Theological Ethics in a Global Context: In the Time of Many Worlds

The nature of ethics has been the subject of much controversy and argument in recent decades. Theological Ethics and Global Dynamics tackles these various debates, offering a wide-ranging, comprehensive, and provocative statement of the nature of theological ethics in global times.

• Offers an accessible, lively, and provocative statement of the nature of moral philosophy and theological ethics in contemporary times.
• Tackles various perspectives on debates about distinctly Christian ethics.
• Argues that we need to reframe the arena in which moral questions are asked.
• Engages a range of positions, exploring distinctively modern issues such as moral and cultural relativism, globalization, problems of consumption and violence, and religious pluralism.
• Addresses the complexity of certain ethical decisions, which are difficult and far from clear-cut, and yet presents an ethical understanding which is both humane and deeply religious.

People around the globe must orient their existence by the commitment to respect and enhance the integrity of life, proclaims Schweiker (theological ethics, U. of Chicago). He finds most forms of ethics sadly inadequate to the task, however and attributes this lack to the banishment of religious sources from moral thinking and the assumption of many religious thinkers that ethical arguments are only valid within their own community. Deploying insights of the Christian tradition, he outlines an adequate ethics that might be at least considered by those of other religions and the non-religious as well as Christians. Several of the essays have been published previously. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

William Schweiker is Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago. An award-winning essayist, his publications include The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics (Ed., 2004), Power, Value and Conviction: Theological Ethics in the Postmodern Age (1998), Responsibility and Christian Ethics (1995) and Mimetic Reflection: A Study in Hermeneutics, Theology and Ethics (1990).