The Common Good and Christian Ethics: (Series Number 22 New Studies in Christian Ethics)

The Common Good and Christian Ethics rethinks the ancient tradition of the common good in a way that addresses contemporary social divisions, both urban and global. David Hollenbach draws on social analysis, moral philosophy, and theological ethics to chart new directions in both urban life and global society. He argues that the division between the middle class and the poor in major cities and the challenges of globalisation require a new commitment to the common good and that both believers and secular people must move towards new forms of solidarity if they are to live good lives together. Hollenbach proposes a positive vision of how a reconstructed understanding of the common good can lead to better lives for all today, both in cities and globally. This interdisciplinary study makes both practical and theoretical contributions to the developing shape of social, cultural, and religious life today.

Table of Contents:
General editor's preface; Preface; Note on websites; Part I. Situations: 1. The eclipse of the public; 2. Problems tolerance cannot handle; Part II. Frameworks: 3. Recovering the commonweal; 4. Religion in public; 5. Christianity in a community of freedom; 6. Intellectual solidarity; Part III. Directions: 7. Poverty, justice, and the good of the city; 8. The global common good; Bibliography; Electronic resources; Index.

Review :
'The Common Good and Christian Ethics by David Hollenbach, S.J., deserves to be the most read work of American Catholic public philosophy since the late John Courtney Murray's We Hold These Truths published in 1960.' America 'The Common Good and Christian Ethics is a rare contribution to the raging debate on globalization and its impact, especially on the poor. It is highly recommended for policy makers, academics, students and teachers of social ethics, and those engaged in sustainable human development.' Hekima Review 'New studies in Christian Ethics has published some of the finest theological work on contemporary affairs. I reviewed its Inequality as the best book I'd read that year. The Common Good is likely to be best for 2003, essential partner to the first.' Theology 'This is a splendid, very clearly articulated book that will be a great resource for those of us engaged with government and yet articulating the Christian message of justice and peace.' Studies in Christian Ethics '... another splendid addition to the impressive CUP series New Studies in Christian Ethics. Hollenbach gives us rather more than just another treatise on plurality and fragmentation, and goes a good way toward reestablishing the common good as a central component in the Christian life, and extricating Christian ethics from an increasingly sterile liberal vs. communitarian slanging match ... this book is a major building block in the architecture of a renewed social Christianity.' Crucible