Engelhardt as Sectarian: An Evangelical Protestant Consideration of After God

In this article, I argue that while Christians should share Engelhardt's disappointment in how bioethics functions in the world, they should not share his exasperation. I begin by outlining the general argument in After God, its understanding of secularism, and of how such secularism has impact...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Thobaben, James R. 1954- (Author)
Contributors: Engelhardt, Hugo Tristram 1941-2018 (Bibliographic antecedent)
Format: Electronic Review
Language:English
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Published: Oxford University Press [2017]
In: Christian bioethics
Year: 2017, Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 200-218
Review of:After God (Yonkers, New York : St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2017) (Thobaben, James R.)
RelBib Classification:CH Christianity and Society
NCH Medical ethics
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Book review
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:In this article, I argue that while Christians should share Engelhardt's disappointment in how bioethics functions in the world, they should not share his exasperation. I begin by outlining the general argument in After God, its understanding of secularism, and of how such secularism has impacted bioethics. Next, I suggest that Englehardt appears to lean toward disengagement or at least an extremely suspicious sectarianism. Rather, I claim that it is possible for Christians to morally engage in a useful way with others and still base their own moral activity on proper life telos. Such cooperation is not to serve a commonly-held ultimate purpose, but shared proximate ends. That said, the moral discourse with those outside the Church may be necessarily limited by shallow moral acquaintanceship. I argue that the concept of "middle axioms" can be used as a mechanism for engagement with others in this society. Importantly, this approach does not require abandoning distinctive Christian commitments and foundational assumptions.
ISSN:1744-4195
Contains:Enthalten in: Christian bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/cb/cbx005