Thinking Through Feeling
God, Emotion and Passibility
Published on 6. October 2011
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-4411-6275-5 (ISBN)
Description
Contemporary debates on God's emotionality are divided between two extremes. Impassibilists deny God's emotionality on the basis of God's omniscience, omnipotence and incorporeality. Passibilists seem to break with tradition by affirming divine emotionality, often focusing on the idea that God suffers with us.Contemporary philosophy of emotion reflects this divide. Some philosophers argue that emotions are voluntary and intelligent mental events, making them potentially compatible with omniscience and omnipotence. Others claim that emotions are involuntary and basically physiological, rendering them inconsistent with traditional divine attributes. Thinking Through Feeling: God, Emotion and Passibility creates a three-way conversation between the debate in theology, contemporary philosophy of emotion, and pre-modern (particularly Augustinian and Thomist) conceptions of human affective experience. It also provides an exploration of the intelligence and value of the emotions of compassion, anger and jealousy.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a highly original contribution to the discussion of emotion and of divine passibility. Are emotions automatic reactions, which we cannot control, to external events; or can we sometimes or always control them? Is God able to suffer, to be angry, jealous, loving, compassionate? These and many other questions are discussed lucidly and with profound insight. This book will be of great interest to theologians, psychologists, and all who appreciate intellectual stimulus." -- John Hick, Emeritus H.G.Wood Professor of Theology, University of Birmingham, UK. "Scrutton displays insight and skill in artfully weaving together several related strands of thought, and this breadth does not detract from her project's depth, by and large. Thinking Through Feeling is a timely book given the growing interest in emotions and their relationships to human rationality, morality, and flourishing. I think this has the kind of material that will spark fruitful research projects for philosophers and theologians (and perhaps even psychologists) alike." - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 'Scrutton displays insight and skill in artfully weaving together several related strands of thought, and this breadth does not detract from her project's depth, by and large. Thinking Through Feeling is a timely book given the growing interest in emotions and their relationships to human rationality, morality, and flourishing. I think this has the kind of material that will spark fruitful research projects for philosophers and theologians (and perhaps even psychologists) alike.'-Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
529 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4411-6275-5 (9781441162755)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr Anastasia Philippa Scrutton is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University, UK. She is also an Associate Lecturer for 'An Introduction to the Humanities' at the Open University.
Content
Acknowledgements; Introduction; Chapter One: Historical and contemporary perspectives on emotion and impassibility; Chapter Two: Passiones and affectiones in Augustine and Aquinas; Summary of Chapters One and Two; Chapter Three: Emotion, intelligence and divine omniscience; Chapter Four: Compassion; Chapter Five: Anger; Chapter Six: Jealousy; Overview of Chapters Three to Six; Chapter Seven: Emotion, will, and divine omnipotence; Chapter Eight: Emotion, the body, and divine incorporeality; Conclusion; Bibliography.