Beyond Individualism: Toward a Retrieval of Moral Discourse in America - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0268006814 ISBN 13: 9780268006815

Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr, 1990

Synopsis

The seven essays that comprise "Beyond Individualism" reflect on the American religious tradition in order to discover in it an ethical alternative to the ideology of individualism. The contributors provide an interdisciplinary approach to their criticism of individualism and suggest strategies for counteracting the moral and social fragmentation that such an ethos motivates.

About this title

About the Author:

Donald L. Gelpi has been teaching historical and systematic theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley since 1973.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Habits of the Heart , Robert Bellah and four coauthors blasted the isolating effects of American individualism and called for a renewal of republican and religious traditions. The seven opinionated essays collected in this scholarly tome take up that challenge largely from a Christian theological perspective. One piece argues that romantic love should foster a network of connections that reach beyond narcissistic preoccupation with the self. Another essay shows that the decisions we make about technology tend to reinforce certain social values. Discussions of Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards's conversion experience and Josiah Royce's philosophy of community seek ways to go beyond narrow individualist striving. A call for "world citizenship" transcending the bounds of nationalism is set forth in the closing essay. Gelpi and his coauthors are members of the John Courtney Murray Jesuit Writing Group, which previously collaborated on The Reasoning Heart: Toward a North American Theology.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0268006814
• ISBN 13: 9780268006815
• Binding: Paperback
• Editor: Gelpi Donald L.