an evolutionary process beginning millions of years ago with a simple life form. It seems reasonable to assert that consciousness, which is presumably also the result of an evolutionary process, is similarly somehow related to the adaptation of human beings for survival and reproduction. Unless consciousness is merely a by-product of a mechanistic brain of some complexity, consciousness itself must make a difference, so that the brain is not mechanistic. This argument has previously been advanced in support of anti-materialist positions. This chapter expands this argument. It also considers what could be the advantages of consciousness which may have led to its selection by evolution.Less
According to the theory of evolution, human beings are the result of an evolutionary process beginning millions of years ago with a simple life form. It seems reasonable to assert that consciousness, which is presumably also the result of an evolutionary process, is similarly somehow related to the adaptation of human beings for survival and reproduction. Unless consciousness is merely a by-product of a mechanistic brain of some complexity, consciousness itself must make a difference, so that the brain is not mechanistic. This argument has previously been advanced in support of anti-materialist positions. This chapter expands this argument. It also considers what could be the advantages of consciousness which may have led to its selection by evolution.
