ABSTRACT

The experience of moral values is often side-lined in discussions about moral reasoning, and yet our values define a large part of our moral motives, standards and expectations. Theological Ethics and Moral Value Phenomena explores whether the experience of a meeting point of the immanent and the transcendent, i.e. the moral self and God, can be the source of our values.

The book starts by arguing for a greater theological engagement with value ethics, personalism and the phenomenological method by drawing on thinkers such as Max Scheler and William James. It then provides an understanding of the social and religious dimension of the valuing person, demonstrating the importance of the emotional, as well as the cognitive, dimension of value experience. Finally, this value perspective is utilised to engage with current moral issues such as professional ethics, environmental ethics, economical ethics and family ethics.

Integrating the concepts of religious experience, moral motivation, and subjective and objective value within a broad framework of Christian theology and philosophy, this is vital reading for any scholar of Theology and Philosophy with an interest in ethics and moral reasoning.

chapter |13 pages

Introduction

The experience of values

part 1|78 pages

Return to the classics

chapter 1|14 pages

A pragmatic ontology of religious value experience

A discussion of Charles Taylor, William James and Max Scheler

chapter 2|17 pages

The sentiments of the heart and Protestant ethics

A constructive dialogue between Paul Ramsey and Max Scheler

chapter 4|28 pages

The moral relevance of lived experience in complex hospital practices

A phenomenological approach

part 2|52 pages

The validating person

chapter 5|17 pages

The self in exile

Emmanuel Housset’s concept of personhood

chapter 7|16 pages

Value-based ethics in care

part 3|59 pages

Value ethics in practice

chapter 8|17 pages

A ‘value’ prolegomenon for creation care

Theological appropriations from Marion and Levinas

chapter 9|19 pages

Loving ‘imagined communities’

A theological assessment of the value of patriotism

chapter 10|19 pages

Revival of the fitting

Virtue and relational experiences of value