Envisioning The Good Life

Who is God? What is God's relation to the world? How is God disposed towards us? What does God ask of us? These questions are not mere intellectual puzzles. They matter for us. A disinterested theology would be no theology at all, for we are fundamentally, at our very core, invested in God. God is the one who concerns us most deeply. Put differently, any theology worth the name is, as Miroslav Volf has put it, theology "for a way of life." We ask theological questions as those whose lives depend on the God whose character we try to articulate in the answers--and also in the asking. How we ask and answer these questions gives shape to our lives. In this volume, published in Volf's honor, leading Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theological scholars reflect on the shapes flourishing human life takes in light of God. Considering concrete questions--from how to talk about suffering to the value of singing in congregational worship--in light of their deep theological commitments, the contributors exemplify the kind of theological reflection our cultures so deeply need. Contributors to this volume: Matthew Croasmun Ryan McAnnally-Linz Marianne Meye Thompson David H. Kelsey Michael Welker Christoph Schwobel Alon Goshen-Gottstein Reza Shah-Kazemi Jurgen Moltmann Natalia Marandiuc Nancy Bedford Nicholas Wolterstorff Lidija Matosević Ivan Sarčević Linn Marie Tonstad

Who is God? What is God's relation to the world? How is God disposed towards us? What does God ask of us? These questions are not mere intellectual puzzles. They matter for us. A disinterested theology would be no theology at all, for we are fundamentally, at our very core, invested in God. God is the one who concerns us most deeply. Put differently, any theology worth the name is, as Miroslav Volf has put it, theology "for a way of life." We ask theological questions as those whose lives depend on the God whose character we try to articulate in the answers--and also in the asking. How we ask and answer these questions gives shape to our lives. In this volume, published in Volf's honor, leading Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theological scholars reflect on the shapes flourishing human life takes in light of God. Considering concrete questions--from how to talk about suffering to the value of singing in congregational worship--in light of their deep theological commitments, the contributors exemplify the kind of theological reflection our cultures so deeply need. Contributors to this volume: Matthew Croasmun Ryan McAnnally-Linz Marianne Meye Thompson David H. Kelsey Michael Welker Christoph Schwobel Alon Goshen-Gottstein Reza Shah-Kazemi Jurgen Moltmann Natalia Marandiuc Nancy Bedford Nicholas Wolterstorff Lidija Matosević Ivan Sarčević Linn Marie Tonstad

The 21st century offers a dizzying array of new technological developments: robots smart enough to take white collar jobs, social media tools that manage our most important relationships, ordinary objects that track, record, analyze and share every detail of our daily lives, and biomedical techniques with the potential to transform and enhance human minds and bodies to an unprecedented degree. Emerging technologies are reshaping our habits, practices, institutions, cultures and environments in increasingly rapid, complex and unpredictable ways that create profound risks and opportunities for human flourishing on a global scale. How can our future be protected in such challenging and uncertain conditions? How can we possibly improve the chances that the human family will not only live, but live well, into the 21st century and beyond? This book locates a key to that future in the distant past: specifically, in the philosophical traditions of virtue ethics developed by classical thinkers from Aristotle and Confucius to the Buddha. Each developed a way of seeking the good life that equips human beings with the moral and intellectual character to flourish even in the most unpredictable, complex and unstable situations--precisely where we find ourselves today. Through an examination of the many risks and opportunities presented by rapidly changing technosocial conditions, Vallor makes the case that if we are to have any real hope of securing a future worth wanting, then we will need more than just better technologies. We will also need better humans. Technology and the Virtues develops a practical framework for seeking that goal by means of the deliberate cultivation of technomoral virtues: specific skills and strengths of character, adapted to the unique challenges of 21st century life, that offer the human family our best chance of learning to live wisely and well with emerging technologies.

