Evolution, Temporality, and Ethics

On Kierkegaard’s Surprising Relevance to Eco-Theology

Bibliographic Data

ID12901514
AuthorsJustin D Klassen (Bellarmine University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume12
Issue1
Pages55-75
Publication date2018-06-07
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-4907 • E-ISSN: 1749-4915
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/jsrnc.31401
OpenAlexW2805885006
LanguageEN
Citations received1

Christian eco-theologians often focus significant critical attention on anthropocentric accounts of religious faith in which ‘the relation between God and the world is narrowed to God and the individual' (McFague 2008: 68). Some mention Søren Kierkegaard by name as a villain in this respect since his work is fixated on the human being's relation to God in the context of temporality and pays little attention to the physical world. I argue that eco-theologians are nonetheless writing a bright future for Kierkegaardian religious ethics precisely by embracing the insight of evolutionary biology that matter itself is historical. Stemming from an awareness of matter's inherent dynamism, eco-theological attempts to reconcile religious commitments with contemporary science engender ethical recommendations of openness to life's uncharted future. Kierkegaard's insights into the challenges of relating to temporal uncertainty therefore gain a surprisingly concrete ethical relevance in light of evolutionary science

Anthropocentrism · Context (archaeology · Dynamism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Openness to experience · Political science · Relation (database · Relevance (law · Sociology · Temporality · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Social Psychology · Theology and Philosophy of Evil

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