ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the significance for moral life of a Christian conception of what it is to be and become fully human, and to wonder about the implications of the conception for philosophical accounts of the moral domain. Cora Diamond points out that in neither of these sorts of philosophical conception of moral thought is “being human” an important notion. The significance of the concept “human being” is a theme that recurs in much of Diamond’s work. Diamond focuses particularly on Charles Dickens’s portrayal of the significance of human childhood. In the Christian tradition, contemplative prayer is understood as a way of consenting to, enacting and deepening this radical and morally transformative way of being in the circumstances of ordinary life. In remarks on the meaning of the resurrection, Ludwig Wittgenstein offered a striking image of the lived experience of Christian faith.
