Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach
Thesis(PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2019
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613469120921600 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Veldsman, Daniel Petrus |
| author_browse | Veldsman, Daniel Petrus |
| author_facet | Veldsman, Daniel Petrus |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2019 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. |
| description | Thesis(PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/71030 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:36:38.421Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/71030 Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach Veldsman, Daniel Petrus u11045427@tuks.co.za Serfontein, Bernice UCTD Imagination Religion Religious awareness Morality Ethics Evolution Evolutionary Biology Niche Construction Interdisciplinary Theology Philosophy Theology theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Theology theses SDG-10 SDG-10: Reduced inequalities Theology theses SDG-11 SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities Theology theses SDG-16 SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Thesis(PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. Every human society as well as almost all of human life is infused with ethics. How do we best understand human morality and ethics? I believe responsible ethics rests on a credible understanding of what it means to be human. This thesis proposes that a more comprehensive understanding of the distinctive human imagination, religious awareness, and morality – all of which are significant aspects of being human – will facilitate a more responsible understanding and practice of ethics. Such an understanding entails a bottom-up view, which takes seriously the exploration of the fundamental evolutionary realities of human nature, i.e. a natural history of morality. The quest for understanding the propensity for imagination, religious awareness and morality can be aided by exploring the core role of the evolutionary transition between becoming and being human. Accordingly, this thesis combines a niche construction perspective with fossil and archaeological evidence, highlighting the role of complexity in human evolution, which adds to our understanding of a completely human way of being in the world. A short overview of human evolution in this thesis reveals the substantial impact of changes in behaviour, bodies, and life histories in our human ancestors and ourselves today. The interactive process of niche construction emphasizes a dialectical relationship between organisms and their environments, a process by which organisms modify their own and each other’s evolutionary niches. A distinctively human imagination is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success and accordingly our sense of morality and religious disposition. The methodology this thesis applies is that of an interdisciplinary study combining perspectives of some of the most prominent voices in the modern discourses on imagination, religious awareness, and morality such as Agustín Fuentes, Celia Deane-Drummond, Frans De Waal, Michael Tomasello, Steven Mithen, and Wentzel Van Huyssteen. What results from this approach is, first, a more comprehensive understanding of the human imagination, the capacity for religious awareness and morality. Ultimately, by creatively integrating the various perspectives evident in this study – by way of a philosophical bridge theory between evolutionary anthropology and theology – this thesis attempts to determine whether evolutionary thought can be constructively appropriated to interdisciplinary Christian theology and ethics. ae2025 Dogmatics and Christian Ethics PhD Unrestricted SDG-04: Quality education SDG-10: Reduced inequalities SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions 2019-08-12T11:18:52Z 2019-08-12T11:18:52Z 2019/04/03 2018 Thesis Serfontein, B 2018, Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71030> A2019 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71030 en © 2019 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. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Imagination Religion Religious awareness Morality Ethics Evolution Evolutionary Biology Niche Construction Interdisciplinary Theology Philosophy Theology theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Theology theses SDG-10 SDG-10: Reduced inequalities Theology theses SDG-11 SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities Theology theses SDG-16 SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach |
| title | Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach |
| title_full | Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach |
| title_fullStr | Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach |
| title_short | Imagination religion and morality : an interdisciplinary approach |
| title_sort | imagination religion and morality an interdisciplinary approach |
| topic | UCTD Imagination Religion Religious awareness Morality Ethics Evolution Evolutionary Biology Niche Construction Interdisciplinary Theology Philosophy Theology theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Theology theses SDG-10 SDG-10: Reduced inequalities Theology theses SDG-11 SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities Theology theses SDG-16 SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71030 |