Narrative quests and social change: a response to Christian Smith's What is a person?
In this response to Christian Smith's What Is a Person?, I raise questions about his conception of the human life as a narrative quest and his account of change in social structures and institutions. The metaphor of life as a quest suggests a solid, isolated, and integrated moral agent. I wonde...
| Subtitles: | Book discussion: Christian Smith's What is a person? |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic/Print Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2014]
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| In: |
Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2014, Volume: 42, Issue: 1, Pages: 146-155 |
| Review of: | What is a person? (Chicago, Ill. [u.a.] : University of Chicago Press, 2010) (Kalbian, Aline H.)
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Person
/ Integrity
/ Social change
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy NCB Personal ethics ZB Sociology |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | In this response to Christian Smith's What Is a Person?, I raise questions about his conception of the human life as a narrative quest and his account of change in social structures and institutions. The metaphor of life as a quest suggests a solid, isolated, and integrated moral agent. I wonder whether the experiences of most moral agents render a different picture—one where life is fragmented and characterized by complex webs of relationships. Smith provides a detailed account of how social institutions change. I pose examples of more subtle and complex types of change as a way to press him to think about whether his account of change is too linear. |
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| ISSN: | 0384-9694 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jore.12048 |