Humility, Pride, and Christian Virtue Theory (Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology)

Description

Humility, Pride, and Christian Virtue Theory proposes an account of humility that relies on the most radical Christian sayings about humility, especially those found in Augustine and the early monastic tradition. It argues that this was the view of humility that put Christian moral thought into decisive conflict with the best Greco-Roman moral thought. This radical Christian account of humility has been forgotten amidst contemporary efforts to clarify and retrieve the virtue of humility for secular life. Kent Dunnington shows how humility was repurposed during the early-modern era-particularly in the thought of Hobbes, Hume, and Kant-to better serve the economic and social needs of the emerging modern state. This repurposed humility insisted on a role for proper pride alongside humility, as a necessary constituent of self-esteem and a necessary motive of consistent moral action over time. Contemporary philosophical accounts of humility continue this emphasis on proper pride as a counterbalance to humility. By contrast, radical Christian humility proscribes pride altogether. Dunnington demonstrates how such a radical view need not give rise to vices of humility such as servility and pusillanimity, nor need such a view fall prey to feminist critiques of humility. But the view of humility set forth makes little sense abstracted from a specific set of doctrinal commitments peculiar to Christianity. This study argues that this is a strength rather than a weakness of the account since it displays how Christianity matters for the shape of the moral life. Cover Humility, Pride, and Christian Virtue Theory Copyright Dedication Preface Contents Introduction: To Go Against Self 1: Forgetting Christian Humility INTRODUCTION CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS OF HUMILITY THE STANDARD ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIAN HUMILITY QUESTIONING THE STANDARD ACCOUNT CONCLUSION 2: Remembering Christian Humility INTRODUCTION AUGUSTINE AND THE STANDARD ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIAN HUMILITY AUGUSTINIAN HUMILITY RECONSIDERING CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS CONCLUSION 3: Mundane Humility INTRODUCTION KANT’S MUNDANE HUMILITY LOW CONCERN AND MUNDANE HUMILITY EARLY CHRISTIAN REJECTION OF THE PROPER PRIDES CONCLUSION 4: Radical Christian Humility INTRODUCTION THE ESSENCE OF PROPER PRIDE “SELF” AND “IDENTITY” LOW CONCERN AND THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY AN ACCOUNT OF RADICAL CHRISTIAN HUMILITY CONCLUSION 5: Humility’s Destiny INTRODUCTION CRUCIFIXION, EUDAIMONIA, AND BEATITUDE HUMILITY, RESURRECTION, AND EXALTATION TRINITY AND SELFHOOD CONCLUSION 6: Humility and its Discontents INTRODUCTION HUMILITY AND OPPRESSION A DEVELOPMENTAL ACCOUNT OF HUMILITY THE VICES OF HUMILITY CONCLUSION 7: Becoming Humble INTRODUCTION HUMILITY AND GRACE HUMILITY AND ASCETICISM HUMILITY AND HUMILIATION CONCLUSION Conclusion The Task of Christian Virtue Theory References Pre-Contemporary Sources Contemporary Sources Index of Names Index of Subjects