Power Value And Conviction

An Analysis of the Summary Powers of Justices of the Peace Under the Penal Statutes of England

Responsibility and the Enhancement of Life

In the 21st century and in a globalized world, how can an ethic of responsibility orient the powerful human striving for the enhancement of life? – This question is at the center of the program of theological humanism developed by the American ethicist William Schweiker. His ethic of responsibility takes the integrity of all human as well non-human life as a central criterion for the enhancement of life. The contributions of this collection dedicated to William Schweiker discuss and explore key elements of his work, in exemplary studies and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. They examine the contours of this ethic, analyze the claims of a moral realism, and investigate the backgrounds of his theological humanism. [Verantwortung und Lebensverbesserung] Wie kann eine Ethik der Verantwortung im 21. Jahrhundert in einem globalen Horizont des Handelns das machtvolle menschliche Streben nach einer Verbesserung des Lebens orientieren? – Diese Frage steht im Mittelpunkt des Programms eines theologischen Humanismus des amerikanischen Ethikers William Schweiker. Die von ihm vertretene Verantwortungsethik beansprucht die Integrität des menschlichen wie nicht-menschlichen Lebens als Maßstab. Die Beiträge dieses William Schweiker gewidmeten Bandes diskutieren und befragen aus philosophischen, ethischen, historischen und systematischen Perspektiven anhand exemplarischer Studien zentrale Elemente dieses Entwurfs. Sie beleuchten die Konturen dieser Ethik, analysieren deren Grundlagen in einem moralischen Realismus und erforschen die Hintergründe eines theologischen Humanismus. Mit Beiträgen von Svend Andersen, Maria Antonaccio, Phil Blackwell, Kris Culp, Michael Fishbane, Clark Gilpin, David Hall, Markus Höfner, Kevin Jung, Nico Koopman, Robin Lovin, Jean-Luc Marion, Terence Martin, Charles Mathewes, Paul Mendes-Flohr, Elena Namli, Douglas Ottati, Willemien Otten, Kang Phee Seng, Heike Springhart, Per Sundmann, Günter Thomas, Darlene Fozard Weaver und Michael Welker.

The Acting Person and Christian Moral Life

What may we say about the significance of particular moral actions for one’s relationship with God? In this provocative analysis of contemporary Catholic moral theology Darlene Fozard Weaver shows the person as a moral agent acting in relation to God. Using an overarching theological context of sinful estrangement from and gracious reconciliation in God, Weaver shows how individuals negotiate their relationships with God in and through their involvement with others and the world. Much of current Christian ethics focuses more on persons and their virtues and vices exemplified by the work of virtue ethicists or on sinful social structures illustrated in the work of liberation theologians. These judgments fail to appreciate the reflexive character of human action and neglect the way our actions negotiate our response to God. Weaver develops a theologically robust moral anthropology that advances Christian understanding of persons and moral actions and contends we can better understand the theological import of moral actions by seeing ourselves as creatures who live, move, and have our being in God.