Shadow Sophia
The Evolution of Wisdom, Volume II
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Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198843467
Number of Pages: 272
Published: 25/02/2021
Width: 16.5 cm
Height: 24.5 cm
Why do humans who seem to be exemplars of virtue also have the capacity to act in atrocious ways? What are the roots of tendencies for sin and evil? A popular assumption is that it is our animalistic natures that are responsible for human immorality and sin, while our moral nature curtails and contains such tendencies through human powers of freedom and higher reason. This book challenges such assumptions as being far too simplistic. Through a careful engagement with evolutionary and psychological literature, Celia Deane-Drummond argues that tendencies towards vice are, more often than not, distortions of the very virtues that are capable of making us good. After beginning with Augustine's classic theory of original sin, the book probes the philosophical implications of sin's origins in dialogue with the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. Different vices are treated in both individual and collective settings in keeping with a multispecies approach. Areas covered include selfishness, pride, violence, anger, injustice, greed, envy, gluttony, deception, lying, lust, despair, anxiety, and sloth. The work of Thomas Aquinas helps to illuminate and clarify much of this discussion on vice, including those vices which are more distinctive for human persons in community with other beings. Such an approach amounts to a search for the shadow side of human nature, shadow sophia. Facing that shadow is part of a fuller understanding of what makes us human and thus this book is a contribution to both theological anthropology and theological ethics.
Taking Soundings: An Introduction to Background Themes in Theology and the Evolution of Im(morality)
1: Original Sin
2: Paul Ricoeur on Evil
3: Selfishness and Pride
4: Violence and Cruelty
5: Anger and Injustice
6: Greed, Envy, and Gluttony
7: Deception, Lying, and Lust
8: Despair, Anxiety, and Sloth
The Search for Shadow Sophia
Afterword: Redeeming Sin
Bibliography
Index
The strength of Deane-Drummond's monograph is the obvious breath of her scholarly research. She easily toggles between an impressive span of disciplines. As a result, she delivers a multifaceted view of vice that is rather unmatched in theology or philosophy of religion. In this regard, the book is an exemplary interdisciplinary feat. * Celia Deane-Drummond, Reading Religion *