Douglas V. Porpora
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195134919
- eISBN:
- 9780199834563
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195134915.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book is at once both a work of sociology and a work of ethical and religious philosophy. As a work of sociology, it contributes to the ongoing debate over secularization by documenting an ...
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This book is at once both a work of sociology and a work of ethical and religious philosophy. As a work of sociology, it contributes to the ongoing debate over secularization by documenting an alienation from the sacred at the level of emotion. Shows that even many religious Americans are emotionally estranged from the God they say they believe in, from any larger moral purpose, from the very meaning of life itself. As a work of moral and religious philosophy within a broad communitarian tradition, it calls our attention from moral procedure to moral purpose or moral idealism. Argues that moral purpose and coherent personal identity only return to us when we emotionally and defensibly reconnect with the cosmos at some sacred level. It accordingly makes an appeal for our reenchantment or resacralization of the world, for our self‐critical reorientation toward ultimate truth.Less
This book is at once both a work of sociology and a work of ethical and religious philosophy. As a work of sociology, it contributes to the ongoing debate over secularization by documenting an alienation from the sacred at the level of emotion. Shows that even many religious Americans are emotionally estranged from the God they say they believe in, from any larger moral purpose, from the very meaning of life itself. As a work of moral and religious philosophy within a broad communitarian tradition, it calls our attention from moral procedure to moral purpose or moral idealism. Argues that moral purpose and coherent personal identity only return to us when we emotionally and defensibly reconnect with the cosmos at some sacred level. It accordingly makes an appeal for our reenchantment or resacralization of the world, for our self‐critical reorientation toward ultimate truth.
Douglas V. Porpora
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195134919
- eISBN:
- 9780199834563
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195134915.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Sets out the book's concerns with moral purpose, personal identity, and objective truth. These concerns arise out of a social context of postmodernity and moral relativism. Moral purpose, the chapter ...
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Sets out the book's concerns with moral purpose, personal identity, and objective truth. These concerns arise out of a social context of postmodernity and moral relativism. Moral purpose, the chapter argues, derives from ultimate concern.Less
Sets out the book's concerns with moral purpose, personal identity, and objective truth. These concerns arise out of a social context of postmodernity and moral relativism. Moral purpose, the chapter argues, derives from ultimate concern.
Ellen T. Charry
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195134865
- eISBN:
- 9780199853472
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195134865.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Through close readings of a number of classic texts, this book develops the thesis that classic Christian theology is thoroughly shaped by pastoral and moral purposes. The book's aim is to show ...
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Through close readings of a number of classic texts, this book develops the thesis that classic Christian theology is thoroughly shaped by pastoral and moral purposes. The book's aim is to show contemporary theologians how to teach the faith in a morally constructive fashion, transcending the current destructive opposition between ‘academic’ and ‘pastoral’ theology.Less
Through close readings of a number of classic texts, this book develops the thesis that classic Christian theology is thoroughly shaped by pastoral and moral purposes. The book's aim is to show contemporary theologians how to teach the faith in a morally constructive fashion, transcending the current destructive opposition between ‘academic’ and ‘pastoral’ theology.
Daniel Lapsley and Sam A. Hardy
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190260637
- eISBN:
- 9780190672737
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190260637.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
We argue in this chapter that moral development and identity formation are not disjunctive topics, and that morality and identity ramify in the personal formation of emerging adults in ways that have ...
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We argue in this chapter that moral development and identity formation are not disjunctive topics, and that morality and identity ramify in the personal formation of emerging adults in ways that have dispositional implications for how the rest of their lives go. Moral self-identity is crucial to living a life of purpose and for setting one’s life projects on a pathway that contributes to well-being, generativity, and integrity. We first review research on the role of moral purpose in personality development and the conditions that encourage it. We then review the major ways that self-identity has been conceptualized in terms of statuses, processes, and narratives, with particular emphasis on the achievement of identity maturity and its contribution to successful adaptation. We then discuss moral self-identity more directly and outline gaps in the literature and possible lines of future research.Less
We argue in this chapter that moral development and identity formation are not disjunctive topics, and that morality and identity ramify in the personal formation of emerging adults in ways that have dispositional implications for how the rest of their lives go. Moral self-identity is crucial to living a life of purpose and for setting one’s life projects on a pathway that contributes to well-being, generativity, and integrity. We first review research on the role of moral purpose in personality development and the conditions that encourage it. We then review the major ways that self-identity has been conceptualized in terms of statuses, processes, and narratives, with particular emphasis on the achievement of identity maturity and its contribution to successful adaptation. We then discuss moral self-identity more directly and outline gaps in the literature and possible lines of future research.
Robert J. Richards
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226058764
- eISBN:
- 9780226059099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226059099.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Darwin constructed his conception of natural selection over a long period of time, not in the very instant when he read Malthus. Most scholars assume that Darwin formulated his principle of natural ...
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Darwin constructed his conception of natural selection over a long period of time, not in the very instant when he read Malthus. Most scholars assume that Darwin formulated his principle of natural selection as a mechanical device, one that evacuated nature of moral purpose and derailed any teleological trajectory. This chapter argues, on the contrary, Darwin constructed natural selection to produce a progressive development of nature, a nature that had human beings as the goal of her strivings. This conclusion is reached by examining the language of Darwin’s theory. One appendix to this chapter shows the dependence of Darwin’s two arguments, for common descent and for natural selection, on one another; they are not logically independent, as some scholars have maintained. The second appendix explores the ontological character of Darwin’s “long argument.”Less
Darwin constructed his conception of natural selection over a long period of time, not in the very instant when he read Malthus. Most scholars assume that Darwin formulated his principle of natural selection as a mechanical device, one that evacuated nature of moral purpose and derailed any teleological trajectory. This chapter argues, on the contrary, Darwin constructed natural selection to produce a progressive development of nature, a nature that had human beings as the goal of her strivings. This conclusion is reached by examining the language of Darwin’s theory. One appendix to this chapter shows the dependence of Darwin’s two arguments, for common descent and for natural selection, on one another; they are not logically independent, as some scholars have maintained. The second appendix explores the ontological character of Darwin’s “long argument.”
Hugh Adlington
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780746312957
- eISBN:
- 9781789629224
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780746312957.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter provides an overview of Penelope Fitzgerald’s life and writing career, showing how her literary sensibility was shaped in different ways by her intellectual and artistic education, her ...
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This chapter provides an overview of Penelope Fitzgerald’s life and writing career, showing how her literary sensibility was shaped in different ways by her intellectual and artistic education, her early family life, her career as a teacher and her philosophical and religious beliefs. In answer to the question, ‘How does she do it?’, the chapter suggests that Fitzgerald achieves ‘the simultaneous compression of language and expansion of meaning’ through a distinctive combination of wit, literary compression, and moral purpose. The chapter also touches on Fitzgerald’s place among British and European writers of shorter fiction. It explains the structure of the book, and justifies its method of analysis: namely, the application of Fitzgerald’s critical judgments about other writers to her own work.Less
This chapter provides an overview of Penelope Fitzgerald’s life and writing career, showing how her literary sensibility was shaped in different ways by her intellectual and artistic education, her early family life, her career as a teacher and her philosophical and religious beliefs. In answer to the question, ‘How does she do it?’, the chapter suggests that Fitzgerald achieves ‘the simultaneous compression of language and expansion of meaning’ through a distinctive combination of wit, literary compression, and moral purpose. The chapter also touches on Fitzgerald’s place among British and European writers of shorter fiction. It explains the structure of the book, and justifies its method of analysis: namely, the application of Fitzgerald’s critical judgments about other writers to her own work.
