Function and Gratuity in Theology and Biology
Biological, psychological, and social accounts of gratitude seem to be in tension with theological or philosophical construals. Is there a conflict between something being for an instrumental end, such as evolutionary advantage, and for its own sake? This article explores the way in which certain de...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Mohr Siebeck
2022
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| In: |
Philosophy, theology and the sciences
Year: 2022, Volume: 9, Issue: 1, Pages: 38-57 |
| RelBib Classification: | CF Christianity and Science FA Theology KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Gratitude
B Function B Grace B Explanation B Analogy B Biology B Naturalism B Metabolism B Freedom B Teleology |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Biological, psychological, and social accounts of gratitude seem to be in tension with theological or philosophical construals. Is there a conflict between something being for an instrumental end, such as evolutionary advantage, and for its own sake? This article explores the way in which certain debates in theology offer a model for answering a definite 'No' to zero-sum models of a relation between these two senses of 'for,' which I call the functional and the gratuitous. It is not necessarily the case that something's meaning is either in and for itself (gratuitous) or externally located beyond or subsequent to itself (functional). With an analogical ontology, something may be for its own sake and for a purpose external to itself at the same time. In the pie of 'for,' we do not have to apportion to the gratuitous only the leftovers when the functional slice has been eaten. We do not apportion one piece of the pie to theology; the whole pie is theological from the outset. |
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| ISSN: | 2197-2834 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Philosophy, theology and the sciences
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1628/ptsc-2022-0005 |