Essentiality and Responsibility in Times of Crises Anthropodicy beyond the Limits of Reason Alone
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed global dependency on essential workers and the susceptibility of social dynamics. Essentiality is a haunting primordial issue because it is still defined by socio-economic functions rather than people’s worth as human beings. For Marx, Feuerbach’s concept of homo de...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2022
|
| In: |
International journal of public theology
Year: 2022, Volume: 16, Issue: 3, Pages: 305-319 |
| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism NBE Anthropology NCA Ethics TJ Modern history TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Lévinas
B Proximity B Covid-19 B Religion B Vulnerability B Anthropodicy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed global dependency on essential workers and the susceptibility of social dynamics. Essentiality is a haunting primordial issue because it is still defined by socio-economic functions rather than people’s worth as human beings. For Marx, Feuerbach’s concept of homo deus is an inversion of Christian anthropology which ends as a mere ‘theological nicety’. In response to Marx, I hold that religion is an efficient ideology that transcends abstraction. The current crisis shows that religion’s problem lies elsewhere: it can be counterproductive to social causes and hardly fit inside the limits of reason. Elaborating Lévinas’s concern over theodicy, I appeal to anthropodicy as an impetus for religious ideology to embrace vulnerability and nurture solidarity. After Lévinas, I reinterpret essentiality as a responsibility that surpasses our rationality. With the alignment of essentiality and responsibility, anthropodicy can support religious ideology to welcome the vulnerable others and encourage social responsibility. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1569-7320 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of public theology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20220054 |