The Unity Of Good And Evil

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, language: English, abstract: One of the group members of an experimental theatre ensemble of the 1970s and 80s, called Wooster Group, commented on The Crucible that “the play was interesting to us because Arthur Miller wrote it as a moral play. He took responsibility, social responsibility. There was a hero.” Since the hero is the most important character who has the task to convey this moral massage, this paper will mainly concentrate on his role, his character development, his portrayal by Arthur Miller and how the author realized his moral concept in the character of John Proctor. When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, he envisioned the “concept of unity, in which positive and negative are attributes of the same force, in which good and evil are relative”.

Brian Davies offers the first in-depth study of Saint Thomas Aquinas's thoughts on God and evil, revealing that Aquinas's thinking about God and evil can be traced through his metaphysical philosophy, his thoughts on God and creation, and his writings about Christian revelation and the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Davies first gives an introduction to Aquinas's philosophical theology, as well as a nuanced analysis of the ways in which Aquinas's writings have been considered over time. For hundreds of years scholars have argued that Aquinas's views on God and evil were original and different from those of his contemporaries. Davies shows that Aquinas's views were by modern standards very original, but that in their historical context they were more traditional than many scholars since have realized. Davies also provides insight into what we can learn from Aquinas's philosophy. Thomas Aquinas on God and Evil is a clear and engaging guide for anyone who struggles with the relation of God and theology to the problem of evil.

This exceptional book examines and explains Plato's answer to the normative question, "How ought we to live?" It discusses Plato's conception of the virtues; his views about the connection between the virtues and happiness; and the account of reason, desire, and motivation that underlies his arguments about the virtues. Plato's answer to the epistemological question, "How can we know how we ought to live?" is also discussed. His views on knowledge, belief, and inquiry, and his theory of Forms, are examined, insofar as they are relevant to his ethical view. Terence Irwin traces the development of Plato's moral philosophy, from the Socratic dialogues to its fullest exposition in the Republic. Plato's Ethics discusses Plato's reasons for abandoning or modifying some aspects of Socratic ethics, and for believing that he preserves Socrates' essential insights. A brief and selective discussion of the Statesmen, Philebus, and Laws is included. Replacing Irwin's earlier Plato's Moral Theory (Oxford, 1977), this book gives a clearer and fuller account of the main questions and discusses some recent controversies in the interpretation of Plato's ethics. It does not presuppose any knowledge of Greek or any extensive knowledge of Plato.

A very significant aspect of Josiah Royce's philosophical achievement is carefully and fully treated with special emphasis on his contribution as a philosopher of spirituality.

Building on Book Five’s considerations of the person and redemptive deed of Christ, Book Six of Matthias Joseph Scheeben’s Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics offers his account of the subjective realization of salvation through Christ’s bestowal of grace. This stands as Scheeben’s fullest treatment of the much-contested notion of actual grace and the issues related to the sixteenth-century de auxiliis controversy concerning predestination and how God moves the human will. Progressing in three parts, Book Six commences with an analysis of the concept of actual grace, establishing how God can move the will without compelling it and providing a richly developed context for understanding God’s motive influence. The second part examines three principal heresies concerning grace—namely, Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, and the Reformation doctrines—using these as a basis for evaluating the Catholic dogmas about grace that were articulated against them. Finally, in the third part Scheeben explores the necessity of grace in light of man’s fallen condition and his supernatural end.

The Unity of the Bible represents Daniel Fuller’s lifelong effort to understand and expound this purpose by seeking the Bible’s answer to questions such as these. It is written especially to equip laypersons to carry out both evangelism and edification, and it will also help all Christians to put the Bible together to grasp “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27