Abstract
Among the many concepts generated by modern social theory, none has had quite the significance or the centrality of the twin concepts of ideology and legitimation. Yet, despite their widespread use and acknowledged importance, they rarely, if ever, find a place in academic discussions of Christian ethics in the Anglo-American tradition./1/ This situation is, it seems to me, unfortunate and debilitating for Christian ethics, especially an ethics centered on the problems of rules and actions. In the first section of this paper, I wish to explain what I take to be the meaning of these two terms and the decisive ethical problem of contemporary society to which they point. In the second section, I will attempt to show that this problem is also a problem for contemporary Christian ethics, and to formulate an answer to this problem from that perspective. Further, in the course of the discussion I will try to remove some misunderstandings which have grown up around the concepts and to hazard some guesses as to why their use has until now been largely resisted.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have