Non-Fiction Books:

Victims and Values

A History and a Theory of Suffering
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Hardback
$285.00
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Description

This book, which joins history and ethics, conducts a timely inquiry into conscience and politics. Mindful of William James's notion that ethics must be grounded in the historical situation, this book examines fundamental ambiguities, dichotomies, and contradictions that we experience about the worth of our own suffering and that of others. In particular, it analyzes how victims make a powerful claim upon contemporary conscience and politics. Amato distances himself equally from those who deny suffering all substantive meaning and those who fashionably transform it into self-righteous identities and political rhetorics and ideologies. Amato's hope is that each person will be able to take measure of the suffering of others, while still remaining able to value his own suffering. After distinguishing pain from suffering, Amato starts his work with the assumption that humanity must interpret and give meaning to its pains and sufferings. Amato examines the fundamental place of suffering, sacrifice and victims in Greek and Christian cultures. Reaching the central object of his study, the modern mind, Amato shows how the reformist world view of the eighteenth century philosopher sought to reduce suffering to a matter of rational calculation and how the progressive veiws of the nineteenth century dedicated the most profound energies of society and state to the elimination of human suffering. Ironically, in the 20th century this resulted in an increasingly hedonistic society that is preoccupied with suffering and its rights, victims and their claims.

Author Biography:

JOSEPH A. AMATO is Professor of History at Southwest State University in Minnesota. He has served as a consultant, humanist, and evaluator for several state and national humanities projects. Frequent reviewer, essayist, and the author of several books on ethics, death, and murder, Amato's abiding interest in twentieth century thought is represented by his Mounier and Maritain: A French Catholic Understanding of the Modern World, Ethics: Living or Dead?, and Guilt and Gratitude: A Historical Study of the Origins of Contemporary Conscience (Greenwood Press, 1982).
Release date NZ
November 21st, 1990
Audiences
  • Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
  • Undergraduate
Interest Age
From 7 to 17 years
Pages
264
Dimensions
152x229x19
ISBN-13
9780313259036
Product ID
4729064

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