The Altruism Reader - Selections from Writings on Love, Religion, and Science

This anthology brings together, for the first time, leading essays and book chapters from theologians, philosophers, and scientists on their research on ethics, altruism, and love. Because the general consensus today is that scholarship in moral theory requires empirical research, the arguments of the leading scholars presented in this book will be fundamental to those examining issues in love, ethics, religion, and science.

List of contents

Preface vii
Part I: Defining Love
1. The Core Meaning of “Love” by Stephen G. Post
2. The Love Racket: Defining Love and Agape for the Love-and-Science Research Program by Thomas Jay Oord
Part II: Ancient Religious Writings on Love
3. The Hebrew Scriptures: Psalms 100, 107 
4. The Dhammapada: Joy 
5. The Bhagavadgita: The Religion of Faith 
6. The New Testament: Luke 10:25–37, 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4:7–21 
7. The Qur’an: The Cow 
8. Teaching Christianity: On Christian Doctrine by Augustine of Hippo
9. Summa Theologica: The Treatise on Charity by Thomas Aquinas
10. Agape and Eros: Excerpts by Anders Nygren
11. Love in Any Language by Thomas Jay Oord
Part III: Contemporary Religious Writings on Love
12. Loyalty: The Calling of the People of God by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld
13. Understanding Our Fundamental Nature by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
14. Ahimsa: The Path of Harmlessness by Thich Nhat Hanh
15. The Incarnation by Daniel Day Williams
16. Agapeistic Ethics by Gene Outka
17. Philia by Edward Collins Vacek
18. Kenotic Creation and Divine Action by John Polkinghorne
19. Kenosis: Gender Connotations by Sarah Coakley
20. Love in Islam by Amira Shamma Abdin
Part IV: The Physics of Altruism
21. Ethics, Cosmology, and Theories of God by Nancey Murphy and George Ellis
Part V: The Biology of Altruism
22. Evolutionary Ethics by Robert Wright
23. The Selfish Gene: Excerpts by Richard Dawkins
24. The Robustness of Reciprocity by Robert Axelrod
25. Getting Along by Frans de Waal
26. Bentham’s Corpse by Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson
27. The Four Paths to Cooperation by Lee Alan Dugatkin
Part VI: Altruism in the Social Sciences
28. Affect and Prosocial Responding by Nancy Eisenberg, Sandra Losoya, and Tracy Spinrad
29. Aversive-Arousal Reduction by Daniel C. Batson
30. Triangulating Love by Robert J. Sternberg
31. Saving Others: Was It Opportunity or Character? by Samuel P. Oliner and Pearl M. Oliner
32. Progress through Love by Stephen G. Post

About the author

Thomas Jay Oord, PhD, is professor of theology and philosophy at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. In addition to books published by Templeton Press, Dr. Oord has written and edited nearly twenty books, including Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement (Brazos Press) and The Nature of Love: A Theology (Chalice Press). He and his wife, Cheryl, have three daughters.

Summary

Brings together essays and book chapters from theologians, philosophers, and scientists on their research relating to ethics, altruism, and love. This book offers key selections from religious texts, contemporary scholars, and ethicists. It also features primary readings on love and altruism from the sciences.

Product details

Assisted by	Thomas Oord (Editor), Thomas Jay Oord (Editor)
Publisher	Templeton Press
Languages	English
Product format	Paperback / Softback
Released	01.11.2007
EAN	9781599471273
ISBN	978-1-59947-127-3
No. of pages	320
Dimensions	153 mm x 226 mm x 25 mm
Weight	440 g
Subjects	Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Theoretical psychology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works

Product details

• Assisted by: Thomas Oord (Editor), Thomas Jay Oord (Editor)
• Publisher: Templeton Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.11.2007
• EAN: 9781599471273
• ISBN: 978-1-59947-127-3
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 226 mm x 25 mm
• Weight: 440 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Theoretical psychology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works