Inter-Contextual Ethics

Inter-contextual ethics develop ethical issues from the awareness that every philosophical or theological model of thinking springs from a particular context concerning cultural, religious, social, etc. This is why a way of thinking, the problems that are to be dealt with, and the concrete solutions are being tied back to a specific context.

In multicultural societies in which intercultural and interfaith encounters and the overlap of various situations are the order of the day, the inter-contextual dimension in all humanities and social sciences should be considered. For ethics, this means considering cultural differences and plausible reasons for human behavior in ethical reflection to critically oppose both the absolutization of contextually relative ethical forms of thought and their relativization in mere culturalism. The sensitivity to the “other” and the “others” in their specific challenges leads to a better understanding of what truly is human (the “humanum”). In the challenges of a globalized world, the awareness of the inter-contextual condition makes it possible to concretize the comprehensive claim to the validity of ethics, and thus to find a way out of a mere pseudo-universality. 

 

INSeCT:

 

Current dissertations on the subject include the following:

  • Francis Nwosu Chijioke: Removing the Structures of Sin in the Nigerian Polity: A Practical Inroad to Sustainable Development and Authentic Capability Expansion of the "Mma-Ndu (Mmadu)"

 

Finished diploma theses on the subject since 2012:

  • Francis Nwosu Chijioke: The Neglect of Common Good and Human Rights in the Nigerian Polity: The Case of the Niger Delta. A Christian Ethical Study
  • Daniela Regez: Ganzheitliche Mission und Entwicklung. Perspektiven anhand der Gypsy-Organisation "Contactions" in Südindien

 

Publications on the subject:

  • Juen, Maria/Prüller-Jagenteufel, Gunter/Rahner, Johanna/ Sejdini Zekirija (Hg.): Anders gemeinsam –gemeinsam anders? In Ambivalenzen lebendig kommunizieren (KomTheo 18), Ostfildern: Matthias Grünewald 2015
  • "Parochialismus" und "Elitismus" überwinden. Chancen und Möglichkeiten lokaler und globaler Basisnetzwerke, in: Juen, Maria/Prüller-Jagenteufel, Gunter/Rahner, Johanna/ Sejdini Zekirija (Hg.): Anders gemeinsam - gemeinsam anders? In Ambivalenzen lebendig kommunizieren (KomTheo 18), Ostfildern: Matthias Grünewald 2015, 93-99
  • Kirche, Ideologie und Politik. Die katholische Kirche im Kampf um die Gesetzgebung zur "reproduktiven Gesundheit" auf den Philippinen, in: Platzer, Johann/Zissler, Elisabeth (Hg.): Bioethik und Religion. Theologische Ethik im öffentlichen Diskurs. FS f. Walter Schaupp, Baden-Baden: Nomos 2014, 269-292
  • "In der Welt", aber nicht "von der Welt". Kirche im Spannungsfeld von "Entweltlichung" (Benedikt XVI.) und "tiefer Diesseitigkeit" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer), in: ET-Studies 4 (2013), 125-144
  • Eine Ethik des Subjekts in der Spannung von Person und Gemeinschaft. Neue Entwicklungen in der Theologie Lateinamerikas als Anregung für Europa, in: Nova prisutnost 11 (2013), 440-444
  • Die Erfahrungsdimension in der Theologie. Nord-Süd-Begegnungen als Orte theologischen Lernens, in: ET-Studies 1 (2010), 297-304
  • The Discovery of the New Subject in Latin American Ethics of Liberation, in: Hapág. A Journal of Interdisciplinary Theological Research (ed. by St.Vincent School of Theology and Adamson University, Manila/Philippines) Vol. 6 (2009), 33-50