Religion and Personal Autonomy
Religion and Personal Autonomy

Author: Phillip Everett Hammond

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 9780872498204

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Based on extensive primary research and grounded in a historical and theoretical framework, Religion and Personal Autonomy analyzes the role of religion in contemporary American society. The book makes a significant contribution to the current debate among American--and some non-American--sociologists of religion concerning secularization, the contemporary cultural role of 'mainline' religion for individuals, and the relevance of regional differences in religious identity and change. In this thought-provoking book, the author suggests that while the churches have heretofore reflected local social relationships and a traditional family morality, recent social revolutions have accelerated major changes in this church-culture relationship most evident in the increased emphasis on personal autonomy. In effect, Hammond argues, churches have lost the custodianship of American core values.

Personal Autonomy in Plural Societies
Personal Autonomy in Plural Societies

Author: Marie-Claire Foblets

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-22

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 1315413590

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This volume addresses the exercise of personal autonomy in contemporary situations of normative pluralism. In the Western liberal tradition, from a strictly legal and theoretical perspective the social individual has the right to exercise the autonomy of his or her will. In a context of legal plurality, however, personal autonomy becomes more complicated. Can and should personal autonomy be recognized as a legal foundation for protecting a person’s freedom to renounce what others view as his or her fundamental ‘human rights’? This collection develops an interdisciplinary conceptual framework to address these questions and presents empirical studies examining the gap between the principle of personal autonomy and its implementation. In a context of cultural diversity, this gap manifests itself in two particular ways. First, not every culture gives the same pre-eminence to personal autonomy when examining the legal effects of an individual’s acts. Second, in a society characterized by ‘weak pluralism’, the legal assessment of personal autonomy often favours the views of the dominant majority. In highlighting these diverse perspectives and problematizing the so-called ‘guardian function’ of human rights, i.e., purporting to protect weaker parties by limiting their personal autonomy in the name of gender equality, fair trial, etc., this book offers a nuanced approach to the principle of autonomy and addresses the questions of whether it can effectively be deployed in situations of internormativity and what conditions must be met in order to ensure that it is not rendered devoid of all meaning.

Religious Freedom and the Constitution
Religious Freedom and the Constitution

Author: Christopher L. Eisgruber

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010-04-10

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0674034457

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Religion has become a charged token in a politics of division. In disputes about faith-based social services, public money for religious schools, the Pledge of Allegiance, Ten Commandments monuments, the theory of evolution, and many other topics, angry contestation threatens to displace America's historic commitment to religious freedom. Part of the problem, the authors argue, is that constitutional analysis of religious freedom has been hobbled by the idea of "a wall of separation" between church and state. That metaphor has been understood to demand that religion be treated far better than other concerns in some contexts, and far worse in others. Sometimes it seems to insist on both contrary forms of treatment simultaneously. Missing has been concern for the fair and equal treatment of religion. In response, the authors offer an understanding of religious freedom called Equal Liberty. Equal Liberty is guided by two principles. First, no one within the reach of the Constitution ought to be devalued on account of the spiritual foundation of their commitments. Second, all persons should enjoy broad rights of free speech, personal autonomy, associative freedom, and private property. Together, these principles are generous and fair to a wide range of religious beliefs and practices. With Equal Liberty as their guide, the authors offer practical, moderate, and appealing terms for the settlement of many hot-button issues that have plunged religious freedom into controversy. Their book calls Americans back to the project of finding fair terms of cooperation for a religiously diverse people, and it offers a valuable set of tools for working toward that end.

Contemporary Bioethics
Contemporary Bioethics

Author: Mohammed Ali Al-Bar

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-05-27

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 3319184288

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This book discusses the common principles of morality and ethics derived from divinely endowed intuitive reason through the creation of al-fitr' a (nature) and human intellect (al-‘aql). Biomedical topics are presented and ethical issues related to topics such as genetic testing, assisted reproduction and organ transplantation are discussed. Whereas these natural sources are God’s special gifts to human beings, God’s revelation as given to the prophets is the supernatural source of divine guidance through which human communities have been guided at all times through history. The second part of the book concentrates on the objectives of Islamic religious practice – the maqa' sid – which include: Preservation of Faith, Preservation of Life, Preservation of Mind (intellect and reason), Preservation of Progeny (al-nasl) and Preservation of Property. Lastly, the third part of the book discusses selected topical issues, including abortion, assisted reproduction devices, genetics, organ transplantation, brain death and end-of-life aspects. For each topic, the current medical evidence is followed by a detailed discussion of the ethical issues involved.

