Franciscan View of the Human Person : Some Central Elements

This brief volume discusses several of the central elements of human person as found in those works of the Franciscan theological tradition which, when taken together, most sufficiently describe these qualities. As the tradition developed over the years, the intuitions and insights of St., Francis and St. Clarie of Assisi concerning the human person were developed and/or restated in language better understood by the people of a particular era. Two of the most famous early Franciscan theologians, Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus, did just that. This volume will, by drawing on the wisdom on the Franciscan tradition, contribute in a similar way to an understanding of the human person today.

This is the third in a series intended to encompass topics which will connect the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition with today's language of our Christian Catholic Franciscan way of Gospel life. It will include some of the many different carriers of our Franciscan Tradition - not just Francis and cleric theologians, but also Clare, the women penitents and the laity. Embedded in this vision and communicated in the Intellectual Tradition are implications for the world of politics, economics, social relations, family life and daily human existence.

Sister Dawn Nothwehr, O.S.F., a Franciscan Sister of Rochester, Minnesota, is Associate Professor of Ethics and Chair, Historical & Doctrinal Studies, at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL. She is Co-Editor of the NEW THEOLOGY REVIEW. Mutuality as a formal norm, the ethics of power from a feminist perspective, and the relationship of ethics and spirituality are Dawn Nothwehr s major interests. Issues that interest her include: empowerment of the poor and vulnerable, human/environmental relations, relations in moral disagreement, friendship, and marriage. Her research has involved how to deal with the Other that is created when moral disagreement occurs, and how Franciscan theology shapes ecotheology and ecological ethics. She is the author of Mutuality: A Formal Norm for Christian Social Ethics and editor of Franciscan Theology of the Environment: an Introductory Reader.