Overcoming Our Evil by Aaron Stalnaker

Overcoming Our Evil by Aaron Stalnaker

Can people ever really change? Do they ever become more ethical? How does that happen? These are the questions that ethicist Aaron Stalnaker explores in this seminal study in comparative religious ethics. Examining two vastly different and vastly influential thinkers from antiquity--the Christian theologian Augustine and the Confucian philosopher Xunzi--Stalnaker examines how these two intellectual giants understood fallen human nature--and how they propose that individuals, through highly disciplined spiritual exercises, can become better human beings. What are these spiritual exercises? For Augustine, prayer and scriptural study; for Xunzi, textual study, ritual, and musical performance. Stalnaker meticulously constructs vivid portraits of both thinkers, demonstrating where they connect and where they diverge, making the case that both have been misunderstood and misinterpreted. But this is not simply a study of dusty historical figures speaking to ancient worlds far different than ours. In undertaking his analysis Stalnaker is a voice of cool reason in the heated debates over religious and cultural pluralism. His work is an intellectually rigorous ethic of global neighborliness, that is, an attempt to understand and appreciate seemingly conflictual worldviews, to bring traditions into respectful dialogue, to find points of agreement and disagreement, to avert the Scylla of parochialism (I'm right and you're wrong) and the Charybdis of theological relativism (Anything goes).

Aaron Stalnaker's first book makes an important contribution to the comparative study of spiritual practice by engaging in a clear, constructive comparison of the moral psychologies of Augustine and XunziTheological Studies Illuminating not only with regard to these two thinkers but also for the ways in which their ideas have shaped their respective traditions since. This is an essential volume for scholars, students, and academic libraries. Religious Studies Review Anyone concerned with moral psychology, moral education, or virtue ethics will find a great deal in Overcoming Our Evil. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy This intellectually inspiring and conceptually uplifting study takes comparative studies to a higher level by providing an intriguing and effective model of inquiry. It fosters a healthy search for and meaningful understanding of diversity of thinking across cultures. Astonishingly varied information and insight capture the reader's attention and mind, offering numerous and valuable aids to grasping various terms, concepts, and themes in the study of Chinese and Western philosophy. A clear and penetrating writing style also elevates the significance of this work. The book is not merely an intellectual delight to read, but it is also a master work that may serve as a durable scholarly resource, to which one may return time and again for edification and inspiration. Journal of Chinese Philosophy Professor Stalnaker has obviously mastered the primary and secondary materials necessary for a highly informed comparison of Xunzi and Augustine. Journal of Chinese Religions This volume is a must-read for anyone working on Xunzi ... Chinese scholars will certainly appreciate Stalnacker's clearly written, detailed philological analysis of Xunzi's nomenclature. Bulletin of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica

Aaron Stalnaker is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University. He was awarded his PhD in Religious Studies from Brown University in 2001. From July 1992 through June 1994 he worked with Volunteers in Asia in the Peoples Republic of China, where he taught English at a technical college in Manchuria.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781589015036
ISBN 10	1589015037
Title	Overcoming Our Evil
Author	Aaron Stalnaker
Series	Moral Traditions Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Georgetown University Press
Year published	2009-03-20
Number of pages	352
Prizes	Winner of Catholic Press Association, First Time Author of a Book (United States)., Winner of Award for Excellence (United States)., Winner of Catholic Press Association, First Time Author of a Book 6 (United States), Commended for First Time Author of a Book of the Catholic Press Association 6 (United States), Commended for First Time Author of a Book of the Catholic Press Association.
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.