Essays in the Philosophy of Religion
Essays in the Philosophy of Religion

Author: Philip L. Quinn

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 2006-10-12

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 019156950X

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This volume presents a selection of essays by the late Philip Quinn, one of the world's leading philosophers of religion. Quinn left behind an influential body of work on a wide variety of topics. He was the author of Divine Commands and Moral Requirements (1978) and of more than two hundred papers in philosophy. Fourteen of his best and most influential contributions to the philosophy of religion are gathered here. The papers have been organized around the following topics: religious epistemology, religious ethics, religion and tragic dilemmas, religion and political liberalism, topics in Christian philosophy, and religious diversity.

Godless Morality
Godless Morality

Author: Richard Holloway

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 2000-05-04

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1847676790

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The use of God in any moral debate is so problematic as to be almost worthless. We can argue whether this or that alleged claim emanated from God, but surely it is better to leave God out of the argument altogether and find strong human reasons for supporting the systems that we advocate. Godless Morality is a refreshing, courageous and human-centred justification for contemporary morality.

Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza
Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza

Author: Carlos Fraenkel

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-11-22

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0521194571

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This groundbreaking account of the concept of a philosophical religion traces its history from antiquity to the Enlightenment.

Thick (Concepts of) Autonomy
Thick (Concepts of) Autonomy

Author: James F. Childress

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-11-25

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 3030809919

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This book explores, in rich and rigorous ways, the possibilities and limitations of “thick” (concepts of) autonomy in light of contemporary debates in philosophy, ethics, and bioethics. Many standard ethical theories and practices, particularly in domains such as biomedical ethics, incorporate minimal, formal, procedural concepts of personal autonomy and autonomous decisions and actions. Over the last three decades, concerns about the problems and limitations of these “thin” concepts have led to the formulation of “thick” concepts that highlight the mental, corporeal, biographical and social conditions of what it means to be a human person and that enrich concepts of autonomy, with direct implications for the ethical requirement to respect autonomy. The chapters in this book offer a wide range of perspectives on both the elements of and the relations (both positive and negative) between “thin” and “thick” concepts of autonomy as well as their relative roles and importance in ethics and bioethics. This book offers valuable and illuminating examinations of autonomy and respect for autonomy, relevant for audiences in philosophy, ethics, and bioethics.

Infinite Autonomy
Infinite Autonomy

Author: Jeffrey Church

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2011-02-01

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0271050764

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G. W. F. Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche are often considered the philosophical antipodes of the nineteenth century. In Infinite Autonomy, Jeffrey Church draws on the thinking of both Hegel and Nietzsche to assess the modern Western defense of individuality&—to consider whether we were right to reject the ancient model of community above the individual. The theoretical and practical implications of this project are important, because the proper defense of the individual allows for the survival of modern liberal institutions in the face of non-Western critics who value communal goals at the expense of individual rights. By drawing from Hegelian and Nietzschean ideas of autonomy, Church finds a third way for the individual&—what he calls the &“historical individual,&” which goes beyond the disagreements of the ancients and the moderns while nonetheless incorporating their distinctive contributions.

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy
Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy

Author: Kenneth Seeskin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-06-25

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780521114622

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Although it is customary to view Judaism as a legalistic faith leaving little room for free thought or individual expression, Kenneth Seeskin argues that this view is wrong. Looking at classic texts from Biblical, Rabbinic, and philosophical literature, Seeskin shows that Judaism has always respected freedom of conscience and assigned an important role to the power of human reason. Clear and concise, this book offers a refreshing alternative to the mysticism and dogmatism prevalent in much of the recent literature.