What does it mean to live a good life in a time when the planet is overheating, the human population continues to steadily reach new peaks, oceans are turning more acidic, and fertile soils the world over are eroding at unprecedented rates? These and other simultaneous harms and threats demand creative responses at several levels of consideration and action. Written by an international team of contributors, this book examines in-depth the relationship between sustainability and the good life. Drawing on wealth of theories, from social practice theory to architecture and design theory, and disciplines, such as anthropology and environmental philosophy, this volume promotes participatory action-research based approaches to encourage sustainability and wellbeing at local levels. It covers topical issues such the politics of prosperity, globalization, and indigenous notions of "the good life" and happiness". Finally it places a strong emphasis on food at the heart of the sustainability and good life debate, for instance binding the global south to the north through import and exports, or linking everyday lives to ideals within the dream of the good life, with cookbooks and shows. This interdisciplinary book provides invaluable insights for researchers and postgraduate students interested in the contribution of the environmental humanities to the sustainability debate.

Come along for the captivating hunt for planets like our own Envisioning Exoplanets traces the journey of astronomers and researchers on their quest to explore the universe for a planet like Earth. Exoplanets--worlds beyond our solar system--were once dismissed as science fiction. But now, with more than 4,000 confirmed exoplanets, countless possibilities exist for what remains to be uncovered in the universe. This book follows the exhilarating progression of exoplanet research from its earliest stages operating on the fringes of scientific research to the newest developments of renowned agencies around the world searching for planets capable of hosting life. Featuring provocative questions about the universe and more than 200 remarkable illustrations from Michael Caroll, Ron Miller, and other key members of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, Envisioning Exoplanets is an intergalactic visual voyage.

This volume is a collection of essays considering the relationship between the social sciences and sustainability studies. Contributions are drawn from a range of disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology (both scholarly and applied), political science, and media studies. It has been carefully edited to provide the reader with a range of commentaries to interrogate the evolution of ‘sustainability imaginaries’ in contexts as varied as urban planning, community gardens, bread-making, sustainable food movements in Italy, applied projects such as water projects in Bangladesh, and disaster studies. As such, this is a book which ultimately argues for the value of the social sciences in considering one of the more urgent and complex topics of our time – that of sustainability.

States across the Muslim world are faced with challenges associated with a perpetual cycle of conflict and violence organized along sectarian lines. To understand modern-day sectarianism, it is essential to move beyond explanations that focus predominantly on ancient Sunni-Shia animosities or a singular lens. It is important to engage in interdisciplinary and multidirectional examinations to better understand how sectarianism is strategically utilized by political entrepreneurs. Moreover, while religious identities and how individuals define themselves and their communities are important, it is also integral to analyze how identity has been utilized in historical and contemporary political contexts on state and non-state levels. This volume seeks to fill gaps in understanding the complexities associated with sectarianism through a transnational interdisciplinary analytical framework to enhance understanding of the socio-political, religio-political, cultural and security landscapes of the Middle East and South Asia. It also challenges narratives regarding sectarian divisions between Sunnis and Shias and deconstructs popular misconceptions about sectarianism, its spatial and temporal impact, as well as its influence on identities, conflict, and competition. The volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of the Middle East and South Asia, and those interested in history, politics, international relations, international security, religion, and sociology.

The 21st century offers a dizzying array of new technological developments: robots smart enough to take white collar jobs, social media tools that manage our most important relationships, ordinary objects that track, record, analyze and share every detail of our daily lives, and biomedical techniques with the potential to transform and enhance human minds and bodies to an unprecedented degree. Emerging technologies are reshaping our habits, practices, institutions, cultures and environments in increasingly rapid, complex and unpredictable ways that create profound risks and opportunities for human flourishing on a global scale. How can our future be protected in such challenging and uncertain conditions? How can we possibly improve the chances that the human family will not only live, but live well, into the 21st century and beyond? This book locates a key to that future in the distant past: specifically, in the philosophical traditions of virtue ethics developed by classical thinkers from Aristotle and Confucius to the Buddha. Each developed a way of seeking the good life that equips human beings with the moral and intellectual character to flourish even in the most unpredictable, complex and unstable situations--precisely where we find ourselves today. Through an examination of the many risks and opportunities presented by rapidly changing technosocial conditions, Vallor makes the case that if we are to have any real hope of securing a future worth wanting, then we will need more than just better technologies. We will also need better humans. Technology and the Virtues develops a practical framework for seeking that goal by means of the deliberate cultivation of technomoral virtues: specific skills and strengths of character, adapted to the unique challenges of 21st century life, that offer the human family our best chance of learning to live wisely and well with emerging technologies.