Clemens Sedmak

A Guide for Artisans of a New Humanity (Faith and Cultures Series)

Doing Local Theology

Malgorzata Bogaczyk-Vormayr

Dieses Buch stellt eine einfache Frage: Was können wir aus den frühchristlichen Texten im Hinblick auf die moderne Resilienzforschung gewinnen? Resilienz bezeichnet die Widerstandskraft – die Kirchenväter sprachen in diesem Zusammenhang von der Kraft der Seele. Dieser Band versammelt 12 Beiträge, die eine interdisziplinäre Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema der Krisenbewältigung und der Schicksalsresistenz in Verbindung mit den Konzepten von Hoffnung, Handlungsfähigkeit, Selbsterforschung und innerem Wachstum aufzeigen. Betrachtet werden Zeugnisse, die aus den ersten fünf Jahrhunderten des Christentums stammen, u.a. Leben und Werk von Antonius dem Großen, Evagrios Pontikos, Johannes Chrysostomos, Augustinus, Gregor von Nazianz, Makros dem Eremiten. Anhand der patristischen Lehre werden Standpunkte und Modelle der Resilienzforschung diskutiert und weiters in einen Dialog mit der zeitgenössischen Philosophie gebracht. Das Buch richtet sich an Philosoph/inn/en und Theolog/inn/en, die sich mit dem Thema Lebenskrisen befassen, sowie an Resilienzforscher/innen aus allen Humandisziplinen und kann auch mit Gewinn von denen gelesen werden, die sich allgemein für Widerstandskraft interessieren.

Frühchristliche Einsichten in die Seelenkraft

Patristik und Resilienz

Christoph Kühberger

zur Einführung

Ethik der Geschichtswissenschaft

Stephen Bevans

This book is a correspondence between two theologians and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–21. In it the authors reflect on the nature of God, the efficacy of prayer, the value of experience, the nature of theology itself, the importance of Christian hope, and many other topics. The style is familiar and light, rich, and full of wisdom.

Friendship, Theology, and Hope in a Post-COVID World

Does God Love the Coronavirus?

Christopher Hamilton

Otto Neumaier

Gottfried Schweiger

The essays in this volume grew out of the reflections and discussions conducted during the second international conference "Impulses from Salzburg" from May 6 to 9, 2008, on "Facing Tragedies". In accordance with the aims of this project, participants were asked to reflect not simply on the nature and meaning of tragedy but also on ways in which those who are the victims of tragedy make sense of, or cope with, their condition. It was recognised that abstract reflection is important in this regard, but also that such reflection must be rooted in ordinary, everyday. experience, and thus the conference had as one of its aims the attempt to ensure that philosophical reflection not lose the moorings it needs in the reality of ordinary life.

Facing Tragedies

Wenn man unser Leben mit einer Stadt vergleicht, so kann dieses Buch mit einem Stadtführer verglichen werden. Was sind die Sehenswürdigkeiten meines Lebens? Was zählt und was bleibt? Was sind unverzichtbare Bausteine für ein gutes Leben? Haben wir ein Leben oder leben wir ein Leben? Was möchte ich am Ende meines Lebens nicht bedauern müssen? Was verliere ich, wenn ich mein Leben verliere? Das Leben kann nicht nach einem vorgegebenen Lebensplan gelebt werden; es gibt Brüche, Krisen und stets die Möglichkeit eines Neuanfangs. Ein gutes Leben führt, wer das Gute zu leben versucht, sagt der Philosoph und Ethiker Clemens Sedmak. Und das Gute leben heißt auch, eine klare Richtung zu haben und das Leben als Weg zu sehen. Das Buch zeigt Wege auf für die Entwicklung von menschlicher Reife und für persönliches Wachstum. Es geht der Frage nach: Wie kann ich gut mit mir selbst auskommen? Und zeichnet Konturen der Freundschaft mit sich selbst. Die Kunst, mit sich selbst befreundet zu sein, beinhaltet, sich selbst zu kennen und sich selbst im Wachsen fördern zu wollen. Clemens Sedmak

