Values in our society - with social, historical and anthropological aspects
Drawing on empirical social scientific research, this article first presents a picture of the dominant values in contemporary European societies. Building on this, a historical-philosophical approach (Maclntyre) explains this picture's fragmentary and incoherent character as resulting from the...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Amsterdam University Press
[2015]
|
| In: |
European journal of theology
Year: 2015, Volume: 24, Issue: 2, Pages: 132-145 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KBA Western Europe NCA Ethics |
| Summary: | Drawing on empirical social scientific research, this article first presents a picture of the dominant values in contemporary European societies. Building on this, a historical-philosophical approach (Maclntyre) explains this picture's fragmentary and incoherent character as resulting from the post-Christian condition. However, anthropological considerations (moral biology, moral psychology, cultural anthropology) uncover some shared and lasting moral convictions in humanity, which should teach Christians not only to complain about decay but also to be open to the possibility of progress. Furthermore, a theological analysis of (post-)modernity detects both the highest cultural fruits of the Christian truth and their most deplorable post-Christian distortions at the same time (Kuyper, O'Donovan). Modernity with its high self-esteem is secularised eschatology, which should make Christians careful not to mirror its inflated optimism with one-sided pessimism. Prevalent values turn out to be morally ambiguous, as is shown in values such as individual self-realisation, freedom, tolerance, equality, privacy, democracy, free enterprise and compassion. The article concludes with a discussion of possible Christian ethical approaches and specific challenges for Christians with respect to the values of (post-) modem Europe. Christians are called to be prophets, not only to criticise but precisely to clarify the specific moral deadlocks of our society. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0960-2720 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal of theology
|