Academics
Where does our ability to value anything come from? While questions of value have only increased in importance, even modern treatments of ethics and aesthetics have not yet produced a unified and comprehensive philosophy of value. Randall B. Bush seeks to ground a possible rapprochement between the dimensions of the moral and the beautiful in a Trinitarian conception of reality, advancing a comprehensive and coherent theory of value that sees the whole always as more than the sum of its parts.
IN THE BOOK. . .
GOD, MORALITY, AND BEAUTY
The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Problem of Evil
This wide-ranging investigation assesses various approaches to philosophical methodology, ethics, aesthetics, psychology, sociology, literature, hermeneutical philosophy, narrative theology, the problem of evil, and Christian theology. The author argues that a Trinitarian vision offers the most satisfactory, far-reaching rationale for addressing proximate and ultimate questions pertaining to the philosophy of value.
COMMENTS ABOUT THE BOOK. . .
“In this remarkable book, Bush succeeds in his aim of finding bridges between wide-ranging subject areas—God, morality, beauty, and the problem of evil. This book avoids the trap of superficial treatment that often awaits those who attempt interdisciplinary study. With a well-informed yet imaginative focus on the doctrine of the Trinity and an appreciation of the function of narrative which comes from being a published story-teller himself, Bush develops a connectivity that enables a convincingly holistic vision of reality. For all those who are frustrated by discussions of either theological ethics that ignores aesthetics or aesthetics that fails to relate to ethics, God, Morality, and Beauty is essential reading.”
—PAUL S. FIDDES, Professor of Theology in the University of Oxford and Principal Emeritus, Regent Park’s College, Oxford
“Modern philosophy tends to divorce morality from aesthetics, the good from the beautiful. In this book, Randall B. Bush returns to the ancient tradition that tries to see these values as closely related. He also argues that value of all kinds is trivialized when it is divorced from the transcendent and tries to show how the Trinitarian view of transcendence found in Christian faith provides a rich resource for thinking about value questions. Bush covers an amazing range of thinkers and questions in this ambitious and original work.”
—C. STEPHEN EVANS, University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Baylor University
“The past ten years or so have seen a burgeoning of literature concerned with casting a Christian vision of reality that is rigorously Trinitarian and allows resonances between different disciplinary fields to be heard. This ambitious book shows clearly why such efforts matter. Comprehensive and immensely readable, it deserves to be widely read.”
—JEREMY BEGBIE, Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor of Theology, Duke University