Towards an African Christian ethics for the technological age : William Schweiker's Christian ethics of responsibility in dialogue with African ethics

dc.contributor.advisorDe Villiers, D.E. (Dawid Etienne)
dc.contributor.emailu10300602@tuks.co.zaen_US
dc.contributor.postgraduateNeequaye, George Kotei
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-17T12:59:37Z
dc.date.available2014-06-17T12:59:37Z
dc.date.created2014-04-25
dc.date.issued2013en_US
dc.descriptionThesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013.en_US
dc.description.abstractTechnology has several advantages, but the growing fear is that the power of human beings over nature through technology is growing in an alarming rate so that, if not checked with a new ethics of responsibility, we may be heading to the destruction of nature and the annihilation of humanity. In response to this fear, Hans Jonas set a whole new debate into motion, both in Germany and America, when he argues (in his book entitled, The imperative of responsibility: In search of ethics for the technological age (1984) that the existing approaches to philosophical ethics, including theological ethics, are inadequate since they do not tackle the serious issues produced by the rapid expansion of modern technology. He then asserts that we must make a concerted effort to develop a theory of responsibility, so that humanity could be salvaged from future extinction. Whereas Jonas denies that religion could form the basis of a universal ethics of responsibility, Schweiker strives to prove him wrong by producing a Christian version of an ethics of responsibility from that of Jonas. Using Schweiker’s formulation of a Christian ethics of responsibility, this researcher aims at taking the debate to another level by engaging his Christian ethics of responsibility with African ethics to come out with an African Christian ethics of responsibility. The reason why we are formulating an African Christian ethics of responsibility is that if Africa is seen as the fastest growing Christian continent in the world, then formulating an African Christian ethics of responsibility is worthwhile since such an ethics addressing the negative impact of modern technology will be available and accessible to a substantial part of the world population. Although African and Christian in its point of departure, this ethics of responsibility claims to be universal in a normative sense of the word. It strives to provide moral guidance that should be heeded by everyone. This is because in our formulation, we will call Christians and non-Christians alike to emulate the altruistic love of Christ for the world as the core of an ethics of responsibility that is future-oriented.en_US
dc.description.availabilityunrestricteden_US
dc.description.departmentDogmatics and Christian Ethicsen_US
dc.description.librariangm2014en_US
dc.identifier.citationNeequaye, GK 2013, Towards an African Christian ethics for the technological age : William Schweiker's Christian ethics of responsibility in dialogue with African ethics, PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40195>en_US
dc.identifier.otherD14/4/29/gmen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/40195
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Pretoriaen_ZA
dc.rights© 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.en_US
dc.subjectEthics of responsibilityen_US
dc.subjectAfrican ethicsen_US
dc.subjectChristian ethicsen_US
dc.subjectTechnologyen_US
dc.subjectCommunalismen_US
dc.subjectUbuntuen_US
dc.subjectHans Jonasen_US
dc.subjectWilliam Schweikeren_US
dc.subjectUCTDen_US
dc.titleTowards an African Christian ethics for the technological age : William Schweiker's Christian ethics of responsibility in dialogue with African ethicsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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