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Howard Wettstein

Autor(a) de Ethical Theory : Character and Virtue

6+ Works 76 Membros 1 Review

About the Author

Howard Wettstein has been Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside since 1989. He is the author of two previous books on philosophy of language, and has edited many collections.

Includes the name: Howard K. Wettstein

Obras por Howard Wettstein

Associated Works

Divine Evil?: The Moral Character of the God of Abraham (2010) — Contribuidor — 18 exemplares

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Críticas

Reviewed in B&C 7-8/13 by David O'Hara, "In Awe of the Living God"

Looking back on it, I realize now that I came to philosophy through love, and through the practice of communities... My hope is that the study of philosophy will inform my students' whole lives, enriching their thinking and giving them tools for solving problems they have not yet even imagined.

The idea of religion as love informs much of Wettstein's book. The texts of the Bible are like love letters; the prayers of religious communities aren't doctrines disguised as prayer, but the love-language of a people and their God, one that may seem silly to those who aren't in love; religious life is not about settled knowledge but about love, gratitude and awe.

In biblical communities, awe (Wettstein prefers "awe" as a translation of the Hebrew yirah rather than "fear") is more important than belief, because belief is concerned with cognition, while awe is a matter of one's whole life.

Thankfully, Wettstein is blessed with both a grasp of religious practice and a "feel for philosophy."

Philosophers have come to treat God as a concept to be cognized, abstracting God from biblical religion and from the literary and liturgical life of the communities to whom God most matters.

To stand in awe of God, Wettstein says, is not a natter of knowing awesome things about God so much as it is to feel privileged. to be overwhelmed, to feel humility without being diminished. The biblical texts attempt to express this, not by cataloguing God's properties but through narratives about God's roles ["father, friend, lover, judge, creator , and the like"].

This is not to say that theology is unimportant, but that it is helpful to remember that affirming systems of propositions is no substitute for learning to live in awe of God.
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Assinalado
keithhamblen | Aug 29, 2013 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
6
Also by
1
Membros
76
Popularidade
#233,522
Avaliação
3.0
Críticas
1
ISBN
18

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