Substance, relation, and identity
One of the great insights of postmodern thought is that our understanding is perspectival, and that we have the perspectives we do because we have privileged one element of certain important binaries over others. Western civilization, or our understanding of it, is based upon our privileging of the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer Netherlands
2004
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| In: |
Sophia
Year: 2004, Volume: 43, Issue: 1, Pages: 73-81 |
| Further subjects: | B
Liberation Theology
B Substantial Identity B Western Civilization B Divine Nature B Human Identity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | One of the great insights of postmodern thought is that our understanding is perspectival, and that we have the perspectives we do because we have privileged one element of certain important binaries over others. Western civilization, or our understanding of it, is based upon our privileging of the male perspective over the female, the rich over the poor, and the white over the black. If that order were reversed and we privileged the perspective of those who had been marginalized, we would see things very differently., Traditional attempts to understand both our own identity and the identity of God all hinge on Aristotle’s privileging of substance over relation. The distinction between substance and relation is another important binary that has shaped Western Civilization. This paper looks at both human and divine identity by privileging relation over substance and considering identity from that marginalized perspective., Classic attempts to explain both our own identity and the identity of God all hinge on Aristotle’s privileging of substance over relation. Jesus, however, seems to privilege relation as a source of identity rather than substance. The social and behavioral sciences of the twentieth century also seem to indicate that human identity is based upon our relations with others rather than our own substance. Thus, contrary to Aristotle’s belief that substance (i.e., that which is independent of all else) is most real, perhaps relation is what is truly most real and the basis of both human and divine identity. |
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| ISSN: | 1873-930X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sophia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/BF02782438 |