Von der Freundschaft mit sich selbst

Das Gute leben

Julia Stabentheiner

Sarah Untner

Gespräche mit Straßenzeitungsverkäufer/inne/n

Seitenblicke, Untertöne

Elisabeth Kapferer

Andreas Koch

The term ‘infrastructure’ commonly refers to the partly naturally given, partly manmade constitutive conditions that affect, enable, and ensure our everyday lives. This concept is generally used in an economic sense and highlights the material and institutional facilities of our environment that can be summed up as the tangible means which our societies are based upon. Consequently, talking about ‘intangible infrastructures’ may appear to be a somewhat unusual concept. The term ‘intangible’ includes areas of our lives that are not (or are not primarily) represented physically; it points to invisible realms of the human existence, both intellectually or knowledge-based; to cultural and even ethical matters, and to the social adhesives and cultural techniques that civilizations are being built on. As ‘intangible infrastructures’, we regard them as fundamental for our well-being and for a good quality of life. This volume is a result of a two-day conference held in December 2012 in Salzburg, Austria, which brought together researchers and practitioners from manifold scientific backgrounds, including sociology, philosophy, social geography, economics, urban studies, political science, history, communication sciences and public communication. The text draws a map of current discourse on intangible infrastructures, and provides strategies of strengthening intangible infrastructures.

Strengthening Intangible Infrastructures

In The Capacity to be Displaced Clemens Sedmak develops the idea that missionaries and development workers experiencing displacement have to be resilient; it is “resilience from within,” nourished by beliefs and hopes that makes a person flourish in adverse circumstances.

The Capacity to be Displaced: Resilience, Mission, and Inner Strength

Helmut P. Gaisbauer

This book explores the philosophical, and in particular ethical, issues concerning the conceptualization, design and implementation of poverty alleviation measures from the local to the global level. It connects these topics with the ongoing debates on social and global justice, and asks what an ethical or normative philosophical perspective can add to the economic, political, and other social science approaches that dominate the main debates on poverty alleviation. Divided into four sections, the volume examines four areas of concern: the relation between human rights and poverty alleviation, the connection between development and poverty alleviation, poverty within affluent countries, and obligations of individuals in regard to global poverty. An impressive collection of essays by an international group of scholars on one of the most fundamental issues of our age. The authors consider crucial aspects of poverty alleviation: the role of human rights; the connection between development aid and the alleviation of poverty; how to think about poverty within affluent countries (particularly in Europe); and individual versus collective obligations to act to reduce poverty. Judith Lichtenberg Department of Philosophy Georgetown University This collection of essays is most welcome addition to the burgeoning treatments of poverty and inequality. What is most novel about this volume is its sustained and informed attention to the explicitly ethical aspects of poverty and poverty alleviation. What are the ethical merits and demerits of income poverty, multidimensional-capability poverty, and poverty as nonrecognition? How important is poverty alleviation in comparison to environmental protection and cultural preservation? Who or what should be agents responsible for reducing poverty? The editors concede that their volume is not the last word on these matters. But, these essays, eschewing value neutrality and a retreat into technical mastery, challenge us to find fresh and reasonable answers to these urgent questions. David A. Crocker School of Public Policy University of Maryland

Ethical Issues in Poverty Alleviation

Selten wird systematisch auf die Anwendung der Katholischen Soziallehre in der Praxis reflektiert. Diesen Mangel behebt der Autor mit seinem neuen Entwurf, der prinzipielle Überlegungen mit sehr konkreten Fragen verbindet und dafür auf die empirische Sozialforschung zurückgreift. Was bedeutet es zum Beispiel, die Katholische Soziallehre in einem Feld (etwa einem Krankenhaus, einem Gefängnis oder einer Schule) oder auf ein bestimmtes Problem (etwa PrioritätenSetzung in der Armutsbekämpfung oder Betteln im öffentlichen Raum) anzuwenden? Die Auswirkungen angewandter katholischer Sozialethik werden in Bezug auf Personen (Pflegebedürftige, Kinder, Arme, Reiche und Mächtige, Bettler) ebenso durchdacht wie in Bezug auf Institutionen, die Wirtschaft oder die Politik.

Zur Anwendung der Katholischen Soziallehre

"Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar"

Oliver Davies

Paul D. Janz

This book is the fruit of a close collaboration between three leading scholars with a background in systematics, philosophical theology and ethics. It sets out a new account of how incarnation is mediated in the world of space and time, leading to a new orientation of theology within the world. The doctrinal ("from above") and philosophical ("from below") sections lead to a new exposition of Christian life in confrontation with deepseated problems of ethics and justice. The three pieces closely interweave with each other in the elaboration of a new kind of practical, doctrinal theology of full philosophical integrity.

