Religious Ethics in a Time of Globalism Shaping a Third Wave of Comparative Analysis

by Bucar, Elizabeth M.; Stalnaker, Aaron

• ISBN13: 9781137273024
• ISBN10: 113727302X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-11-27
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This selection of new approaches to the comparative study of religious ethics provides an accessible introduction to the most current research in the field. The essays in this book show that a variety of approaches to religious ethics are worth pursuing in our contemporary, profusely interconnected world. They also demonstrate that many sorts of analysis are shaped by comparison and comparative interests, even when they focus on a single topic or question, as long as they are informed by analogous studies of other traditions, cultures, or religions. The volume exemplifies a thought-provoking, multidisciplinary engagement with global ethics today.

Author Biography

Elizabeth M. Bucar is an Associate Professor of comparative religious ethics in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northeastern University. She works within the Shia and Catholic traditions on issues of gender, politics, and emergent technologies (new media and medical advances). Her books include Does Human Rights Need God? (co-edited with Barbra Barnett, 2005), Creative Conformity: The Feminist Politics of U.S. Catholic and Iranian Shi`i Women (2011), and The Islamic Veil: A Beginner's Guide (2012). Aaron Stalnaker is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University. He studies ethics and philosophy of religion, giving serious attention to both Chinese and Western theories and practices. He is the author of Overcoming Our Evil: Human Nature and Spiritual Exercises in Xunzi and Augustine (2006), a comparative study of different models of moral and religious personal formation, as well as numerous articles. His current research concerns the idea of virtuous mastery as it relates to the ethics of authority and hierarchy.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Third Wave of Comparative Religious Ethics - Elizabeth M. Bucar and Aaron StalnakerEthical Formation and Ordinary Life in the Modern West - Thomas A. LewisBodies at the Margins: The Comparative Case of Transsexuality - Elizabeth M. BucarEngendering Martyrs: Muslim Mothers and Martyrdom - Irene OhCultures of Comparison and Traditions of Scholarship: Holism and Inculturation in Religious Ethics - David ClairmontThree Challenges in the Study of Comparative Ethics and Chinese Thought - Erin ClineExploring The Korean First Birthday Celebration (Dol Janchi) as a Site for Comparative Religious Ethics and Asian American Christian Ethics - Grace Y. KaoMastery, Authority, and Hierarchy in the 'Inner Chapters' of the Zhuangzi - Aaron StalnakerAfterword: Tsunami or 'Third Wave'? - Donald K. Swearer