Biocultural Evolution, Play, and Theological Aesthetics
Abstract: This essay argues that a renewed focus on the importance of embodied social play for people of all ages, but especially for children and teenagers, is an essential element of forming an interdisciplinary response to the mental health crises facing children and young people today. It examin...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Heythrop journal
Year: 2025, Volume: 66, Issue: 2, Pages: 115-128 |
| IxTheo Classification: | FA Theology NBE Anthropology VA Philosophy ZD Psychology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Abstract: This essay argues that a renewed focus on the importance of embodied social play for people of all ages, but especially for children and teenagers, is an essential element of forming an interdisciplinary response to the mental health crises facing children and young people today. It examines the role of play from the perspective of the sciences, especially psychology and evolutionary biology, but it also draws insights from philosophy and theology to extend its arguments into the arenas of theological anthropology and aesthetics. In addition to the many psychological, emotional, physical, cognitive, and social benefits of play, there is research to suggest that forms of juvenile play, especially ‘pretend play’, in children contribute to the development of capacities relevant for aesthetic experience and expression such as creativity, symbolic representation, mental flexibility, and imagination. This suggests that attention to play and, more broadly, to childhood and children, is important for developments in theological aesthetics. It suggests, at the same time, that theology has important grounds to insist on the goodness of play ‘for its own sake’, while also celebrating the downstream evolutionary benefits of play. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-2265 |
| Reference: | Kommentar in "RESPONSE: Biocultural Evolution and Christian Ethics (2025)"
Kommentar in "RESPONSE: Reckoning with Sin and the Misuse of Power: Responding to Essays on Biocultural Evolution (2025)" |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Heythrop journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/heyj.14400 |