Church in the World

Transformation Theology

We live in a world of constant and dynamic change. Change manifests in various guises ranging from small to big, local to global, individual to societal, or from subtle to sudden. It often comes out of the unexpected, yet people can also actively bring about change. Change can be for the better, but often reality means change for the worse. Preconditions for a contented and happy life, both material and intangible, are constantly challenged. Living conditions of individuals as well as communities are affected by inequality, exclusion, or poverty. Different kinds of challenge and change require different reactions. This volume results from a two-day conference in November 2011 in Salzburg, Austria, bringing together researchers and practitioners from different scientific disciplines in order to discuss approaches of poverty research, social inclusion strategies, and local knowledge applications with particular focus on transformation. The contributions shed light on appropriate theories, methodologies, and concrete applications of change concepts referring to poverty, place and identity at different temporal, social, and spatial scales. They address a readership ranging from social and political scientists, economists and statisticians, to philosophers, cultural scientists and geographers.

Poverty, Place, Identity and Social Transformation Mechanisms

The Logics of Change

Michael Breitenbach

The word stress is everywhere and highly overused. Everyone is stressed, it seems, all the time. Looking into the meaning of stress in the natural science and the humanities, this book explores cellular stress as cause of and in correlation with what humans experience as stress. When do we psychologically feel stress and when do we show physiological evidence of stress in our brain? Stress is a deviation from what feels normal and healthy. It can be created by social or economic factors and become chronic, which has substantial impacts on the individual and society as a whole. Focusing on poverty as one chronic inducer of stress, this book explores how the lack of pressure-free time, the hardships and unpredictability of everyday life and a general lack of protection lead to destructive toxic stress. This pressure affects cognitive and social functioning, brain development during childhood and may also result in premature aging. How can the sciences inform our understanding of and our response to stress? What can be done about toxic stress both on a personal level and in terms of structures and policies? The book is written for anyone interested in stress, its causes and consequences, and its relationship to poverty.

A Cross-Disciplinary Investigation of Stress in Cells, Individuals, and Society

Stress and Poverty

In the light of the globalization, (post-)modernization, social fragmentation, and economization of many of today’s living contexts, local knowledge is receiving increasing attention in various sciences. Commonly, local knowledge indicates a counterpart to both rational forms of an explicit knowledge of facts and knowledge of universal validity. Local knowledge attempts to appreciate a more comprehensive view of people’s skills, capabilities, experience, and sophistication. On the other hand, the reference to ‘local’ implies an idea of bounded applicability of knowledge in a specific environment. Beyond this scope of application, local knowledge can be acknowledged either as instrumental in order to achieve specific goals or as an intrinsic value in order to deal with social relations, solidarity, common values and norms accordingly. Social and spatial settings are influential for everybody’s quality of life, personal identity, and political commitment – and local knowledge is the essential foundation in turning these settings into a vivid arena. This volume is a result of a two-day conference held in November 2013 in Salzburg, Austria, dedicated to bringing together researchers from different scientific disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, social geography, economics, history, interpersonal communication studies, cultural studies, and theology, in order to draw distinct trains of thought about local knowledge in a transdisciplinary fashion: the phenomenon, its epistemic and philosophical reflection, its methodological comprehension, and its practical application.

Appreciating Local Knowledge

Es braucht nicht viel, um dem eigenen Leben eine völlig neue Richtung, einen ganz neuen Geschmack zu geben – sind es doch die kleinen, unauffälligen Kurskorrekturen, die weitreichende Auswirkungen haben. So wie ein Kiesel, den man ins Wasser wirft, weite Kreise zieht und ein fallender Dominostein Zehntausende weitere Steine mit sich reißt. Was passiert, wenn man beim Kuchenbacken eine Zutat verändert? Und wohin fährt ein Schiff, wenn der Kapitän den Kurs um lediglich fünf Grad ändern würde? Der renommierte Philosophieprofessor Clemens Sedmak begleitet zwölf Menschen dabei, wie sie durch eine minimale Änderung jeden Tag ihres Lebens besser machen – mithilfe der Philosophie der kleinen Schritte. Nicht, um jemandem etwas zu beweisen. Sondern um am Abend sagen zu können: Ja, das war ein guter Tag!

Clemens Sedmak

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