If creation is a gift / Mark Manolopoulos.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Manolopoulos, Mark, 1968-

Series:

SUNY series in theology and continental thought

SUNY series in Theology and Continental Thought

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human ecology--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Human ecology.

Gifts--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Gifts.

Creation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (200 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What if our world were considered a gift? Extending postmodern gift theory to ecological and ecotheological concerns, Mark Manolopoulos explores how "creation"—the what-is—can be seen as a gift. Creation, when viewed in a radically egalitarian way, is the matrix of all material things—human, otherwise-than-human, or humanly manufactured. Utilizing and critiquing the work of Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion, Manolopoulos argues that the gift is an irresolvable paradox marked by the contradictory elements of excess (gratuity, linearity) and exchange (gratitude, return). Philosophical and theological reflections on the gift become entangled in its paradoxical tension, but ultimately both aspects must be respected and reflected. When it comes to the creation-gift, we should vacillate between responses like letting-be, enjoyment, utility, and return. Elegantly written and thought-provoking, If Creation Is a Gift both contributes to the ongoing debate on the gift and provides a fresh philosophical and theological consideration of the environmental crisis.

Contents:

Thanksgivings

What if?

Creation-gift-aporia

A brief history of gifts

Unwrapping Marion's gift

Oscillation

Toward an oscillational eco-ethos

After thought.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-182) and index.

ISBN:

9780791494028

0791494020

9781441607775

1441607773

OCLC:

365382961