Book Review of "Human Dignity in Contemporary Ethics"
Publication Details
Ryan, T.
(2013).
Book Review of "Human Dignity in Contemporary Ethics".
Australian EJournal of Theology, 20 (2), 151-152.
Abstract
This timely book is, arguably, an extended discussion on how to make sense of the murder, in Johannesburg in 2009, of Fr. Lionel Shan who spent his priestly ministry working for troubled youth. Around this event, Kirchhoffer encapsulates his central idea: human dignity, properly understood, is an ethical concept that helps us take seriously the existential meaning of behaviour across the moral spectrum, from the violence of the killer, to the generosity and self-sacrificing love of his victim (xvi). Overall, this is a very fine piece of scholarship and a credit to the author.
Keywords
Kirkhoffer, David, moral spectrum, Christian ethics
