Theological anthropology is being put to the test: in the face of contemporary developments in the spheres of culture, politics, and science, traditional perspectives on the human person are no longer adequate. Yet can theological anthropology move beyond its previously established categories and renew itself in relation to contemporary insights? The present collection of essays sets out to answer this question. Uniting Roman Catholic theologians from across the globe, it tackles from a theological perspective challenges related to the classical natural law tradition (part 1), to the modern conception of the subject (part 2), and to the postmodern awareness of diversity in a globalizing context (part 3). Its contributors share a fundamental methodological choice of a critical-constructive dialogue with contemporary culture, science, and philosophy.
This collection integrates a wider range of approaches than one usually finds in theological volumes, bringing together experts in systematic theology and in theological ethics. Authors come from different American contexts, including Black and Latino, and from a European context that include both French and German. Moreover, the interdisciplinary insights upon which the different contributions draw stem from both the natural sciences (such as neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and ethology) and the humanities (such as cultural studies, philosophy, and hermeneutics).
This volume will be essential reading for anyone seeking a state-of-the-art account of theological anthropology, of the uncertainties it is facing, and of the responses it is in the process of formulating. The shared Roman Catholic background of the authors of this collection makes this volume a helpful complement to recent publications that predominantly represent views from other theological traditions.
Tentang Penulis
Lieven Boeve (Author)
Lieven Boeve teaches fundamental theology and serves as dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. He is the coordinator of the research group Theology in a Postmodern Context and cofounder of the interdisciplinary research group Anthropos. His focus is on theological epistemology, the relation, between theology and continental philosophy, and theological anthropology. His publications include Interrupting Tradition: An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context (Peeters/Eerdmans, 2003), God Interrupts History: Theology in a Time of Upheaval (Continuum, 2007), and the coauthored volume The Ratzinger Reader (Continuum, 2010).
Yves De Maeseneer (Author)
Yves De Maeseneer teaches fundamental theological ethics at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. He is the coordinator of Anthropos, an interdisciplinary research group of theological ethicists and fundamental theologians developing a renewed theological anthropology. He is coeditor of Religious Experience and Contemporary Theological Epistemology (Peeters, 2005).
Ellen Van Stichel (Author)
Ellen Van Stichel is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. In 2010 she defended her dissertation “Out of Love for Justice: Moral philosophy and Catholic Social Thought on Global Duties.” She is a member of the research group Anthropos, and her research interest lies in care ethics, Catholic social thought, and social and biomedical ethics.