Evil and Human Agency

Evil and Human Agency PDF Author: Arne Johan Vetlesen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139448840
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Evil is a poorly understood phenomenon. In this provocative 2005 book, Professor Vetlesen argues that to do evil is to intentionally inflict pain on another human being, against his or her will, and causing serious and foreseeable harm. Vetlesen investigates why and in what sort of circumstances such a desire arises, and how it is channeled, or exploited, into collective evildoing. He argues that such evildoing, pitting whole groups against each other, springs from a combination of character, situation, and social structure. By combining a philosophical approach inspired by Hannah Arendt, a psychological approach inspired by C. Fred Alford and a sociological approach inspired by Zygmunt Bauman, and bringing these to bear on the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, Vetlesen shows how closely perpetrators, victims, and bystanders interact, and how aspects of human agency are recognized, denied, and projected by different agents.

Evil and Human Agency

Evil and Human Agency PDF Author: Arne Johan Vetlesen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139448840
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description
Evil is a poorly understood phenomenon. In this provocative 2005 book, Professor Vetlesen argues that to do evil is to intentionally inflict pain on another human being, against his or her will, and causing serious and foreseeable harm. Vetlesen investigates why and in what sort of circumstances such a desire arises, and how it is channeled, or exploited, into collective evildoing. He argues that such evildoing, pitting whole groups against each other, springs from a combination of character, situation, and social structure. By combining a philosophical approach inspired by Hannah Arendt, a psychological approach inspired by C. Fred Alford and a sociological approach inspired by Zygmunt Bauman, and bringing these to bear on the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, Vetlesen shows how closely perpetrators, victims, and bystanders interact, and how aspects of human agency are recognized, denied, and projected by different agents.

Divine Providence and Human Agency

Divine Providence and Human Agency PDF Author: Alexander S. Jensen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317148878
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Divine Providence and Human Agency develops an understanding of God and God's relation to creation that perceives God as sovereign over creation while, at the same time, allowing for a meaningful notion of human freedom. This book provides a bridge between contemporary approaches that emphasise human freedom, such as process theology and those influenced by it, and traditional theologies that stress divine omnipotence.This book argues that it is essential for Christian theology to maintain that God is ultimately in charge of history: otherwise there would be no solid grounds for Christian hope. Yet, the modern human self-understanding as free agent within certain limitations must be taken seriously. Jensen approaches this apparent contradiction from within a consistently trinitarian framework. Jensen argues that a Christian understanding of God must be based on the experience of the saving presence of Christ in the Church, leading to an apophatic and consistently trinitarian theology. This serves as the framework for the discussion of divine omnipotence and human freedom. On the basis of the theological foundation established in this book, it is possible to frame the problem in a way that makes it possible to live within this tension. Building on this foundation, Jensen develops an understanding of history as the unfolding of the divine purpose and as an expression of God's very being, which is self-giving love and desire for communion. This book offers an important contribution to the debate of the doctrine of God in the context of an evolutionary universe.

Divine and Human Agency in Second Temple Judaism and Paul

Divine and Human Agency in Second Temple Judaism and Paul PDF Author: Jason Maston
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532642555
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Jason Maston reassesses the understanding of divine and human action in second temple Judaism. Sirach and the Hodayot are used to establish the diversity of opinions. The Apostle Paul is situated into this Jewish debate through an analysis of Rom 7–8.

God's Own Ethics

God's Own Ethics PDF Author: Mark C. Murphy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198796919
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Every version of the argument from evil requires a premise concerning God's motivation - about the actions that God is motivated to perform or the states of affairs that God is motivated to bring about. The typical source of this premise is a conviction that God is, obviously, morally perfect, where God's moral perfection consists in God's being motivated to act in accordance with the norms of morality by which both we and God are governed. The aim of God's Own Ethics is to challenge this understanding by giving arguments against this view of God as morally perfect and by offering an alternative account of what God's own ethics is like. According to this alternative account, God is in no way required to promote the well-being of sentient creatures, though God may rationally do so. Any norms of conduct that favor the promotion of creaturely well-being that govern God's conduct are norms that are contingently self-imposed by God. This revised understanding of divine ethics should lead us to revise sharply downward our assessment of the force of the argument from evil while leaving intact our conception of God as an absolutely perfect being, supremely worthy of worship.

Divine Grace and Human Agency

Divine Grace and Human Agency PDF Author: Rebecca Harden Weaver
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 9780813210124
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description


Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment

Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment PDF Author: John M.G. Barclay
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780567084538
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Re-examines Paul within contemporary Jewish debate, attuned to the significant theological issues he raises without imposing upon him the frameworks developed in later Christian thought

Free Will and Human Agency: 50 Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Thought Experiments

Free Will and Human Agency: 50 Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Thought Experiments PDF Author: Garrett Pendergraft
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000605353
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
In this new kind of entrée to contemporary discussions of free will and human agency, Garrett Pendergraft collects and illuminates 50 of the most relevant puzzles, paradoxes, and thought experiments. Assuming no familiarity with the philosophical literature on free will, each chapter describes a case, explains the questions that it raises, briefly summarizes some of the key responses to the case, and provides a list of suggested readings. Every chapter is accessible, succinct, and self-contained. The puzzles are divided into five broad categories: the threat from fatalism, the threat from determinism, practical reason, social dimensions, and moral luck. Entries cover topics such as the grandfather paradox, theological fatalism, the consequence argument, manipulation arguments, luck arguments, weakness of will, action explanation, addiction, blame and punishment, situationism in moral psychology, and Huckleberry Finn. Free Will and Human Agency is an effective and engaging teaching tool as well as a handy resource for anyone interested in exploring the questions that have made human agency a topic of perennial philosophical interest. Key Features: Though concise overall, offers broad coverage of the key areas of free will and human agency. Describes each imaginative case directly and in a memorable way, making the cases accessible and easy to remember. Provides a list of suggested readings for each case.

Divine Providence, and human agency. A sermon [on Gen. xlii. 6] preached at Marlborough Mass

Divine Providence, and human agency. A sermon [on Gen. xlii. 6] preached at Marlborough Mass PDF Author: Jacob FRIEZE
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Faith
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description


Kant's Theory of Evil

Kant's Theory of Evil PDF Author: Pablo Muchnik
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780739140161
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
An Essay on Kant's Theory of Evil shows the centrality of the doctrine of radical evil within Kant's critical philosophy. Combining textual accuracy with systematic ethical theory, it fills the gaps Kant left open in his own doctrine, and provides a non-mystifying account of h...

Evil in Modern Thought

Evil in Modern Thought PDF Author: Susan Neiman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691168504
Category : Ethics & Moral Philosophy; Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Whether expressed in theological or secular terms, evil poses a problem about the world's intelligibility. It confronts philosophy with fundamental questions: Can there be meaning in a world where innocents suffer? Can belief in divine power or human progress survive a cataloging of evil? Is evil profound or banal? Neiman argues that these questions impelled modern philosophy. Traditional philosophers from Leibniz to Hegel sought to defend the Creator of a world containing evil. Inevitably, their efforts--combined with those of more literary figures like Pope, Voltaire, and the Marquis de Sade--eroded belief in God's benevolence, power, and relevance, until Nietzsche claimed He had been murdered. They also yielded the distinction between natural and moral evil that we now take for granted. Neiman turns to consider philosophy's response to the Holocaust as a final moral evil, concluding that two basic stances run through modern thought. One, from Rousseau to Arendt, insists that morality demands we make evil intelligible. The other, from Voltaire to Adorno, insists that morality demands that we don't.